August 16, 2019 • 31 mins
Will and Mango take a look around the office, from why cubicles were actually a forward-thinking invention, to how knives became a wonderful way to show your applause at the workplace in Cuba to why that office rumor we’re spreading this week about Tristan is probably true (studies prove it!) Plus, nap pods, office ferris wheels and so much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio.
I Guess what Will? What's that? Man? Have you seen
these nap pods around? The companies have started using in
their offices, of course, And actually I feel like I
remember from years ago. Did didn't you take a field
trip to one of these things? One time I did
so Jason English and I heard about these at the
(00:24):
Empire State Building and so we went to a nap
room and got a nap pass and you kind of
just lie down in the space age recliner that looks
like an egg and and rest. It does look like
can he. But for some reason, every time I see
one of those, it makes me think of pac Man
and just like eating these people. So there's something about it.
It makes me a little hesitant to get in one
of those things. Yeah, but I kind of love that
(00:47):
they are, these weird little pods and their soundproof and ergonomic,
and they've got colors that come in to wake you up.
You know. The one time I did it, not only
did I feel rested, but I woke up refreshed. So
I actually looked into them for our office and did
you know they go for like thirteen grand a pop.
It's a little out of our price range, but it
(01:08):
did give me thinking about all the ways that the
workplace has changed over the years. I mean, there was
a time not too long ago when sleeping on the
job was a fireball offense. But now it's a part
of employee wellness programs that everywhere from like Nike to
Google to Ben and Jerry's. So with that kind of
change in mind, I thought i'd be fun to take
a tour through the history of office innovations, from surprising
(01:28):
programs adopted in other countries to the rise and fall
of the office cubicle. Let's dive in. Y Hey, their
(01:55):
podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and it's always I'm joined by my good friend Manges
Ticketer on the other side of that soundproof glass. Look
at him just polishing that thing. He's polishing this shiny
new Employee of the Month blaque. That's our friend and
producer Tristan McNeil. I didn't even know we hadn't employed
in the month program. We we we actually don't mango.
(02:16):
He gave himself the employee them on the ward. It
was kind of a power move, you know, he's he's
a little bit into these power moves, and and I
think this is because he's now handed over the producing duties.
And of course Tristan is still going to be around,
but these are now going to the wonderful lull Berlante.
So to be fair, I think I'm at least partially
to blame for this, because last week I told Tristan
(02:37):
about this big push to ban Employee of the month programs.
Apparently some HR departments think that the selection criteria is
too vague, and as a result of this, companies are
left open to being accused of favoritism. So a lot
of people are pushing to get rid of these things. Yeah,
and I guess you can see how people might complain
when they don't get it, And it kind of makes sense,
you know. I I like how Tristan took it into
(02:59):
his own hands and out himself a plaque. But why
why don't we stick to some of the more time
tested workplace innovations, ones that have already proven themselves to
be good ideas And one that I really like are
these professional readers who work in Cuban cigar factories. Readers
who work in Cuban cigar factories. Yeah, they're called electories,
and their job is to sit on a raised platform
(03:20):
inside a factory and read aloud to the people rolling
the cigars. There's usually some kind of p a system too,
so it isn't just them yelling, but it's it's pretty
great and it's a practice that's been going on in
Cuban factories for over a hundred and fifty years now,
and the electorias are are still they're just reading two
people to this day. Why is this like it's some
kind of enrichment or education program or what. Yeah, so
(03:42):
this is back in eight six five there was a
man named Nicolas as Karate. I'm sure I'm pronouncing that terribly,
but he was the leader of a political reform movement
in Havana, and he thought lictors would help in two ways. First,
they would help relieve the workers of their boredom. You know,
cigar roll all day has to be kind of a
tedious activity. But more importantly, it would help educate the
(04:05):
workers and broaden their minds about local and global issues.
And the public actually loved the ideas. So just one
year after the lectoria has arrived in the factories, the
Cuban newspaper um Law Aurora report on the program, and
this is where they wrote. Quote. Today, even in the
heart of the workshops and during the hours most suited
to manual labor, imaginations are busily questioning scientific and philosophical truth.
(04:29):
They're talking and discussing, They're reading the works of good
modern authors and consulting with each other. In short, they
are doing what they can to learn and to continue
along the path of civilization. So it's kind of hard
to say exactly what affects those readings had on the workers,
but it is worth noting that when Cuba want its
independence from Spain, it did so with the help of
these cigar workers, and it isn't a stretch to think
(04:53):
that many of them were inspired by the readings that
they heard at work. Yeah, not only that, And this
is something I really don't think most people would know.
But q but has one of the highest literacy rates
in the world, right, Like, I think it sounds like
nine point seven percent of the population, which you know,
it makes sense for a country where factory workers listen
to news and books all day long, I guess. But
you know, I'm assuming they read books out loud, too,
(05:15):
So so what kind of stuff do these electories read. Yeah,
it is a mix. The electoria's typically read in thirty
minutes shifts, so one shift might cover the major news
stories of the day and another might cover horoscopes or recipes.
But you're totally right about the books. The real need
of the programming is the dramatic reading of novels, which happens,
and that's when the lector is really good to show off,
(05:37):
like they act out multiple parts, they use different voices.
Sometimes they provide sound effects like their own effects, and
the workers can't get enough of it. In fact, when
they really like what they're hearing, they'll start tapping on
the table with the knives they use for the cigar
cutting and and it's basically their way to show their applause.
And I love that they applaud with knives, but it
(05:57):
doesn't It worries me a little bit and kind of
makes me wonder what happens if they don't like a reading. Yeah,
it could be dangerous, but actually that knife applause gets
used in different ways to write. The factories actually hold
auditions for these lectoria's, where each candidate's pronunciation and their
oratory flair is is scrutinized. I guess their sound effects
(06:17):
as well. And and then the workers put the whole
thing to a knife vote, and they also get a
vote on which texta read. Can you guess what the
top novel among these cigar rollers is? I mean, I
have no idea what Harry Potter? Yeah, I mean, that's
not a bad guess, but it's actually, uh, the Count
of Monte Cristo. Okay, also Jared Kushner's favorite book. But
(06:39):
and some lectoria's have even read the book multiple times
for the same group of workers, Like that's how popular
it is. But the thing I really like is that
Electora is basically the voice of the workers in their factory.
The workers choose the Electora and they choose the words
here she will read. But they also paid the electora's
wages themselves, using contributions from their salaries, so in a
very real way, the electora's speaks for them. But being
(07:02):
Electora can extend beyond the daily reading, so sometimes they
wind up taking on other jobs, like they announced plays
at the company baseball game, they'll perform the eulogy at
at employee funerals, and they even act as a middleman
for the workers speaking to management on their behalf. It's
really a role as like a community spokesman or like
almost like a union leader, as well as being a reader.
