In the shift from location-based businesses to personnel-based businesses there is a skills gap that we need to address. Workplaces were traditionally set up using tried and true methods developed over thousands of years. Ancient Romans, Greeks, Sumerians and Chinese had paper, ink and offices too. Instead of using post-it-notes and pencils the Romans used wax blocks and styluses in specially made leather cases. Today we still like leather cases for our notebooks.
Julius Caesar’s five year campaign in Gaul used flat, bound ledger books for accounting instead of rolled scrolls, an innovation that speeded up the cumbersome process of accounting for massive armies on the move. This is so similar to the transition from large computer spread sheets to the compact databases used on mobile devices.
When the Spanish laid out their towns in California according to the cardinal directions they were using a system of directions and proportions developed for Roman army camps, which acted like small towns. It is one of the qualities that makes living in California feel so balanced and comfortable, light sources, shadows and the paths of the prevailing winds were all considered in shaping towns to suit human needs.
Because it Worked
Office designs evolved and continued over long periods of time because the principles worked well for both the needs of commerce and human physiology. They were effective, efficient, and minimized fatigue while maximizing performance. Normally, when a person sets up a new work space they base it on the work place where they were trained. We do that instinctively, just like when we move into a new home we put the couch where our parents would have put it.
In designing the sets for family-based, situation comedies the single biggest design decision is selecting and placing the couch. They are custom made for the show and placed in the center of the set, because everything revolves around them. Interesting note: Modern couches are a recent invention, thanks to the French, who first made them popular around the time of the French Revolution and emergence of the Salon society. Before couches stools and benches were the primary places people sat which don’t encourage the same kind of cozy conversations that clearly lead to revolutions.
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