Office Hell: the Demise of the Playful Workspace | Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

In the early '90s, cutting-edge advertising agency Chiat/Day announced a radical plan, aimed at giving the company a jolt of creative renewal. They would sweep away corner offices and cubicles and replace them with zany open spaces, as well as innovative portable computers and phones. A brand new era of “hot-desking” had arrived.
Problems quickly began. Disgruntled employees found themselves hauling temperamental, clunky laptops and armfuls of paperwork all over the office; some even had to use the trunks of their cars as filing cabinets. Soon, the unhappy nomads had had enough.
Bad execution was to blame for the failure of this “playful” workspace. But Chiat/Day had made another mistake here, too - one that was more serious, more fundamental and altogether more common.
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ABOUT CAUTIONARY TALES
We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these cautionary tales are for the education of the grown-ups - and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “Messy” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They’ll delight you and scare you, but also make you wiser.
ABOUT TIM HARFORD
Tim Harford’s long-running column in the Financial Times, “The Undercover Economist,” reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences.His first book, The Undercover Economist, was published in 30 languages and sold more than 1.5 million copies. He is also the author of The Logic of Life, Dear Undercover Economist, Adapt, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, Messy, and his latest, The Next Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy.
He has hosted several radio series for the BBC, including More or Less, Pop Up Ideas, and 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy. The Times of London has rated both More or Less and 50 Things among the world’s best 10 podcasts.Tim has written for publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including Esquire, Forbes, Wired, New York Magazine, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. He previously worked for Shell and for the World Bank. He lives in Oxford with his wife and three children.
ABOUT PUSHKIN INDUSTRIES
Pushkin Industries is an audio production company dedicated to creating premium content in a collaborative environment. Co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg in 2018, Pushkin has launched seven new shows into the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (Against the Rules, The Happiness Lab, Solvable, Cautionary Tales, Deep Cover, The Last Archive, and Lost Hills), in addition to producing the hugely successful Revisionist History. Pushkin’s growing audiobook catalogue includes includes the bestselling biography “Fauci,” by Michael Specter, “Hasta La Vista, America,” Kurt Andersen’s parody Trump farewell speech performed by Alec Baldwin, "Takeover" by Noah Feldman, and “Talking to Strangers,” from Pushkin co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin is dedicated to producing audio in any format that challenges listeners and inspires curiosity and joy.
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