(07:23):
But I think that intimacy between that relationship is kind
of why the practice still endures today, even with like TV, smartphones,
even podcast I don't know if you've heard those, but
these are gonna be big some day. But Lectura kind
of has the workers back in a way that none
of those mediums can do exactly. Well. You know, there's
one thing I noticed when I was looking through the
(07:43):
research that Gabe sent us this week, and is that
the most effective office innovations tend to be the ones
that reinforced this feeling of humanity in the workplace. So
when you think about these, like for a lot of us,
this means you know, certain modern office staples like coffee
breaks or casual Fridays, but there are also things that
like homemade lunch delivery service that they have in Mumbai,
(08:04):
which is just can you imagine how much fun that
would be? Yeah, the double Wallas the dumble is actually
your lunch or lunch container and the wall as the
person who delivers it. I mean, it's crazy how old
this system actually is Apparently it's been in place for
them like a hundred and thirty years and there's more
than two hundred thousand people in the city that rely
on it to deliver their lunch each day. But what's
(08:26):
fascinating to me is that it's so efficient. So there
were some people from Harvard that did a study on this,
and it's actually estimated that for every six million meals
they handle, only one actually misses its destination. Like that
is efficient, way better track record than any food delivery
app that I can think of. Yeah, I mean my
families from Bombay and I didn't know those numbers. But
(08:49):
what's crazier to me is that the system is about
as analog as you can get. So each double wall
is responsible for finding his own customers, also for collecting
the money from them, and sort of the way it
used to work with milkman or paper boys. They're actually
the one doing the collections. So every day, each double
Walla bikes to his customers homes one by one, picks
(09:09):
up a freshly cooked meal from each one of them,
and then he takes these meals to their drop off points,
where they get grouped with a bunch of other meals
and sent off to this nearby train station. So from there,
the home cooked meals travel to a hub where they're
sorted by location and then finally sent out by bike
and delivered before lunchtime. And despite all of that, they
(09:30):
have that sort of track record. I mean, it's, I guess,
a wonderful organized chaos from everything I've read about. If
you know apprienently, it takes at least three months of
training just to memorize the coding system they use for
the different lunch boxes. I don't know if you've seen these,
but it's got like a jumble of colors and letters
and numbers. But you know, I can't get over how
much stress these guys must be under. Like not only
(09:52):
do they have to move the lunch boxes from one
train to another to get to the destinations, but if
you've ever tried to just take a train without doing
the lunch is an India that's its own chore. So
you know, if a double walla gets confused and and
this is his connection, that means a whole block where
the customers might miss their lunches. It's insanity, all right.
(10:13):
So just to clarify on this though, like this system
seems to be thriving despite the fact that they're probably
cheaper and easier ways to eat lunch at work. And
I'm curious, why do you think this is? I mean,
for some people it's a matter of health or hygiene,
like they don't want to eat anything that might get
them sick, and getting your dubble from home is is
a good way to ensure that doesn't happen. But more broadly,
(10:33):
I think the people goes back to the human component, like,
this isn't food that's been prepared by a stranger. It
was freshly cooked by a loved one for you, Which
is why I think it's such an enduring innovation. All right, Well,
now that we've looked at a few workplace trends from abroad,
I feel like we should circle back to the US
offices and trying to get a sense for how it's
evolved over the years. Sure, but before we do that,
(10:53):
let's take a quick break. You're listening to part Time
Genius and we're talking about office innovations that have changed
the way we work, sometimes for the better and sometimes
(11:15):
for the worst. Is it still an innovation if it
actually makes things worse? I think so, Like think about
think about the cubicle right, like it's it was super
innovative when it came on the scene in the nineteen sixties,
but plenty of office workers would argue that change was
not for the better. I mean, I guess that's true,
but you kind of have to look at the whole history.
I do think they're a little bit misunderstood. Like cubicles,
(11:38):
for all their faults, and of course there are many,
they were still a step up from the office layout
of yesteryear. So just as an example of this, in
the nineteenth century, American offices were these small, dingy places,
pop bellied stove and a bunch of clerks just kind
of piled on top of one another, and so it's
this cramp, smokey, just not pleasant space ace and there
(12:00):
was zero privacy. I know, when I think about that,
I almost think of like Scrooge's office in the Christmas Carol.
It was all exactly like that, Like that was true
to every single office. And I know you, Mango, so
I know you're picturing Scrooges office in the Muppet version
of the Christmas Carol, and you aren't far off. So
by the twentieth century, office spaces had thankfully spread out
a little bit, but soon they started to resemble factory floors.
(12:23):
You know, I think of these bulky flat desks set
up side by side, and so not only did this
arrangement maximize space, but it also made it easy for
supervisors to keep an eye on all of their employees.
So even though offices were bigger than they used to be,
personal privacy in this workplace sort of setting it was,
it was really nonexistent. It would, you know, It's kind
of stay this way until the cubicle came along in
(12:46):
the late nineteen sixties. Yeah, it's interesting, like we're so
used to thinking of cubicles in negative terms, like they're
blend or homogeneous, isolating, But that's probably because we pictured
the alternative as every employe having their own office with
the door. But cubicle will start to look a lot
more liberating when you remember that the status quo of
the era was almost like a bullpen with everyone just
(13:08):
working elbow to elbow. Yeah, that's exactly right, And you know,
it's strange to think about the cubicles really were intended
to bring a bit more humanity and individuality to the workplace,
or at least that was the goal of Robert Probes,
who was the inventor of the cubicle, and Probes was
the head of research at Herman Miller's furniture company. This
was in the nineteen fifties and the nineteen sixties, and
(13:30):
it was during the course of his work that he
got depressed about the state of the modern office. So
he wrote about this. This was actually from nineteen sixty
and he said, today's office is a waste land. It
SAPs fatality, blocks talent, frustrates accomplishment. It is the daily
scene of unfulfilled intentions and failed efforts. Such a wonderful idea,
(13:50):
I know you had some strong feelings there, He really did,
and so it inspired him to get, you know, to
work designing the ideal workspace. So he really did have
very good in engines here, and using research he collected
from design experts, Probes decided on this new, flexible, kind
of customizable approach, which he dubbed the action office. So
(14:11):
it consisted of a desk, a space for making phone calls,
a vertical filing system, and these three hinged partitions that
could be rearranged as needed to accommodate solo work. Or
in some cases collaborative work. And to be clear, though,
the Action Office was not a cubicle like. The idea
was to provide a mix of walls and desks of
(14:32):
various heights so that each workers set up their space
to match their own needs. And you know, it's kind
of a smart idea compared to what was out there.
And Proest included these acoustical panels to help block out
some of the sound of typing and other people's phone calls,
and so he even included this adjustable desk so that
people could stand while they worked, which you know, he
(14:53):
thought it would actually help improve employee blood flow in
the process. That's kind of amazing that he was that
ahead of his time with the standing deess and and
the panels. And I also love the branding the Action Office. Like,
the main problem was that nobody bought the Action Office.
Designers praised it as ingenious, but for companies and the executives,
(15:13):
the system was just like too high concept to buy into.
