Creating Passionate Users: Brain death by dull cubicle
I always knew cubicles were bad, but now I have proof. Check this article out by Kathy Sierra called Brain death by dull cubicle. In it she states that a scientist has found that if people are placed in stimulating environments and are learning, then they are able to grow new neurons. If they are stuck in dull boring cubicles, those brain cells start to die. This is actually the second such article that I have read in the last little while about how bad cubicles are.
Places like Pixar and Google definitely have it right when they allow each developer to personalize their work space. I guess I wonder why other places don’t allow this? Is dull some kind of corporate code that must not be broken?
This is my favorite quote from the article:
It would appear that blowing your own mind on a regular basis is not just a good idea, it’s a key part of neurogenesis. One of the conclusions she came to is that “learning heals the brain.” And again, we aren’t talking emotionally or psychologically, we’re talking physical structures. She believes that even those who have been in a stressful environment can undo much of the damage by not just removing the stress, but actively introducing enriching and stimulating things.
This is one thing that I have been thinking about lately. Developer’s need to be given the space to learn and be encouraged to learn and try new things. I love Google’s 20% rule where they allow each developer to work on their own thing for 20% of their time. This amounts to one whole day a week where they can do whatever they want. Some of Google’s best products have come out of this.
My last job I sorta did this and the result was the adoption of Hibernate. Before that they had always written their own JDBC/OR tools. All I did was to take an existing project and convert part of it over to work with Hibernate. This was enough to convince people to give Hibernate a try.
I think if developers are given the space and the time, while at work, to do their own thing, then new and innovative ideas and products will be the result. As Kathy says, developers need to blow their “mind[s] on a regular basis”.