Compernolle - The open office is naked

WHY THE FIFTH BRAINCHAIN? WHAT ARE THE OTHERS?

The FifthBrainChain

For executives: the rightchoice between cost and investment, focus and contact

The other four BrainChainsin a nutshell

BrainChains that ruin ourintellectual productivity

The first BrainChain and theroot problem is always being connected

The second BrainChain ismultitasking

The third BrainChain isnegative stress

The fourth BrainChain islack of sleep

Email is a BrainChain thatcombines and reinforces the other four

Using a phone while drivingis for badly informed people or blockheads

The technology is fantastic;the problem is the way we use it

THE PROBLEM: BRAIN-HOSTILE OFFICES

Offices that causediscomfort, stress and disease because they abuse our innersavannah dweller

Offices that underminebrainwork because they make reflection difficult and oftenimpossible

Most brainworkers hate theiropen office because they know it decreases their intellectualproductivity, health andcollaboration

An extensive body ofresearch shows that open offices are bad for intellectualproductivity, health and collaboration

The cheaper the offices themore expensive they are

Noise is one of the worstpossible influences on intellectual productivity and it undermineshealth too

The importance of havingsome influence on the work environment

The basic challenge forexecutives: resolving the privacy-contact dilemma

Why are open offices stillbuilt? A history of collusion between architects and executivesignorant of the inborn needs of brains and brainworkers

Conclusion: many officesshould be called brain-jails, places to chain and lock awayintellectual productivity

SOLUTIONS: FOCUS FIRST

At the Me level

Fight bad offices atwork

Avoid reflection killers athome too

At the We level: bandtogether against badly designed offices

At the They level:managers should prioritize intellectual productivity

Build brainwork-friendlyflexible offices

The solution: focus first!Make privacy guaranteed and contact inescapable

CONCLUSION: PUT YOUR BRAINWORKERS AND THENEEDS OF THEIR BRAINS FIRST

AFTERWORD: WHY A BOOK ABOUTBRAINCHAINS?

Because modern ZOO-directorsknow more about the inbo rn needs of their animals, than company-directorsabout the innate needs of people

the cages in modern zoos are better foranimals, than modern offices for people.

Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption.It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.Of course, where there is nothing to interrupt, noise will not beso particularly painful.

The most negative influence on my intellectual productivityis my office.

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Under the followingconditions :1: Attribution: If you want toquote from or refer to this booklet, Youmust always attribute the work or any part of it in the followingmanner: Brain-Hostile Open Offices:The Fifth BrainChain by Theo Compernolle. MD., PhD.Compublications, www.brainchains.info, 2014

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Foreword : The Open Office Is Naked

Once upon atime there was an emperor whose only interest in life was to dress up infashionable clothes. He kept changing his clothes so that peoplecould admire him.

Two swindlers disguisedthemselves as top class tailors and promised him the finest, bestsuit of clothes from a fabric so light andfine that it would seem invisible toanyone who was unfit for his position or "hopelesslystupid".

The emperor wasvery excited and ordered the new tailors to begin theirwork.

One day, the king askedthe prime minister to go and see how much work the two tailors haddone. He saw the two men moving scissors in the air but he couldsee no cloth! He kept quiet for fear of being called stupid andunfit for his job. Instead, he praised the fabric and said it wasmarvelous.

Finally, the emperors newdress was ready. The tailors mimeddressing him He could see nothing but hetoo did not want to appear stupid or unfit for his position. Headmired the dress and thanked the tailors.

He was asked to paradedown the street for all to see the new clothes. The emperor paradeddown the main street. The townsfolk could only see a naked emperor but played along with the pretense for fear of being thought stupid or unfit for their jobs.

They foolishly praised theinvisible fabric and the colors and the emperor was veryhappy.

At last, a child in the crowd, too young to understand thedesirability of keeping up the pretense, shouted out loud: The emperor is naked!

Soon everyone began to murmur the same thingand very soon all shouted, The emperor is naked!

The emperor cringed,suspected the assertion was true, butwalked on proudly, preferring to believe that his people werestupid.

To understand why the open office is naked,why it is so bad for brainwork, you should know a few things aboutyour thinking brain.

I know thatwhat I write in this booklet is not going to be well received bysome of my most important clients: senior executives and CEOs.However, I am always very transparent, frank and direct with myclients, because I think that is the best way to inspire andhelp.

Given thesuccess of BRAINCHAINS (see www.brainchains.info ) Iam all the time invited by companies and other organizations forworkshops and presentations about these "BrainChains", but then,too often I am kindly requested not to talk about the impact ofopen offices.

I learned inthe past five years that regarding the crystal-clear and hardscientific conclusions about these offices, many business leaderschoose an ostrich policy, even if it undermines the long termproductivity and wellbeing of their employees. Or is it just a lackof knowledge?

Because modernZOO-directors know more about the inborn needs of their animals,than company-directors about the innate needs of people the cagesin modern zoos are better for animals, than modern offices forpeople.

When Idiscover that a great many offices significantly reduce theintellectual productivity of employees, I think I should share thiswith you, even if you dont like the idea that your decisions aboutoffice design are not optimal, just plain wrong or most likely theresult of ignorance. Whats more, this booklet is not just mypersonal opinion; I am summarizing the research of others andmyself and giving my conclusions.

You're aknowledge worker. But what do you really know about your mostimportant instrument, your brain? For 99% of the professionals theanswer is: NOTHING! What do you know about the effect on yourbrain, your intellectual productivity and wellbeing, of theimproper use of your wonderful information and communicationtechnology, to always be online, multitasking, constant stress,lack of sleep and ... poorly designed open offices?

You may happento have a personal opinion, an opinion that in your function hasdaily impact on thousands of people for better or worse, but onwhat is it based? Since you know nothing about the brain, yoursubjective opinion is based on nothing.