And so Propes and his team went back to the
drawing board and a year later they came out with
the Action Office too, So, you know, totally different thing here,
and it was cheaper and simpler, and unlike it's more
open minded predecessor, this new design had a very stock
(15:34):
model with a fixed desk and you know those humanizing
frills like shelves and better site lines that had previously
been available as options, but you know, most companies didn't
spend on them, and as a result, Prop's vision of
this sprawling, productive workspace gave way to his fenced in
office space that we really think of now when we
(15:55):
think of cubicles. When you talk about it that way,
it's almost like kind of what happened with the mall inventor,
Like who wanted to create those town squares and then
it ended up being just this commercial, like like pure
commerce place. Yeah, I know, we talked about that not
too long ago, and it's basically the same story with Probes.
So other furniture companies started making their own no frills
cubicles and offices became these more crowded and impersonal spaces
(16:19):
more than they had even before. And just like Ruin
with his shopping malls, Probes had to stand by and watches.
His invention became this new model for that very corporate
sameness that he'd been trying to get rid of. And
in fact, I pulled this quote from him that shows
how disappointed he was in the whole thing. He says,
not all organizations are intelligent and progressive. Lots are run
(16:40):
by crass people. They make little bitty cubicles and stuff
people in them. Barren, rat hole places, monolithic insanity. I
don't want to read this guy's quotes. Just over and
I've got more rat whole places. He has not mincing words,
very very descriptive. So so probes passed away in the
year two ols and it makes you wonder what he
(17:01):
would think of the return to the open office layout
that we've really seen come about in the last twenty
years or so. I mean, don't get me wrong about
thirty of American employees still work in cubicles, and the
industry makes a couple billion dollars in sales every year.
But open floor plans have become the new normal again,
and that's thanks largely to the tech industry and the
(17:22):
cubicle you know, could be on its way out at last.
It is strange to see that pendulum, right, It just
swings from one side to the other and back. But
it's also weird that we can't find our way to
the middle. Like, there's so many studies that show that
open offices actually decreased productivity. One study from the Cohen
Brown Management Group found that office workers lose between three
(17:43):
to five hours of productive time every day in an
open office. And that's because they're constantly being interrupted in
some way by the people around them. And the worst
part is that those interruptions aren't even worth the bother
in most cases. Like, according to a professor of management
at n y U, and her name is Ann lar Fiard,
this is a quote, many studies show that people have
(18:03):
shorter and more superficial conversations in open because they're self
conscious about being overheard. You know. It's interesting because I've
always heard that the biggest benefit to an open office
is that the employees, you know, they interact, they collaborate
so much more than in a partitioned office, I guess,
But but I think that benefit make it canceled out
if the interactions are mostly hollow, right, Yeah, I think
(18:25):
the real thing open office plans have going for them
is that they're way cheaper than going to cubicle route.
You can get by with three times less office space
if you just use an open floor plan and you
don't have to worry about fitting in a bunch of big,
boxy cubes. All right, So open offices are less expensive
and they can make it seem like your company is
really shaking things up, I guess. But you know, on
(18:46):
their own, they aren't enough to make workers anymore creative
or more productive. So so what kind of innovation would
actually do that? I mean, there's got to be something, right. Yeah,
I've got a few fun options that we can run through.
But let's take another quick break. Welcome back to part
(19:15):
time Genius. All right, Mango, you promised this. You're going
to give us some picks for the best ways to
boost productivity at work, and you can't say nappods again.
You've got to come up with something. Well, I've got
something much better in mind, and it is cheaper, because,
according to recent studies, one way to improve your job
performance is just by making your coworkers laugh. That actually
(19:36):
makes me think of like bosses starting to do impressions
like they're Michael Scott in the office or something like that,
and I'm curious, like whose performance does it actually help
the joke teller or the person laughing. So that's a
really great part about this. It affects both parties, and
for the person making the jokes, the benefit is a
boosting social status. In two thousands, sixteen, researchers at the
(19:57):
Harvard Business School concluded that when an employee makes a
coworkers laugh, that person is quote perceived as more competent,
more confident, and higher in status. That's just some revolutionary
research there. And so what about for the people laughing,
They actually get something good out of it as well.
They get stress relief, entertainment, and a stronger sense of
engagement and collaboration. I mean, this is all studies backed.
(20:20):
And then there's the physical changes like for example, laughing
increases your intake of oxygen and that turned up to
the amount of endorphins that your brain releases. Plus laughter
can stimulate circulation and relax your muscles, so it's great
for relieving physical stress, all right. So, just to play
Devil's advocate on this for for for a second, have
there been any studies on whether laughing actually improved productivity
(20:41):
because stress relief, endorphins connecting with your coworkers, and it
makes sense that it would make net positive results, I guess,
but I'm just wondering if researchers have actually been able
to prove this. Yeah, I mean that's fair. I think
it's a little tricky just because every company is going
to have its own different measures of productivity, so it's
not like you'll be able to prove the fact of
laughter across the board or anything. But uh, you know,
(21:03):
I I did read about one study that came out
of the University of Bristol a few years back where
the researchers tried to determine if there really was a
link between happiness and productivity. And what they did was
they gathered a bunch of volunteers and split them into
two groups, and the first group watched a funny video
clip that was meant to make them laugh, and the
second group didn't watch anything. And then the members in
both groups were given a set of addition problems and
(21:25):
charged with solving as many as they could within i
don't know, like ten minutes or something. So in this case,
productivity was measured by the number of problems solved correctly,
and as you're probably guessing, you know, the result was
the employees who laughed at the clip were a full
ten percent more productive than the employees who hadn't watched
the clip, so it's not definitive, but there's still a
(21:45):
good reason to think that laughter in the workplace is
kind of a win for everyone. I mean, it doesn't
make sense when you think about in terms of headspace
and how laughter can know of course, improve your mood. Yeah,
because it's actually the same thing that happens with music.
Like I'm thinking about all those studies you see about
how listening to music when you work and actually put
you in a better mood. You know. I was actually
looking at that this week because I wasn't sure how
much truth there was to that claim. And personally, I'm
(22:09):
some sometimes in one camp and sometimes in the other
where I feel like music is like great in the
background and I'm really humming along, and then sometimes I
feel like it's so distracting. But I mean, I've read
some of those studies that you mentioned as well, though.
What was the verdict. Well, it turns out it kind
of depends on what you're listening to. So if you're
listening to music that you enjoy at work, then you're
likely to experience a mood boost of about nine of
(22:32):
the time, or at least that's according to one expert
that there was this music therapy professor in Miami name
Teresa Lessie Yuck, And the reason for that boost is
that when you listen to music you like, it activates
the pleasure center in your brain, which of course feels good.
So by the same token, if you're listening to music
you can't stand, then you probably won't get the same results,
(22:53):
which makes sense. But now it feels like we're running
into the same question you have with the laughter case,
like does being in a good mood really make you
a more productive worker or is that just something we
kind of take as a given. Well, like you said,
I mean, there probably isn't one single study that could
prove all of this, But according to Lessieu, there is
evidence that people are more productive when they're in a
positive mood. And as you put it, when you're in
(23:14):
that mood state, you're better at problem solving and thinking creatively.
You take in more options and don't narrow your focus.
And that kind of tracks because you know, your pleasure
center isn't the only part of the brain that lights
up when you listen to good music or when you laugh.
