**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 16:40

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 16:40

MRU 0001 (Sean) @freakazoid

Jun 05, 2018, 16:40

Children, learning disabilities Show more

My 6 year old son has been having a lot of trouble with kindergarten. He has trouble focusing on tasks, becomes disruptive, and runs away from class. We have him working with an occupational therapist.

His school has a relatively experimental (and failed IMO) open design, where several classrooms are open to one another. For the kindergarten classes, this means constant chaos.

Continued...

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 16:42

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 16:42

Jun 05, 2018, 16:42

MRU 0001 (Sean) @freakazoid

Children, learning disabilities, open-plan offices Show more

His teacher took him to a quiet room for his end of year assessment and was completely blown away by what he was capable of accomplishing. He's pretty much absolutely normal developmentally when not surrounded by chaos.

This has made me realize how terrible open plan offices are. I have never actually had a private office, so I have always thought it was just that I wasn't very good at focusing.

**clew** @clew@octodon.social · Jun 05, 2018, 18:47

**clew** @clew@octodon.social · Jun 05, 2018, 18:47

Jun 05, 2018, 18:47

clew @clew@octodon.social

Children, learning disabilities, open-plan offices Show more

@freakazoid When Microsoft was dominant, they partly ascribed it to giving every worker an office with a door and the social ability to close it. Even temps! Concentration is scarce and valuable and they didn't want to fracture it.

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · 2018-06-05T18:49:01Z

MRU 0001 (Sean) @freakazoid

Children, learning disabilities, open-plan offices Show more

@clew Yeah that was the thing that most struck me about Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus. Everyone had offices, which was something I more associated with "old guard" IBM.

Jun 05, 2018, 18:49 · Web · 0 · 0

**clew** @clew@octodon.social · Jun 05, 2018, 19:04

**clew** @clew@octodon.social · Jun 05, 2018, 19:04

Jun 05, 2018, 19:04

clew @clew@octodon.social

Open-plan offices Show more

@freakazoid Well, maybe it will be a measurable competitive advantage and spread???

My dad worked for a Japanese firm for a while and was originally horrified by the completely open office. But the local manners were completely respectful of concentration -- if a coworker was sitting quietly with closed eyes, he says, you didn't interrupt because it was taken as a sign of deep concentration.

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 19:10

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 19:10

Jun 05, 2018, 19:10

MRU 0001 (Sean) @freakazoid

Open-plan offices Show more

@clew If it spreads I suspect it will spread outside Silicon Valley due to the tremendous cost of real estate here. And it's not just the dollar cost; local governments here are actively hostile to development. So for example Google would have no hope of doing it. A startup could depending on how it was funded and what its funders demand/allow.

My guess is that in the early stages open plan offices are probably an advantage. I think it falls into the same category as inclusion.

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 19:12

**MRU 0001 (Sean)** @freakazoid · Jun 05, 2018, 19:12

Jun 05, 2018, 19:12

MRU 0001 (Sean) @freakazoid

Open-plan offices Show more

@clew It could be a good way to attract people away from Silicon Valley. Folks are leaving in droves, but unless I'm mistaken that's primarily being driven by stuff like traffic and the cost of living relative to pay, not by working conditions.