Cubed: A Secret History Of The Workplace
by Nikil Saval /
2014 / English / EPUB
8.3 MB Download
You mean this place we go to five days a week has a
You mean this place we go to five days a week has ahistory
history?
?Cubed
Cubed reveals the unexplored yet
surprising story of the places where most of the world's work—our
work—gets done. From "Bartleby the Scrivener" to
reveals the unexplored yet
surprising story of the places where most of the world's work—our
work—gets done. From "Bartleby the Scrivener" toThe
Office
The
Office, from the steno pool to the open-plan cubicle farm,
, from the steno pool to the open-plan cubicle farm,Cubed
Cubed is a fascinating, often funny, and sometimes
disturbing anatomy of the white-collar world and how it came to
be the way it is—and what it might become.
is a fascinating, often funny, and sometimes
disturbing anatomy of the white-collar world and how it came to
be the way it is—and what it might become.
In the mid-nineteenth century clerks worked in small, dank spaces
called “counting-houses.” These were all-male enclaves, where
work was just paperwork. Most Americans considered clerks to be
questionable dandies, who didn’t do “real work.” But the joke was
on them: as the great historical shifts from agricultural to
industrial economies took place, and then from industrial to
information economies, the organization of the workplace evolved
along with them—and the clerks took over. Offices became
rationalized, designed for both greater efficiency in the
accomplishments of clerical work and the enhancement of worker
productivity. Women entered the office by the millions, and
revolutionized the social world from within. Skyscrapers filled
with office space came to tower over cities everywhere.
In the mid-nineteenth century clerks worked in small, dank spaces
called “counting-houses.” These were all-male enclaves, where
work was just paperwork. Most Americans considered clerks to be
questionable dandies, who didn’t do “real work.” But the joke was
on them: as the great historical shifts from agricultural to
industrial economies took place, and then from industrial to
information economies, the organization of the workplace evolved
along with them—and the clerks took over. Offices became
rationalized, designed for both greater efficiency in the
accomplishments of clerical work and the enhancement of worker
productivity. Women entered the office by the millions, and
revolutionized the social world from within. Skyscrapers filled
with office space came to tower over cities everywhere.Cubed
Cubed opens our eyes to what is a truly "secret history"
of changes so obvious and ubiquitous that we've hardly noticed
them. From the wood-paneled executive suite to the advent of the
cubicles where 60% of Americans now work (and 93% of them dislike
it) to a not-too-distant future where we might work anywhere at
any time (and perhaps
opens our eyes to what is a truly "secret history"
of changes so obvious and ubiquitous that we've hardly noticed
them. From the wood-paneled executive suite to the advent of the
cubicles where 60% of Americans now work (and 93% of them dislike
it) to a not-too-distant future where we might work anywhere at
any time (and perhapsall
all the time),
the time),Cubed
Cubed
excavates from popular books, movies, comic strips
(
excavates from popular books, movies, comic strips
(Dilbert!
Dilbert!), and a vast amount of management literature and
business history, the reasons why our workplaces are the way they
are—and how they might be better.
), and a vast amount of management literature and
business history, the reasons why our workplaces are the way they
are—and how they might be better.