The other area that gets stimulated is the specific neural
pathway that runs through the limbic system all the way
(23:35):
up to the orbital frontal cortex. And as I'm sure
we all remember, I only remember because I'm looking at
my notes here to be honest with you, that that's
the part of the brain that deals with decision making.
So essentially, when that part of the brain is stimulated,
the result is this spike in creativity and problem solving.
And here's how you can tell that there's truth to this.
(23:56):
So several companies are trying to cash in on these
neurological ben fits by creating music that's specifically designed to
improve your mood and productivity at work, and it's called
streamlined music. It's pay special attention to the key and
tempo of songs in order to maximize the effect they
have on an employee's limbic system. So the jury is
still out on how well the system works, but the
(24:19):
takeaway so far is that it really can improve the
quote perceived focus, task persistence, precognition, and creative thinking of listeners.
So if nothing else, at least we've got a good
excuse to listen to music in the office. Now, Yeah,
I think it'll go over well if you just tell
your boss your head banging and working on your Excel sheets,
that you're just stimulating your limbic system, I guess, and
(24:40):
I'm sure they won't have any follow up questions to that.
So speak of being things awkward at work, there's one
more unusual innovation we should mention for office workers, and
that's a roma therapy. I mean, it's funny because I've
seen these office diffusers online, like you just squired a
couple of drops of your favorite essential oil into this
scent pad thing and then plug it into your US
speed port. It is pretty weird, to be honest with you,
(25:02):
I know, And initially it sounded like less a way
to improve the workplace and more like a good way
to alienate your coworkers. I remember when the Internet was
just starting and and and people were talking about what
the future of the Internet would be, and people were
saying that, you know, having sent through your computer to
like enhance the roma of of a food article or
whatever would be exciting. And then the response to immediately
(25:24):
was that trolls would hack your system and send out
fart bombs, and so that's sort of smell vision of
the internet hasn't come about. But this is a much
safer way to make sure you're surrounded by good smells
and and being more meditative about your work. I guess well,
speaking of focus, how about we keep our eye on
the prize, not not Tristan's employee the month prize, but
(25:44):
the fact off prize. Sounds good. M all right, I'm
gonna start with my favorite office perk of all time.
It's the sixty five ft tall indoor ferris wheel. It's
permanently housed in the headquarters of Acuity Insurance in Sheboygan, Wisconsin,
(26:05):
and these lucky employees there get to write it basically
whenever they want. And if this all sounds a little
bit decadent, keep in mind that the rides primary purpose
is to serve as a fund centerpiece for fundraising events
for local charities, so in fact, it's even nicknamed the
Charity Wheel for that very reason. That's really sweet, but
it also seems like a good way to sell insurance,
like maybe you need some insurance before you hop on
(26:27):
this giant old ferris wheel. Actually, Acuity has these other
unusual perks going forward as well, including a forty five
foot tall climbing wall of four hundred foot tall flagpole
and a dress code that's described as jeens friendly. Yeah,
the last one is a real selling point. But you know,
(26:48):
for me, probably the coolest park I came across is
the maternity leave program for employees at a company called
Vota Phone. They're a UK based telecommunications provider and a
few years ago they noticed a troubling pattern in their workforce.
It seemed that a high number of female employees were
leaving the company soon after returning from maturity leave, and
in nearly two thirds of these cases, the women did
so within a year of having their baby, so obviously
(27:10):
not an ideal retention rate. Vota Phone decided to change
their policy and attempt to combat the problem, and the
result is one of the most compassionate maternity leave programs
in the world. So women who work at Vota Phone
are now entitled at least sixteen weeks of fully paid
maternity leave, and it's followed by thirty hour work weeks
paid at full salary for six months after they returned
to work. Actually, speaking of pregnancy, and I know that
(27:33):
there's going to be an age gap and too who
knows this fact and who thinks this is really weird?
But actually getting pregnant used to be a fireable offense
in the US, which is just sort of mind boggling.
It sounds made up, But until the late nineteen seventies,
employers were permitted to fire women just because they were expecting,
and the practice was considered like a cost cutting measure
(27:54):
aimed at saving a company money on you know, maternity
leave health benefits, and it was pretty pop or two so,
according to the Department of Labor, during the mid nineteen sixties,
only of first time mothers worked while pregnant, compared to
a close to seventy today, And the crucial factor behind
(28:14):
that uptick was the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which finally put
an end to this firing practice, and that happened in
nineteen seventy eight, the year before the two of us
were born, thank you. Yeah, And obviously there's so much
work to be done on that front to make it
a truly level playing field. You know, this next one
is something surprising that I kind of wish I hadn't
learned this week. So, you know, all those long running
(28:34):
rumors that you hear around the office, but like the
one about Tristan winning the pick leading contest at last
year's Atlanta County Fair was that one that rumorable? I
don't know if that one's true, but but if you
do hear an office rumor, there's a good chance it
is true. Or at least that's what researchers found at
the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of South Australia.
According to them, a workplace grapevine is like one big
(28:57):
truth detector. Baseless gossa gets dropped fast because one person
or another can usually debunk it. But if there's truth
to a rumor, it tends to persist and all the
embellishments and guesswork around it are gradually shaved away. So
this is what one of the authors behind the study
said about it. Quote. In a workplace setting, what we
call a stable organizational grapevine, people are very good at
(29:21):
figuring out the truth. If you tell me something and
I work closely with you, I know whether you're a
credible source. But even if I'm not so sure, in
workplace settings, it's easy to cross check information. So, in
a weird way, the longer that a rumor is circulated
among employees, like the pickle one about Tristan, the more
accurate it is. You know, It's weird because it kind
of feels like a reverse game of telephone, like the
(29:42):
message actually gets clear from person to person, which is
not not what you would think would happen. But alright,
well here's a quick one. The largest office building in
the world is actually the Pentagon in Washington, d C.
So even though it's only seven stories tall, the building's
unique shape makes it super a along like giving it.
I think it has a whopping three point seven million
(30:04):
square feet of floor space, So that's three times the
square footage of the Empire State Building and room enough
for more than twenty three thousand employees. That's crazy. So
here's what I like. There's one Starbucks in the world
that will never spell your name wrong on the order,
the c I A Starbucks also known as Store Number one,
and it's apparently the only store of the more than
(30:26):
twenty th Starbucks that will never ask for your name,
and that's because, thanks to CIA rules, it is not allowed. Well,
so how did the baristas know what you ordered? I mean,
they're just that good. Like they have to go through
intense training and background checks, and then when they finally
get the job, they just quickly learned to pair drink
orders with faces. I love that and it makes a
(30:47):
lot of sense. Yeah, I mean it does. But it
also seems like the CIA is smart enough that people
could make up fake names, right, Like my father in
law just decided that his local Starbucks he'd only be
known as wand so when he walks in, everyone greets
him as one like he's wanting to tars. But I
guess not having to say your name is easier. That's
(31:08):
pretty great, all right, Well, I think because of that,
both the great fact and the story about your father
in law, you've earned the trophy for today. So congratulations,
thank you so much, and and that is all for
today's Part Time Genius, but from Gabe Lowell, Will and me,
thanks as always for listening, and I think we'll be
back soon with another episode. Part Time Genius is a
(31:43):
production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio.
