Workspace

Is the space you're working in making you dumber? Or is that just one of many other excuses we tell ourselves about why we're not getting stuff done? Sam and Simon discuss workspaces and serendipity this week. Also, why Sam secretly wants to join the German navy (her reason involves existentialism, not seamen). 

Stuff mentioned in this episode:

• The magic of Prestik
• Does having more light in a room make you more productive? Apparently it might make you more productive, but less creative.
• Shingy, AOL's ridiculous digital "visionary" who took the desk out of the CEO's office at AOL
• Why Steve Jobs obsessed about where to build the bathrooms at Pixar
• Barking Up the Wrong Tree on why having other people around might make you more productive
• The secret lives of bored German navy offices
• Mike Rowe in a fascinating Ted Talk about Dirty Jobs
• Amy Wrzesniewski's research indicating that how you feel whether your job is meaningful is probably more about you than about the actual job you're doing
• Brent Schlender's Becoming Steve Jobs and the cargo cult of Steve
• Data-driven decision making versus following your gut
• The incredible story about how one man became an accidental celebrity in China, which led to a chat about Sino Weibo and how social networks have lost the ability to foster serendipitous connections