Is there any evidence that neat environments really help? The longer T George Harris chased credible research into the impact of “good design” on employee productivity, the more elusive that research seemed. “People suddenly put into ‘good design’ did not seem to wake up and love it,” he wrote. What they loved instead was control over the space in which they had to live or work. And that control typically leads to mess. The psychologist Craig Knight admits that a space that workers design for themselves will almost always look rather ugly. “It doesn’t look as good as something a designer would have chosen, and it never will.” The management theorist A. K. Korman vividly recalls visiting one factory where the mess had been embraced: I was assaulted with a kaleidoscope of orange, blue, pink, yellow, red and multi-colored machines. My host laughed at the expression on my face and then went on to tell me that the management of the company had told the workers they could paint the machines any color they wanted and the company would furnish the paint if they furnished the manpower. The result was a very unusual looking factory to me, although it was a pleasing work environment to those who worked there every day.
I’ve always been awed by the minimalist and super aesthetic offices whenever I’ve used to interview for jobs at various companies and places. However, the places that really made me comfortable was the messiness of my own desk, where everything I needed was right where it needed to be.
We humans like our autonomy, even over seemingly trivial shit that don’t matter. The freedom to decide how to decorate your desk, select your own chair or choose your own seating position are all seemingly pointless in the larger scheme of things but can have a huge impact on our morale.
In some sense, that might also explain why some people feel much happier and more fulfilled when moving out of their family home into their own place. It might not be about escaping anything negative per se, but simply about our enjoyment of freedom and the autonomy we have in deciding trivial things.
One way to make employees happy: Learn to curb your own inner compulsions and let them have the autonomy to decide on as many things as they can.