I Guess what Will? What's that? Man? Have you seen
these nap pods around? The companies have started using in
their offices, of course, And actually I feel like I
remember from years ago. Did didn't you take a field
trip to one of these things? One time I did
so Jason English and I heard about these at the
(00:24):
Empire State Building and so we went to a nap
room and got a nap pass and you kind of
just lie down in the space age recliner that looks
like an egg and and rest. It does look like
can he. But for some reason, every time I see
one of those, it makes me think of pac Man
and just like eating these people. So there's something about it.
It makes me a little hesitant to get in one
of those things. Yeah, but I kind of love that
(00:47):
they are, these weird little pods and their soundproof and ergonomic,
and they've got colors that come in to wake you up.
You know. The one time I did it, not only
did I feel rested, but I woke up refreshed. So
I actually looked into them for our office and did
you know they go for like thirteen grand a pop.
It's a little out of our price range, but it
(01:08):
did give me thinking about all the ways that the
workplace has changed over the years. I mean, there was
a time not too long ago when sleeping on the
job was a fireball offense. But now it's a part
of employee wellness programs that everywhere from like Nike to
Google to Ben and Jerry's. So with that kind of
change in mind, I thought i'd be fun to take
a tour through the history of office innovations, from surprising
(01:28):
programs adopted in other countries to the rise and fall
of the office cubicle. Let's dive in. Y Hey, their
(01:55):
podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and it's always I'm joined by my good friend Manges
Ticketer on the other side of that soundproof glass. Look
at him just polishing that thing. He's polishing this shiny
new Employee of the Month blaque. That's our friend and
producer Tristan McNeil. I didn't even know we hadn't employed
in the month program. We we we actually don't mango.
(02:16):
He gave himself the employee them on the ward. It
was kind of a power move, you know, he's he's
a little bit into these power moves, and and I
think this is because he's now handed over the producing duties.
And of course Tristan is still going to be around,
but these are now going to the wonderful lull Berlante.
So to be fair, I think I'm at least partially
to blame for this, because last week I told Tristan
(02:37):
about this big push to ban Employee of the month programs.
Apparently some HR departments think that the selection criteria is
too vague, and as a result of this, companies are
left open to being accused of favoritism. So a lot
of people are pushing to get rid of these things. Yeah,
and I guess you can see how people might complain
when they don't get it, And it kind of makes sense,
you know. I I like how Tristan took it into
(02:59):
his own hands and out himself a plaque. But why
why don't we stick to some of the more time
tested workplace innovations, ones that have already proven themselves to
be good ideas And one that I really like are
these professional readers who work in Cuban cigar factories. Readers
who work in Cuban cigar factories. Yeah, they're called electories,
and their job is to sit on a raised platform
(03:20):
inside a factory and read aloud to the people rolling
the cigars. There's usually some kind of p a system too,
so it isn't just them yelling, but it's it's pretty
great and it's a practice that's been going on in
Cuban factories for over a hundred and fifty years now,
and the electorias are are still they're just reading two
people to this day. Why is this like it's some
kind of enrichment or education program or what. Yeah, so
(03:42):
this is back in eight six five there was a
man named Nicolas as Karate. I'm sure I'm pronouncing that terribly,
but he was the leader of a political reform movement
in Havana, and he thought lictors would help in two ways. First,
they would help relieve the workers of their boredom. You know,
cigar roll all day has to be kind of a
tedious activity. But more importantly, it would help educate the
(04:05):
workers and broaden their minds about local and global issues.
And the public actually loved the ideas. So just one
year after the lectoria has arrived in the factories, the
Cuban newspaper um Law Aurora report on the program, and
this is where they wrote. Quote. Today, even in the
heart of the workshops and during the hours most suited
to manual labor, imaginations are busily questioning scientific and philosophical truth.
(04:29):
They're talking and discussing, They're reading the works of good
modern authors and consulting with each other. In short, they
are doing what they can to learn and to continue
along the path of civilization. So it's kind of hard
to say exactly what affects those readings had on the workers,
but it is worth noting that when Cuba want its
independence from Spain, it did so with the help of
these cigar workers, and it isn't a stretch to think
(04:53):
that many of them were inspired by the readings that
they heard at work. Yeah, not only that, And this
is something I really don't think most people would know.
But q but has one of the highest literacy rates
in the world, right, Like, I think it sounds like
nine point seven percent of the population, which you know,
it makes sense for a country where factory workers listen
to news and books all day long, I guess. But
you know, I'm assuming they read books out loud, too,
(05:15):
So so what kind of stuff do these electories read. Yeah,
it is a mix. The electoria's typically read in thirty
minutes shifts, so one shift might cover the major news
stories of the day and another might cover horoscopes or recipes.
But you're totally right about the books. The real need
of the programming is the dramatic reading of novels, which happens,
and that's when the lector is really good to show off,
(05:37):
like they act out multiple parts, they use different voices.
Sometimes they provide sound effects like their own effects, and
the workers can't get enough of it. In fact, when
they really like what they're hearing, they'll start tapping on
the table with the knives they use for the cigar
cutting and and it's basically their way to show their applause.
And I love that they applaud with knives, but it
(05:57):
doesn't It worries me a little bit and kind of
makes me wonder what happens if they don't like a reading. Yeah,
it could be dangerous, but actually that knife applause gets
used in different ways to write. The factories actually hold
auditions for these lectoria's, where each candidate's pronunciation and their
oratory flair is is scrutinized. I guess their sound effects
(06:17):
as well. And and then the workers put the whole
thing to a knife vote, and they also get a
vote on which texta read. Can you guess what the
top novel among these cigar rollers is? I mean, I
have no idea what Harry Potter? Yeah, I mean, that's
not a bad guess, but it's actually, uh, the Count
of Monte Cristo. Okay, also Jared Kushner's favorite book. But
(06:39):
and some lectoria's have even read the book multiple times
for the same group of workers, Like that's how popular
it is. But the thing I really like is that
Electora is basically the voice of the workers in their factory.
The workers choose the Electora and they choose the words
here she will read. But they also paid the electora's
wages themselves, using contributions from their salaries, so in a
very real way, the electora's speaks for them. But being
(07:02):
Electora can extend beyond the daily reading, so sometimes they
wind up taking on other jobs, like they announced plays
at the company baseball game, they'll perform the eulogy at
at employee funerals, and they even act as a middleman
for the workers speaking to management on their behalf. It's
really a role as like a community spokesman or like
almost like a union leader, as well as being a reader.
