Many people today hate cubicles and see them as an outdated part of the office that confines and traps employees. But the history of the cubicle is quite interesting.
Cubicles are a symbol of outdated office spaces. Most of us cringe when we see them and we wish for more updated workspaces to improve the work experience. In fact, for most of us, if we walked into a new company and saw that they have cubicles we would probably want to run in the other direction and we would feel that the company itself is stuck in the past. However, if you look at the history of the cubicle you may be surprised to learn that it has actually shaped our modern day offices.
It was invented in 1960 by Robert Propst as a way to give employees freedom and flexibility in their work. He wanted to find a way to allow employees to customize their workspace and be able to work in different ways. Even if cubicles themselves are not what we want in our workspace nowadays, we should still be thankful for Robert Propst and the invention because it gave us the mental capacity to see what we could do to move beyond that. This was the idea that started it all.
If it weren’t for the cubicle we probably wouldn’t have the awesome new workplaces we have nowadays. Instead of viewing the “cube” as an outdated, unpleasant space to work, we should see it as a symbol of the modern work space and the beginning of change for the better.
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