Here are some of the best answers from my Linkedin Question: (I received a total of 28 answers)

"It would be a myth if most people actually believed it was possible, but their actions dictate that they don’t. Ironically, the technology is available now to make the paperless office a reality, but it will require a cultural change and a change in work habits to be fully realized. With software available for electronic archiving, email, digital signature, workflow, electronic forms, versioning, collaboration, retention, annotations, bate stamping, RFID, and a host of authenitication and security features, it is conceivable that an office could be paperless today. One of the biggest challenges for those pursuing a paperless office is that they do business with so many people who are NOT pursuing a paperless office. But they continue to do their part — I know of companies that have removed staplers, printers and copiers and I even know of one company who will terminate any employee caught printing email. Those who are serious about being paperless are enforcing their policies and slowly changing the corporate culture. These companies who have invested in the right technology and enforce policy are seeing a financial return in both hard and soft dollars."  Tom Talamantez

"I think what we will see is that paper will become a very transitory medium, rather than a medium of storage for information. People like to deal with paper. It is portable (for the most part), you can read it with no technology, and you can easily mark it up. You don’t have to charge a battery, upgrade software, or wait for paper to boot up. There is an ease of use and oftentimes, a very nice user interface, in the rawest sense of that term.From a legal standpoint, the electronic version of a paper document will become the evidence that is required. electronic records are easier to search and you can cast a far wider net more efficiently with electronic records. So from a legal standpoint, I suspect that electronic records will be preferred.

Therefore, over time, I expect that the long term retention of paper records as records of an organization will decline. But people will continue to print documents for review and portability."  Patrick Cunningham

" Switch the focus from paperless to paperlight.

As a paperless office consultant, my philosophy is to enable businesses to take steps towards this ideal by gradually phasing as much paper as possible out of their day-to-day business processes. I call it going paperlight rather than paperless – by which I mean that a business can dramatically reduce its paper consumption (and all the wasted time and resources that accompany it) just by re-educating people and streamlining their paper handling processes.

Ultimately, every business is keen to save time and money – many are now also more aware of their environmental impact or carbon footprints – and going paper-light is the solution to all of these common objectives. Despite common misconceptions, it IS easily achievable and not at great expense.

I believe that many of the current paper-based processes and documents in every average office will eventually become obsolete as people increasingly become aware that you can achieve twice as much in half the time by handling things electronically. Unfortunatley, many people are discouraged by the concept of going paperless since they think it is an all or nothing committment which it does not need to be. In my opinion, with a little awareness and training, every business has much to gain and nothing to lose by embracing a paper-light approach to everyday business practices." Carrie Bradley

Thanks to all the others who answered.

Linkedin, the social website that is more business network orientated, has an interesting new feature, where members can ask, as well as answer questions. As I have more of a Question-asker kind of mentality, I wondered "why most work environments are so ugly?"

I rated Pieter Van Der Elst‘s answer as the best. This is what he wrote:

" Dear Martin,

I completely understand the reason of your question.

People around the world put time/ effort and money in creating a home-interior that reflects their personality.
But when it comes to office-interior, most organisations tent to make "safe" choices.

In my opinion, there are 2 main reasons for this.

1st, an office environment needs to fit for each and every employee who’s working at that site.
Person A will love that fresh,flashy green wall and person B will hate that ugly, yet exactly the same, colour.
Therefore, most employers will go for a safe choice, the type of office that you, me and most of us reading this answer have probably seen a thousand times.

Secondly, I think there’s an historical fact as well.
Our society has moved from a production-environment to a "knowledge environment". Thus, the role of "the employee" has changed from producing to communicating.
Just think about the way our parents used to work, and the way you are working today. Even better, think about the way our children will work in a few years time.

(You might want to read "The New Office" by Francis Duffy on this topic)

Unfortunately, the working-environment hasn’t changed as quickly as the job we do.
Communication technology as a good example; has evolved at an amazing speed, (mobile-phones, email, WIFI…) so people can work virtually anyware, yet most companies have not yet taken the step to create that environment that enhances the communication between colleaugues, departments…
And is that not exactly what we do, every single day at work. Communicate?

And this is where you have a valid point when asking your question.
This is exactly where companies have to take the next step and adapt the working-environment they offer their (future) employees.

It is my believe that offering an attractive office will create a huge benefit for most organisations to improve their retention-rate, and to attract a talented workforce…(An issue that is rising for many companies) and enhance their productivity.

Best regards,

Pieter"

Pieter had it spot on, as he understood why I asked the question in the first place. I was not looking for solutions, as I believe that to be one of the reasons why so many of the offices we see to be so ugly in the first place. It is not (only) about design, it is about company culture, communication and team dynamics. Design will not be able to cover the lack of that.

…to be continued…