(07:23):
But I think that intimacy between that relationship is kind
of why the practice still endures today, even with like TV, smartphones,
even podcast I don't know if you've heard those, but
these are gonna be big some day. But Lectura kind
of has the workers back in a way that none
of those mediums can do exactly. Well. You know, there's
one thing I noticed when I was looking through the
(07:43):
research that Gabe sent us this week, and is that
the most effective office innovations tend to be the ones
that reinforced this feeling of humanity in the workplace. So
when you think about these, like for a lot of us,
this means you know, certain modern office staples like coffee
breaks or casual Fridays, but there are also things that
like homemade lunch delivery service that they have in Mumbai,
(08:04):
which is just can you imagine how much fun that
would be? Yeah, the double Wallas the dumble is actually
your lunch or lunch container and the wall as the
person who delivers it. I mean, it's crazy how old
this system actually is Apparently it's been in place for
them like a hundred and thirty years and there's more
than two hundred thousand people in the city that rely
on it to deliver their lunch each day. But what's
(08:26):
fascinating to me is that it's so efficient. So there
were some people from Harvard that did a study on this,
and it's actually estimated that for every six million meals
they handle, only one actually misses its destination. Like that
is efficient, way better track record than any food delivery
app that I can think of. Yeah, I mean my
families from Bombay and I didn't know those numbers. But
(08:49):
what's crazier to me is that the system is about
as analog as you can get. So each double wall
is responsible for finding his own customers, also for collecting
the money from them, and sort of the way it
used to work with milkman or paper boys. They're actually
the one doing the collections. So every day, each double
Walla bikes to his customers homes one by one, picks
(09:09):
up a freshly cooked meal from each one of them,
and then he takes these meals to their drop off points,
where they get grouped with a bunch of other meals
and sent off to this nearby train station. So from there,
the home cooked meals travel to a hub where they're
sorted by location and then finally sent out by bike
and delivered before lunchtime. And despite all of that, they
(09:30):
have that sort of track record. I mean, it's, I guess,
a wonderful organized chaos from everything I've read about. If
you know apprienently, it takes at least three months of
training just to memorize the coding system they use for
the different lunch boxes. I don't know if you've seen these,
but it's got like a jumble of colors and letters
and numbers. But you know, I can't get over how
much stress these guys must be under. Like not only
(09:52):
do they have to move the lunch boxes from one
train to another to get to the destinations, but if
you've ever tried to just take a train without doing
the lunch is an India that's its own chore. So
you know, if a double walla gets confused and and
this is his connection, that means a whole block where
the customers might miss their lunches. It's insanity, all right.
(10:13):
So just to clarify on this though, like this system
seems to be thriving despite the fact that they're probably
cheaper and easier ways to eat lunch at work. And
I'm curious, why do you think this is? I mean,
for some people it's a matter of health or hygiene,
like they don't want to eat anything that might get
them sick, and getting your dubble from home is is
a good way to ensure that doesn't happen. But more broadly,
(10:33):
I think the people goes back to the human component, like,
this isn't food that's been prepared by a stranger. It
was freshly cooked by a loved one for you, Which
is why I think it's such an enduring innovation. All right, Well,
now that we've looked at a few workplace trends from abroad,
I feel like we should circle back to the US
offices and trying to get a sense for how it's
evolved over the years. Sure, but before we do that,
(10:53):
let's take a quick break. You're listening to part Time
Genius and we're talking about office innovations that have changed
the way we work, sometimes for the better and sometimes
(11:15):
for the worst. Is it still an innovation if it
actually makes things worse? I think so, Like think about
think about the cubicle right, like it's it was super
innovative when it came on the scene in the nineteen sixties,
but plenty of office workers would argue that change was
not for the better. I mean, I guess that's true,
but you kind of have to look at the whole history.
I do think they're a little bit misunderstood. Like cubicles,
(11:38):
for all their faults, and of course there are many,
they were still a step up from the office layout
of yesteryear. So just as an example of this, in
the nineteenth century, American offices were these small, dingy places,
pop bellied stove and a bunch of clerks just kind
of piled on top of one another, and so it's
this cramp, smokey, just not pleasant space ace and there
(12:00):
was zero privacy. I know, when I think about that,
I almost think of like Scrooge's office in the Christmas Carol.
It was all exactly like that, Like that was true
to every single office. And I know you, Mango, so
I know you're picturing Scrooges office in the Muppet version
of the Christmas Carol, and you aren't far off. So
by the twentieth century, office spaces had thankfully spread out
a little bit, but soon they started to resemble factory floors.
(12:23):
You know, I think of these bulky flat desks set
up side by side, and so not only did this
arrangement maximize space, but it also made it easy for
supervisors to keep an eye on all of their employees.
So even though offices were bigger than they used to be,
personal privacy in this workplace sort of setting it was,
it was really nonexistent. It would, you know, It's kind
of stay this way until the cubicle came along in
(12:46):
the late nineteen sixties. Yeah, it's interesting, like we're so
used to thinking of cubicles in negative terms, like they're
blend or homogeneous, isolating, But that's probably because we pictured
the alternative as every employe having their own office with
the door. But cubicle will start to look a lot
more liberating when you remember that the status quo of
the era was almost like a bullpen with everyone just
(13:08):
working elbow to elbow. Yeah, that's exactly right, And you know,
it's strange to think about the cubicles really were intended
to bring a bit more humanity and individuality to the workplace,
or at least that was the goal of Robert Probes,
who was the inventor of the cubicle, and Probes was
the head of research at Herman Miller's furniture company. This
was in the nineteen fifties and the nineteen sixties, and
(13:30):
it was during the course of his work that he
got depressed about the state of the modern office. So
he wrote about this. This was actually from nineteen sixty
and he said, today's office is a waste land. It
SAPs fatality, blocks talent, frustrates accomplishment. It is the daily
scene of unfulfilled intentions and failed efforts. Such a wonderful idea,
(13:50):
I know you had some strong feelings there, He really did,
and so it inspired him to get, you know, to
work designing the ideal workspace. So he really did have
very good in engines here, and using research he collected
from design experts, Probes decided on this new, flexible, kind
of customizable approach, which he dubbed the action office. So
(14:11):
it consisted of a desk, a space for making phone calls,
a vertical filing system, and these three hinged partitions that
could be rearranged as needed to accommodate solo work. Or
in some cases collaborative work. And to be clear, though,
the Action Office was not a cubicle like. The idea
was to provide a mix of walls and desks of
(14:32):
various heights so that each workers set up their space
to match their own needs. And you know, it's kind
of a smart idea compared to what was out there.
And Proest included these acoustical panels to help block out
some of the sound of typing and other people's phone calls,
and so he even included this adjustable desk so that
people could stand while they worked, which you know, he
(14:53):
thought it would actually help improve employee blood flow in
the process. That's kind of amazing that he was that
ahead of his time with the standing deess and and
the panels. And I also love the branding the Action Office. Like,
the main problem was that nobody bought the Action Office.
Designers praised it as ingenious, but for companies and the executives,
(15:13):
the system was just like too high concept to buy into.
And so Propes and his team went back to the
drawing board and a year later they came out with
the Action Office too, So, you know, totally different thing here,
and it was cheaper and simpler, and unlike it's more
open minded predecessor, this new design had a very stock
(15:34):
model with a fixed desk and you know those humanizing
frills like shelves and better site lines that had previously
been available as options, but you know, most companies didn't
spend on them, and as a result, Prop's vision of
this sprawling, productive workspace gave way to his fenced in
office space that we really think of now when we
(15:55):
think of cubicles. When you talk about it that way,
it's almost like kind of what happened with the mall inventor,
Like who wanted to create those town squares and then
it ended up being just this commercial, like like pure
commerce place. Yeah, I know, we talked about that not
too long ago, and it's basically the same story with Probes.
So other furniture companies started making their own no frills
cubicles and offices became these more crowded and impersonal spaces
(16:19):
more than they had even before. And just like Ruin
with his shopping malls, Probes had to stand by and watches.
His invention became this new model for that very corporate
sameness that he'd been trying to get rid of. And
in fact, I pulled this quote from him that shows
how disappointed he was in the whole thing. He says,
not all organizations are intelligent and progressive. Lots are run
(16:40):
by crass people. They make little bitty cubicles and stuff
people in them. Barren, rat hole places, monolithic insanity. I
don't want to read this guy's quotes. Just over and
I've got more rat whole places. He has not mincing words,
very very descriptive. So so probes passed away in the
year two ols and it makes you wonder what he
(17:01):
would think of the return to the open office layout
that we've really seen come about in the last twenty
years or so. I mean, don't get me wrong about
thirty of American employees still work in cubicles, and the
industry makes a couple billion dollars in sales every year.
But open floor plans have become the new normal again,
and that's thanks largely to the tech industry and the
(17:22):
cubicle you know, could be on its way out at last.
It is strange to see that pendulum, right, It just
swings from one side to the other and back. But
it's also weird that we can't find our way to
the middle. Like, there's so many studies that show that
open offices actually decreased productivity. One study from the Cohen
Brown Management Group found that office workers lose between three
(17:43):
to five hours of productive time every day in an
open office. And that's because they're constantly being interrupted in
some way by the people around them. And the worst
part is that those interruptions aren't even worth the bother
in most cases. Like, according to a professor of management
at n y U, and her name is Ann lar Fiard,
this is a quote, many studies show that people have
(18:03):
shorter and more superficial conversations in open because they're self
conscious about being overheard. You know. It's interesting because I've
always heard that the biggest benefit to an open office
is that the employees, you know, they interact, they collaborate
so much more than in a partitioned office, I guess,
But but I think that benefit make it canceled out
if the interactions are mostly hollow, right, Yeah, I think
(18:25):
the real thing open office plans have going for them
is that they're way cheaper than going to cubicle route.
You can get by with three times less office space
if you just use an open floor plan and you
don't have to worry about fitting in a bunch of big,
boxy cubes. All right, So open offices are less expensive
and they can make it seem like your company is
really shaking things up, I guess. But you know, on
(18:46):
their own, they aren't enough to make workers anymore creative
or more productive. So so what kind of innovation would
actually do that? I mean, there's got to be something, right. Yeah,
I've got a few fun options that we can run through.
But let's take another quick break. Welcome back to part
(19:15):
time Genius. All right, Mango, you promised this. You're going
to give us some picks for the best ways to
boost productivity at work, and you can't say nappods again.
You've got to come up with something. Well, I've got
something much better in mind, and it is cheaper, because,
according to recent studies, one way to improve your job
performance is just by making your coworkers laugh. That actually
(19:36):
makes me think of like bosses starting to do impressions
like they're Michael Scott in the office or something like that,
and I'm curious, like whose performance does it actually help
the joke teller or the person laughing. So that's a
really great part about this. It affects both parties, and
for the person making the jokes, the benefit is a
boosting social status. In two thousands, sixteen, researchers at the
(19:57):
Harvard Business School concluded that when an employee makes a
coworkers laugh, that person is quote perceived as more competent,
more confident, and higher in status. That's just some revolutionary
research there. And so what about for the people laughing,
They actually get something good out of it as well.
They get stress relief, entertainment, and a stronger sense of
engagement and collaboration. I mean, this is all studies backed.
(20:20):
And then there's the physical changes like for example, laughing
increases your intake of oxygen and that turned up to
the amount of endorphins that your brain releases. Plus laughter
can stimulate circulation and relax your muscles, so it's great
for relieving physical stress, all right. So, just to play
Devil's advocate on this for for for a second, have
there been any studies on whether laughing actually improved productivity
(20:41):
because stress relief, endorphins connecting with your coworkers, and it
makes sense that it would make net positive results, I guess,
but I'm just wondering if researchers have actually been able
to prove this. Yeah, I mean that's fair. I think
it's a little tricky just because every company is going
to have its own different measures of productivity, so it's
not like you'll be able to prove the fact of
laughter across the board or anything. But uh, you know,
(21:03):
I I did read about one study that came out
of the University of Bristol a few years back where
the researchers tried to determine if there really was a
link between happiness and productivity. And what they did was
they gathered a bunch of volunteers and split them into
two groups, and the first group watched a funny video
clip that was meant to make them laugh, and the
second group didn't watch anything. And then the members in
both groups were given a set of addition problems and
(21:25):
charged with solving as many as they could within i
don't know, like ten minutes or something. So in this case,
productivity was measured by the number of problems solved correctly,
and as you're probably guessing, you know, the result was
the employees who laughed at the clip were a full
ten percent more productive than the employees who hadn't watched
the clip, so it's not definitive, but there's still a
(21:45):
good reason to think that laughter in the workplace is
kind of a win for everyone. I mean, it doesn't
make sense when you think about in terms of headspace
and how laughter can know of course, improve your mood. Yeah,
because it's actually the same thing that happens with music.
Like I'm thinking about all those studies you see about
how listening to music when you work and actually put
you in a better mood. You know. I was actually
looking at that this week because I wasn't sure how
much truth there was to that claim. And personally, I'm
(22:09):
some sometimes in one camp and sometimes in the other
where I feel like music is like great in the
background and I'm really humming along, and then sometimes I
feel like it's so distracting. But I mean, I've read
some of those studies that you mentioned as well, though.
What was the verdict. Well, it turns out it kind
of depends on what you're listening to. So if you're
listening to music that you enjoy at work, then you're
likely to experience a mood boost of about nine of
(22:32):
the time, or at least that's according to one expert
that there was this music therapy professor in Miami name
Teresa Lessie Yuck, And the reason for that boost is
that when you listen to music you like, it activates
the pleasure center in your brain, which of course feels good.
So by the same token, if you're listening to music
you can't stand, then you probably won't get the same results,
(22:53):
which makes sense. But now it feels like we're running
into the same question you have with the laughter case,
like does being in a good mood really make you
a more productive worker or is that just something we
kind of take as a given. Well, like you said,
I mean, there probably isn't one single study that could
prove all of this, But according to Lessieu, there is
evidence that people are more productive when they're in a
positive mood. And as you put it, when you're in
(23:14):
that mood state, you're better at problem solving and thinking creatively.
You take in more options and don't narrow your focus.
And that kind of tracks because you know, your pleasure
center isn't the only part of the brain that lights
up when you listen to good music or when you laugh.
The other area that gets stimulated is the specific neural
pathway that runs through the limbic system all the way
(23:35):
up to the orbital frontal cortex. And as I'm sure
we all remember, I only remember because I'm looking at
my notes here to be honest with you, that that's
the part of the brain that deals with decision making.
