day 1369: Cubed

"I have never turned away a stranger but have opened my doors to everyone."

There is a new book out by Nikil Saval, called "Cubed".  I have not read it yet, but have read the reviews of it and I will be picking it up soon.  What Saval does in his book is give us the history of our current workplaces covering things like the drop ceiling, lighting, filing spaces, open door policies and yes, the "Cubicle". My total time working in corporations was 21 years.  Of those 21 years, as best as I can add up, I spent eight years in a Cube and two and a half years working in an open floor space. So, almost half, not in an office. The best of all of those years (including a couple of years in offices that were well beyond nice and totally not necessary), were the years in the open floor plan where there were no walls and I was out in the open with everyone else.  I learned new forms of boundaries (headphones on meant I was busy), shorter phone calls, discretion of conversation (loudness and content) and time management (there wasn't any hanging around with the feet on the desk shooting the breeze). Where we sit can make a difference in how we work.  Where we assign others to work, can make a difference in their productivity and motivation. Part of what we are to do, if we want to be good leaders and managers, is to be cognizant and sensitive to the environment that we ask people to work. If you have people begging to work at home, you might want to ask yourself if that cubicle might be part of their motivation.

There's an old adage; "Where we sit is where we stand". I think it is more true than we give it credit.  Consider the amount of hours we spend during the week and where that time is spent.  Do we need to wonder why work is the first thing we talk about in a conversation?  How many hours during the week do we sit with God?  God does not cube us in at all.  He allows us to spread out and hang out with Him as long as we like.  He was the first to create the "Open Door Policy". Are we taking advantage of it like we should?

Reference: Job 31:32 (New Living Translation)