My kids like the show “Stranger Things.” It is an adventure/supernatural TV series set in the 80s that
follows a friend group. My kids like to ask me if things were really like that in the 80s. “Did kids just run around the neighborhood looking for things to do and adventures to have?” I tell them, “Yes, things were actually like that.” On weekends and throughout the summer we would leave the house in the morning looking for things to do and bouncing back and forth between the parks and friend’s houses all day long. “Wow,” my kids say. “That must have been amazing.”
I’ve been thinking about the office lately, and the changes we have seen in the past 20 years. Here are a few questions some younger employees might have about “the way it used to be”.
How the office used to be
Did employees really come into the office every day? Yes, before technology and the pandemic made remote working “a thing” nearly every employee worked every hour in the office.
Did cubicles used to be 10×10 sized with 8 ft. tall walls? Yes. At one point the larger cubicles and higher walls were coveted assets in the office.
Did employees used to smoke in the office? Haha, yes, you have to go back to the 60s but yes, there was a time when it was very normal for many employees to smoke right at their desks.
The office has changed a lot over time and keeps changing. I love being in the business of keeping on top of office furniture and technology trends. I guess it is almost as amazing as my childhood in the 80s running around the neighborhood with friends like it used to be.
Scott Galloway
President of Create Spaces
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