So essentially, when that part of the brain is stimulated,
the result is this spike in creativity and problem solving.
And here's how you can tell that there's truth to this.
(23:56):
So several companies are trying to cash in on these
neurological ben fits by creating music that's specifically designed to
improve your mood and productivity at work, and it's called
streamlined music. It's pay special attention to the key and
tempo of songs in order to maximize the effect they
have on an employee's limbic system. So the jury is
still out on how well the system works, but the
(24:19):
takeaway so far is that it really can improve the
quote perceived focus, task persistence, precognition, and creative thinking of listeners.
So if nothing else, at least we've got a good
excuse to listen to music in the office. Now, Yeah,
I think it'll go over well if you just tell
your boss your head banging and working on your Excel sheets,
that you're just stimulating your limbic system, I guess, and
(24:40):
I'm sure they won't have any follow up questions to that.
So speak of being things awkward at work, there's one
more unusual innovation we should mention for office workers, and
that's a roma therapy. I mean, it's funny because I've
seen these office diffusers online, like you just squired a
couple of drops of your favorite essential oil into this
scent pad thing and then plug it into your US
speed port. It is pretty weird, to be honest with you,
(25:02):
I know, And initially it sounded like less a way
to improve the workplace and more like a good way
to alienate your coworkers. I remember when the Internet was
just starting and and and people were talking about what
the future of the Internet would be, and people were
saying that, you know, having sent through your computer to
like enhance the roma of of a food article or
whatever would be exciting. And then the response to immediately
(25:24):
was that trolls would hack your system and send out
fart bombs, and so that's sort of smell vision of
the internet hasn't come about. But this is a much
safer way to make sure you're surrounded by good smells
and and being more meditative about your work. I guess well,
speaking of focus, how about we keep our eye on
the prize, not not Tristan's employee the month prize, but
(25:44):
the fact off prize. Sounds good. M all right, I'm
gonna start with my favorite office perk of all time.
It's the sixty five ft tall indoor ferris wheel. It's
permanently housed in the headquarters of Acuity Insurance in Sheboygan, Wisconsin,
(26:05):
and these lucky employees there get to write it basically
whenever they want. And if this all sounds a little
bit decadent, keep in mind that the rides primary purpose
is to serve as a fund centerpiece for fundraising events
for local charities, so in fact, it's even nicknamed the
Charity Wheel for that very reason. That's really sweet, but
it also seems like a good way to sell insurance,
like maybe you need some insurance before you hop on
(26:27):
this giant old ferris wheel. Actually, Acuity has these other
unusual perks going forward as well, including a forty five
foot tall climbing wall of four hundred foot tall flagpole
and a dress code that's described as jeens friendly. Yeah,
the last one is a real selling point. But you know,
(26:48):
for me, probably the coolest park I came across is
the maternity leave program for employees at a company called
Vota Phone. They're a UK based telecommunications provider and a
few years ago they noticed a troubling pattern in their workforce.
It seemed that a high number of female employees were
leaving the company soon after returning from maturity leave, and
in nearly two thirds of these cases, the women did
so within a year of having their baby, so obviously
(27:10):
not an ideal retention rate. Vota Phone decided to change
their policy and attempt to combat the problem, and the
result is one of the most compassionate maternity leave programs
in the world. So women who work at Vota Phone
are now entitled at least sixteen weeks of fully paid
maternity leave, and it's followed by thirty hour work weeks
paid at full salary for six months after they returned
to work. Actually, speaking of pregnancy, and I know that
(27:33):
there's going to be an age gap and too who
knows this fact and who thinks this is really weird?
But actually getting pregnant used to be a fireable offense
in the US, which is just sort of mind boggling.
It sounds made up, But until the late nineteen seventies,
employers were permitted to fire women just because they were expecting,
and the practice was considered like a cost cutting measure
(27:54):
aimed at saving a company money on you know, maternity
leave health benefits, and it was pretty pop or two so,
according to the Department of Labor, during the mid nineteen sixties,
only of first time mothers worked while pregnant, compared to
a close to seventy today, And the crucial factor behind
(28:14):
that uptick was the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which finally put
an end to this firing practice, and that happened in
nineteen seventy eight, the year before the two of us
were born, thank you. Yeah, And obviously there's so much
work to be done on that front to make it
a truly level playing field. You know, this next one
is something surprising that I kind of wish I hadn't
learned this week. So, you know, all those long running
(28:34):
rumors that you hear around the office, but like the
one about Tristan winning the pick leading contest at last
year's Atlanta County Fair was that one that rumorable? I
don't know if that one's true, but but if you
do hear an office rumor, there's a good chance it
is true. Or at least that's what researchers found at
the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of South Australia.
According to them, a workplace grapevine is like one big
(28:57):
truth detector. Baseless gossa gets dropped fast because one person
or another can usually debunk it. But if there's truth
to a rumor, it tends to persist and all the
embellishments and guesswork around it are gradually shaved away. So
this is what one of the authors behind the study
said about it. Quote. In a workplace setting, what we
call a stable organizational grapevine, people are very good at
(29:21):
figuring out the truth. If you tell me something and
I work closely with you, I know whether you're a
credible source. But even if I'm not so sure, in
workplace settings, it's easy to cross check information. So, in
a weird way, the longer that a rumor is circulated
among employees, like the pickle one about Tristan, the more
accurate it is. You know, It's weird because it kind
of feels like a reverse game of telephone, like the
(29:42):
message actually gets clear from person to person, which is
not not what you would think would happen. But alright,
well here's a quick one. The largest office building in
the world is actually the Pentagon in Washington, d C.
So even though it's only seven stories tall, the building's
unique shape makes it super a along like giving it.
I think it has a whopping three point seven million
(30:04):
square feet of floor space, So that's three times the
square footage of the Empire State Building and room enough
for more than twenty three thousand employees. That's crazy. So
here's what I like. There's one Starbucks in the world
that will never spell your name wrong on the order,
the c I A Starbucks also known as Store Number one,
and it's apparently the only store of the more than
(30:26):
twenty th Starbucks that will never ask for your name,
and that's because, thanks to CIA rules, it is not allowed. Well,
so how did the baristas know what you ordered? I mean,
they're just that good. Like they have to go through
intense training and background checks, and then when they finally
get the job, they just quickly learned to pair drink
orders with faces. I love that and it makes a
(30:47):
lot of sense. Yeah, I mean it does. But it
also seems like the CIA is smart enough that people
could make up fake names, right, Like my father in
law just decided that his local Starbucks he'd only be
known as wand so when he walks in, everyone greets
him as one like he's wanting to tars. But I
guess not having to say your name is easier. That's
(31:08):
pretty great, all right, Well, I think because of that,
both the great fact and the story about your father
in law, you've earned the trophy for today. So congratulations,
thank you so much, and and that is all for
today's Part Time Genius, but from Gabe Lowell, Will and me,
thanks as always for listening, and I think we'll be
back soon with another episode. Part Time Genius is a
(31:43):
production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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