In the company's new headquarters, there are:
A series of eight private meeting rooms that are exact replicas of some of [Airbnb]’s coolest listings from around the world; an atrium with a massive living wall climbing up the brick facade and a Rear Window-esque view into the aforementioned meeting rooms; and, most importantly, a conference room inspired by the War Room in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, complete with a circular table and overhead lighting.Picture yourself in a meeting here...
... listening to the grandiose maunderings of people who are sure you can't possibly feel oppressed.
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Perhaps we should make our whole society like this, from cradle to grave.
Up behind one of those windows are your performance review specialists
If that reflects a strong corporate culture that already exists, it might work. If it's the idea of some pointy headed managers and an architect, it's time to take a short position in the stock.
Even in the best of circumstances, it may mean bad things for the company. I read somewhere this week (was it here?) the idea that when a company builds itself the perfect office building, it is done growing and is starting to decline. The idea that if you are growing, on one has time for crap like that building. Everyone is shoehorned into rented space, hiring more people to get new things done. Building a "permanent" office is an acknowledgement that growth is over.
yes, we should take advice from the head of a company that has little in the way of revenues or profits. These folks are playing in a pile of other people's (VC) money with the hopes of cashing in with an IPO or acquisition, but really care about the aesthetics of their office and telling everyone how great they are.
/rant on
You're gonna spend a lot of time at the office.
Bad: when TV talking heads say "gonna."
Badder: when the captioning of the above is "gonna."
Badderest of them all (as my daughter used to say at age 3): using "gonna" in a printed medium.
Suggested alternatives:
.."You will..." uses fewer characters and avoids the lengthy but proper "You are going to..."
.."Yurguna..." more closely approximates the actual disgusting verbal utterance.
And it’s pretty fancy. (starting sentence with conjunction, using adjective as adverb ...)
/rant off
“When a company or other organization is finally able to plan and build the perfect building for itself . . . that organization is in the throes of petrification and death.”
OH, HELL YES!!! I'd be slipping into my Strangelove accent at the drop of a hat! I'd have a binder that said "World Targets in Megadeaths"! Anybody had an objections, I'd say "My defense team can brush them aside."!
"Animals vill be bred..und slaughtered!"
Sign me up!
Do they issue you Nehru jackets and white longhair cats for meetings in that conference room, or are those self-supplied options?
I've worked for organizations like this. It's a country club, and nothing gets done. Everybody goes home when the money runs out.
I had to google airbnb. They connect travelers with people that have extra space in their house. I think bnb means "bed-and-breakfast", but I didn't confirm it.
This is the "Airbnb" headquarters?
I'm smelling Internet tech-bubble.
Gentlemen, please! There's no fighting in a bnb ....
Eh, looks like a pretty standard new-construction conference room. The composition of the photo makes it look more Brave New World than it is.
You know that meeting room is going to make the droners drone on even longer.
I feel so important here, like I was meant to be here...
How big of a business can Airbnb be?
... listening to the grandiose maunderings of people who are sure you can't possibly feel oppressed.
Is oppression merely a feeling?
That kind of office is fine for plotting world domination, but you'd feel a little silly about discussing how much to spend on Christmas decorations in such a conference room. And where to hang the holly and put the punch bowl in that room would also involve a lot of problems.
The management here is utterly clueless. It's an affront to all but the laziest employees. Money was spent for the comfort and ego of management, not for the employees. Things like benefits, supplies, raises, bonuses, better equipment, more people, etc. were forgone for this and the employees know it. The good ones will start jumping ship.
Bob R,
Pretty sure Phil Graham made that point in one of his essays, though at this point I have no recollection if it was original with him or if he credited someone else with originating the thought.
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