Its interesting how Rands and Joel agree on the basic quiet/dark/cave/hoodie/headphones "zone" construct, and yet nearly every startup I've visited or seen office pictures of on their website insists on a faux-egalitarian setup where everyone sits in one giant noisy room.
It's the classic demo vs. reality problem (or hollywood vs. reality problem). What looks cool for short periods of time often doesn't match what is actually useful for 2,000 hours per year.
An IDE that displays code on the sides of rotating icosahedrons looks really cool for about 3 seconds, but is hugely impractical in reality. Similarly, giant noisy rooms seem more interesting in pictures and in planning but in practice are less useful than individual walled offices.
One of the great things about individual offices in terms of facilitating collaboration is that it actually makes it far easier to have impromptu meetings between a small number of people. In cubicles people tend to avoid such things since the noise is disruptive to others and there's not much room for people, with offices you can close the door and have 3 or 4 people in a single office without much problem or much impact on others. There are many other examples.
As I sit in my cube, mandated business attire donned, bright fluorescent lights flickering above me, and listening to the constant drone that is the heating system, I read this article and utter a small prayer. That somehow, somewhere, someone who actually manages developers reads this blog, and hires me.
I'm guessing you're not in the SF Bay Area? Come join us for gold rush #37! (Right order of magnitude, anyway.)
I mean, at least you're very unlikely to encounter a place with a dress code. There's still plenty of fluorescent lights and droning HVAC systems, though.
If anyone is in Atlanta or willing to relocate, we're always hiring Ruby engineers or smart hackers who will learn Ruby and Rails. No dress code and we're getting rid of most of the fluorescent lights. We have fun problems and work with a respectable amount of traffic and data. Shoot me an email; the info is in my profile.
I'm often poor with my communication (in terms of: clarity, consideration, and courtesy), but when a new piece from Rands comes out I consistently find myself forwarding it or printing it for a loved one and saying "This is what I try to mean when I say ___________"
The thing to remember is, he came up through the ranks to became a manager, and seems to be one that decided to put the energy he used to into learning new tech/coding techniques/etc into becoming a good manager.
If you've not read anything from his blog before, it's worth at least skimming back through the archives to see what tickles your fancy. He's got some VERY good articles.
[+] [-] cagenut|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|15 years ago|reply
An IDE that displays code on the sides of rotating icosahedrons looks really cool for about 3 seconds, but is hugely impractical in reality. Similarly, giant noisy rooms seem more interesting in pictures and in planning but in practice are less useful than individual walled offices.
One of the great things about individual offices in terms of facilitating collaboration is that it actually makes it far easier to have impromptu meetings between a small number of people. In cubicles people tend to avoid such things since the noise is disruptive to others and there's not much room for people, with offices you can close the door and have 3 or 4 people in a single office without much problem or much impact on others. There are many other examples.
[+] [-] pavel_lishin|15 years ago|reply
(Unfortunately, in my case, there are about fifty photographers surrounding our office, so every day I see a bunch of flashes. :( )
[+] [-] dinedal|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paulbaumgart|15 years ago|reply
I mean, at least you're very unlikely to encounter a place with a dress code. There's still plenty of fluorescent lights and droning HVAC systems, though.
[+] [-] kingnothing|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] theDoug|15 years ago|reply
His Nerd Handbook (http://randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbo...) quite likely saved my relationship with a highly non-technical increasingly significant other. I owe the man a bunch.
[+] [-] tomhallett|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jallmann|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jbl|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alxp|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] runevault|15 years ago|reply
If you've not read anything from his blog before, it's worth at least skimming back through the archives to see what tickles your fancy. He's got some VERY good articles.
[+] [-] dpritchett|15 years ago|reply
He also worked with Apple and Borland. Not your average tech blogger.
[+] [-] zemanel|15 years ago|reply
EDIT: i'm wearing my hoodie, yo!