I came across something recently while reading Cal Newport’s book “Deep work” which attracted my interest. An architect from Chicago called David Dewane had developed an architectural concept which he called the Eudaimonia Machine, after a term used by Aristotle meaning “the highest human good”.
The purpose of the Eudaimonia Machine was to lead people through a series of linear arranged rooms designed to help them carry out their best deep, focused work. The five rooms, which includes gallery, salon, library, office space & the chamber itself, offers spaces to help inspire, investigate, prepare & finally reflect on the deep work being carried out.
I got to thinking how the Eudaimonia Machine concept relates to the modern office design. Many workspaces are now designed using a work settings approach which offers a variety of spaces developed for specific activities. Both approaches on paper seem similar, however there are key differences. The Eudaimonia Machine’s linear layout has been specifically designed to encourage deep focused work, while most work setting-based workspaces have been designed to encourage collaboration & teamwork.
While well designed workspaces also offer spaces to focus, a lack of visual & acoustic privacy, an always on technology & an always available culture make deep work almost impossible in the modern workplace. According to Rob Cross, Madden Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College, collaborative work has risen more than 50% in the past decade, most of which is synchronous & now consumes 85% of the average knowledge worker’s work week.
With so much emphasis being placed on synchronous collaboration & the inability to focus, we seem to be heading towards a world where our time is taken up with unnecessary meetings, video calls & work about work. The UK anatomy of work index 2021 states that work about work now consumes 61% of our day, leaving just 27% to do the work we are being paid to do & 12% on forward looking strategy.
With the massive change of attitude towards work & the significant uptake in hybrid working I wonder if both approaches are somewhat out of date with what the new world of work now requires. I want to spend more time researching the topic and will write a follow up once completed. In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts.