We shall see what the future holds for me in terms of work.  If I continue to work from home, or from a location where I can choose my desk, I may find myself investing in an adjustable height desk.  I just read this awesome New York Times article about the growing trends towards sit/stand desks.  Here’s the beauty of the desk, in the article author’s opinion:

“After a few days of warming up, I settled into a pleasant sit/stand routine. Because I found it difficult to drink coffee or eat breakfast at my desk while standing, I began most mornings seated. I’d begin to stand about an hour later. If I had to write an article, I’d remain standing for most of the day. But if I was planning to spend a lot of time on tasks that required less creative focus — surfing the Web, making phone calls, watching online videos — I’d usually switch back to sitting at around lunch time.”

I would love that option.  I notice that I do this type of adjustment throughout the day but don’t have a lot of options when trying to make the adjustment.  For example, at times I will lean forward to do my work if I am writing or working on solving a problem.  If I am working on more casual work, like updating websites or transferring content, I find myself leaning back in my chair or even work from the couch, in a reclined position.

We have a high-top table that might be the right height for standing while working.  After the interview coming up this week, I may set that up in a place where I can stand and work.  It might make me comfortable to work when I need that extra physical motivation to solve a technological problem.

The Geek Desk (not me, obvi)

On a grander scale, this is an interesting development that I assign to the broader trend of flexible workspace and redesigning offices for a new century of work.  I am reading Drive by Daniel Pink right now, and the primary paradigm of this book is the difference between what he calles Motivation 2.0 and Motivation 3.0.  M2.0 is based on motivating performance based on carrots and sticks – if you do this, I will give you this, for example.  This system worked when work was heuristic, meaning work based on following algorithms or a set of basic instructions.  This was most white- and blue-collar work after the industrial revolution.  Motivation 3.0 involves finding an employee’s Type I behavior (I as in intrinsic, not roman numeral I).  Type I behavior is made of three parts: autonomy, mastery and purpose.  But I digress.

Standard square cubicles with shoulder-height walls probably made sense in previous generations, when work was more heuristic in nature.  Most employees sat in cubicles, working on paperwork and having phone conversations.  There was a need to have separate space to discourage conversation, protect semi-private material, and provide a quiet working environment for employees working on heuristic tasks.

Now, however, most work involves creative decision-making, interaction among multiple people, solving problems outside of traditional methods, and more.  A lot of this should shape the way work is performed in the office.  So far in the book, the author has mentioned several ways in which work has changed, but none of those are (yet) physical changes to the work environment. I see the potential for that shift to be just as dramatic as the method of motivation.

Since tasks change throughout the day more under creative and individual work — unlike largely monotonous heuristic work — this new kind of desk might be the perfect element of the new office.  Designers, coders, writers and more already find this desk beneficial.  Who else might?