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In contrast, working at Zappos's office, how would I be able to control my clean environment?
37signals' office seems to say, "You're in, you're out." Fried has, on multiple occasions, suggested that offices are the downfall of work. You're more productive in your natural environment. Their office seems to reflect that: You come in to work, quickly and efficiently, and then you leave and head home to get your real work done. In contrast, Zappos' office seems to say, "You're already home." [edit] It's also wor…
It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.
37signals' office seems to say, "You're in, you're out." Fried has, on multiple occasions, suggested that offices are the downfall of work. You're more productive in your natural environment. Their office seems to reflect that: You come in to work, quickly and efficiently, and then you leave and head home to get your real work done. In contrast, Zappos' office seems to say, "You're already home." [edit] It's also wor…
To be fair, I'm pretty sure those 37signals pictures were taken right after they moved in. Imagine what cubicle hell Zappo's would have looked like when they first moved in. It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.
Zappos would drive me crazy. I have been in an environment like that. It's "cute" at first, but then you realize you're just living in a messy corporate cubicle. It really inhibits work if your job is something such as development or design, in my opinion... just too much visual noise. 37signals office seems virtually distraction-free. If you need groups of people to work together efficiently in an office environment…
What a great way to summarise the difference between the two.
The Zappos pictures make me think of someone getting called in "we need to talk about your flair".
Apples to Oranges. Zappos is a support oriented culture whereas folks at 37s need a lot of quite time. I can't imagine Jamis Buck writing all his awesome maze algorithms while surrounded by balloons and tents everywhere.
If you're a phone/email CSR, you might enjoy being in a slightly more stimulating environment because you're daily job duties are less stimulating and more mundane.
If you're working on software, you might enjoy the options of quite space, cleanliness. For a company like 37signals, where design takes such a focus, having a nicely designed and organized space might help inspire the company's output. Also, 37s had previously blogged about holding events in their office, so their physical presence must gel with their online image.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, I'm pretty sure those 37signals pictures were taken right after they moved in. Imagine what cubicle hell Zappo's would have looked like when they first moved in. It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.
They were, you're right. The office will change over time as we settle in. It's already a lot more lively than those pictures showed. We have plants and fresh flowers and art and books and some other things starting to make their way into the space. Time takes care of the personality.
Apples to Oranges. Zappos is a support oriented culture whereas folks at 37s need a lot of quite time. I can't imagine Jamis Buck writing all his awesome maze algorithms while surrounded by balloons and tents everywhere.
I wouldn't want to work in Zappos's office. It just doesn't look appealing to me at all. On the other hand, the 37s offices feel cool . The Zappos offices are Office Space-like cubicles covered in random crap. The 37s offices send a very different message; if you're going to work in an office (hopefully, not all the time), I'd much rather be in that environment. I think it comes down to this: the style of the 37s off…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, I'm pretty sure those 37signals pictures were taken right after they moved in. Imagine what cubicle hell Zappo's would have looked like when they first moved in. It would be interesting to see any changes made after a year or so once everyone has settled in a bit.
They were, you're right. The office will change over time as we settle in. It's already a lot more lively than those pictures showed. We have plants and fresh flowers and art and books and some other things starting to make their way into the space. Time takes care of the personality.