Rory Sutherland

There's nowhere at a station in a concourse. They've got all these walls around the edges which are underused. Now, just put a shelf there for people to put a laptop on, okay? There are trains with no tables, which drives me practically insane because apparently it's worth spending $120 billion.

to reduce the time spent on a train between London and Manchester, but actually putting a table on a train so the person can work for an hour rather than basically sitting there like a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to type on their knees. That's considered apparently an unworthy expense compared to time-saving on the actual journey itself.

to reduce the time spent on a train between London and Manchester, but actually putting a table on a train so the person can work for an hour rather than basically sitting there like a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to type on their knees. That's considered apparently an unworthy expense compared to time-saving on the actual journey itself.

to reduce the time spent on a train between London and Manchester, but actually putting a table on a train so the person can work for an hour rather than basically sitting there like a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to type on their knees. That's considered apparently an unworthy expense compared to time-saving on the actual journey itself.

And offices will need to actually fundamentally adapt to the fact that patterns of work are different. and that you probably need fewer meeting rooms and you need more pods. But also, the open plan office was insufficiently variegated. So if you take people who are non-neurotypical, for example, you know, I mean, my argument is that to some extent, the perfect office is not an open plan space.

And offices will need to actually fundamentally adapt to the fact that patterns of work are different. and that you probably need fewer meeting rooms and you need more pods. But also, the open plan office was insufficiently variegated. So if you take people who are non-neurotypical, for example, you know, I mean, my argument is that to some extent, the perfect office is not an open plan space.

And offices will need to actually fundamentally adapt to the fact that patterns of work are different. and that you probably need fewer meeting rooms and you need more pods. But also, the open plan office was insufficiently variegated. So if you take people who are non-neurotypical, for example, you know, I mean, my argument is that to some extent, the perfect office is not an open plan space.

It's 50% library, 50% pub. In other words, half of it should be hyper-social and a bit noisy for people. I actually like working in cafes. I like background noise, even if I don't know anybody present. Equally, I'm conscious of the fact there are people who can't work unless they have complete silence.

It's 50% library, 50% pub. In other words, half of it should be hyper-social and a bit noisy for people. I actually like working in cafes. I like background noise, even if I don't know anybody present. Equally, I'm conscious of the fact there are people who can't work unless they have complete silence.

It's 50% library, 50% pub. In other words, half of it should be hyper-social and a bit noisy for people. I actually like working in cafes. I like background noise, even if I don't know anybody present. Equally, I'm conscious of the fact there are people who can't work unless they have complete silence.

To introverts, an open plan office is probably very tiring.

To introverts, an open plan office is probably very tiring.

To introverts, an open plan office is probably very tiring.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we... We have some weird sort of mysterious lavatories on the ground floor, which I notice the occupancy rate is surprisingly high, given that they're not signposted.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we... We have some weird sort of mysterious lavatories on the ground floor, which I notice the occupancy rate is surprisingly high, given that they're not signposted.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we... We have some weird sort of mysterious lavatories on the ground floor, which I notice the occupancy rate is surprisingly high, given that they're not signposted.

And I strongly suspect people are using them as a kind of escape pod.

And I strongly suspect people are using them as a kind of escape pod.

And I strongly suspect people are using them as a kind of escape pod.

Yeah. Yeah. And I... The other thing I think is interesting is if you really want to bond people, one interesting thing is to reduce the amount of money you spend on rent. But I think you have to correspondingly ring fence a bit of that saving and spend it on what you might call staff jollies.