<story><title>Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace</title><url>http://www.npr.org/2016/10/26/498850659/what-s-more-distracting-than-a-noisy-coworker-not-much</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Matachines</author><text>Another thread where most commenters will advocate for remote work and&amp;#x2F;or private offices. I agree.&lt;p&gt;Dan Luu recently said this about Peopleware, which advocates for offices and is highly regarded:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; This book seemed convincing when I read it in college. It even had all sorts of studies backing up what they said. No deadlines is better than having deadlines. Offices are better than cubicles. Basically all devs I talk to agree with this stuff.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; But virtually every successful company is run the opposite way. Even Microsoft is remodeling buildings from individual offices to open plan layouts. Could it be that all of this stuff just doesn’t matter that much? If it really is that important, how come companies that are true believers, like Fog Creek, aren’t running roughshod over their competitors?&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; This book agrees with my biases and I’d love for this book to be right, but the meta evidence makes me want to re-read this with a critical eye and look up primary sources.&lt;p&gt;--&lt;p&gt;What&amp;#x27;s HN opinions?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lobotryas</author><text>Maybe these companies are succeeding in spite of these policies instead of because of them.&lt;p&gt;I also work in an open office environment. What are the most desirable desks for people to get? The ones next to windows or furthest away from foot traffic.</text></comment>
<story><title>Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace</title><url>http://www.npr.org/2016/10/26/498850659/what-s-more-distracting-than-a-noisy-coworker-not-much</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Matachines</author><text>Another thread where most commenters will advocate for remote work and&amp;#x2F;or private offices. I agree.&lt;p&gt;Dan Luu recently said this about Peopleware, which advocates for offices and is highly regarded:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; This book seemed convincing when I read it in college. It even had all sorts of studies backing up what they said. No deadlines is better than having deadlines. Offices are better than cubicles. Basically all devs I talk to agree with this stuff.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; But virtually every successful company is run the opposite way. Even Microsoft is remodeling buildings from individual offices to open plan layouts. Could it be that all of this stuff just doesn’t matter that much? If it really is that important, how come companies that are true believers, like Fog Creek, aren’t running roughshod over their competitors?&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; This book agrees with my biases and I’d love for this book to be right, but the meta evidence makes me want to re-read this with a critical eye and look up primary sources.&lt;p&gt;--&lt;p&gt;What&amp;#x27;s HN opinions?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>boomzilla</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s kind of a different software that are being developed these days. Software development used to be highly original, analytical and creative, but now it&amp;#x27;s like endlessly iterative on the same problems and tools. That explains the number of programmers&amp;#x2F;engineers around. My guess is that the highly selective group of engineers who are still working on the most original problems  sit in their own office (preferably their home office, e.g. Linus). For the rest of us, it&amp;#x27;s more like a factory floor.</text></comment>