Do Chance Meetings at the Office Boost Innovation? There's No Evidence of It.

Jun 25, 2021 9 Comments

"..people who study the issue say there is no evidence that working in person is essential for creativity and collaboration. It may even hurt innovation, they say, because the demand for doing office work at a prescribed time and place is a big reason the American workplace has been inhospitable for many people.
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The idea you can only be collaborative face-to-face is a bias
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the idea of random serendipity being productive is more fairy tale than reality
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contemporary open offices led to 70% fewer face-to-face interactions. People did not find it helpful to have so many spontaneous conversations, so they wore headphones and avoided one another."

https://news.yahoo.com/chance-meetings-office-boost-innovation-183945891.html

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  • New
    KnDJ06

    New

    KnDJ06
    No it’s a talking point that useless middle managers keep repeating it’s nonsense.

    Seriously how many times have this happened to anyone? It’s happened just as many times using a zoom catch up
    Jun 25, 2021 2
  • Amazon
    beet code

    Go to company page Amazon

    beet code
    I mean it’s balance. It’s not like WFH only is stimulating innovation like never before. It’s a new area to explore and there hasn’t been so much empirical evidence gathered yet.

    I think full RTO is not what the people want but neither is full WFH. Could be arguable that happier employees generate more innovation? :o (but still no empirical evidence as far as I know, makes sense tho 😂)
    Jun 25, 2021 1
    • OP
      People certainly want to work from LCOL areas, which usually implies full WFH.
      But I agree with you, given you can live in LCOL area and go to the office once in a while some will pick this.
      Jun 25, 2021
  • Apple
    dnsb253wvs

    Go to company page Apple

    dnsb253wvs
    Kind of related but usually when I hear about cool new ideas or projects it’s shooting the shit after hours. After people are done with their emergent work, after managers are done with meetings, etc. just a way to wind down at the end of the day. I’ve had plenty of new ideas or projects to jump on from those random conversations and I wouldn’t have them with people over slack or anything else really.

    So yeah I believe there’s some truth to it but I do t think it’s the only way for that to happen.
    Jun 25, 2021 0
  • New
    PH01

    New

    PH01
    It’s a culture issue imo.

    If ur vibing with ur coworkers and have the need and autonomy for impromptu shit to happen, then it will. In person, remote, doesn’t matter much.
    Jun 25, 2021 0
  • New
    bucketlife

    New

    bucketlife
    First of all, it's hard to measure this.
    Jun 25, 2021 0