A few years ago Steelcase, the American furniture company published a coffee table book with the catchy title: “revolution at work.” The book was written by Rowan Gibson and focussed on social, technological and economical forces that, according to the book, are the driving forces of change in the workplace. The book looked at how companies around the world were addressing these forces to create a workplace culture that is basically employee orientated. Examples of how companies create these new workplaces include concierges at Texas Instruments who will fix cars while employees are at work, Netscape’s on-site dentist, Sun Micro’s dry cleaning service or Analytical Graphics who offer haircuts, massage and shoe shines. Is “revolution at work” a synonym of “perks at work”? 

So when recently the Financial Times reported that when Microsoft stopped providing towels in their toilets the staff noticed that something was about to change. Recent layoffs confirmed the paper for towel oracle. With ten of thousands of employees in any industry, even in some of the so-called recession proof industries losing their jobs, what about all those perks that Gibson noted in the book? Are the perks that provide the joy in the job? And: what is a revolution at work? Did it really happen? 

Yesterday I watched the classic Sergei Eisenstein‘s film The Battleship Potemkin and especially the scene were the sailors rebel against receiving maggot infested meat for their meals had me thinking whether a revolution at work, and today that means in the office, would at all be possible (or needed)? The idea of a revolution in an office is itself funny and brings to mind another great film, The Meaning of Life, by Monty Python. Specifically the scene where the old and weary office workers start a revolution by throwing their young and dashing managers out of the window. This to me is hilarious. The scene is funny because of the analogy used, slaves on a ship fighting their cruel masters. The idea of a mutiny in the office is funny, just like golf hooligans would be funny, as offices are not seen as places of violence or revolution, (nor is a golf course). The work might be boring, or tedious, but unlike some factory or construction work, it is not physically draining nor life threatening. In the same way I think like most films about soft drugs, think Cheech and Chong are funny, while those about hard drugs, such as Christiane F are rather depressing. 

So is a revolution at work a contradiction in terms?