Where you sit is where you stand

There is an old saying that describes how humans figure out what their position is on any issue: "Where you stand depends on where you sit." It comes from Rufus Miles a US Government bureaucrat in the late 40's. It is one of those universal maxims that it so obvious that it's hard to believe it ever became a thing. The gist is that bureaucracies may not act as unitary rational actors because they are made up of constituencies that are pulling and pushing for different objectives based on parochial interests. The job these policy makers hold has an outsized influence on what outcome they desire. At an intellectual level, it is a fascinating topic for organizational theorists and behavioral psychologists. However, that is not what made me think of it.

This phrase came to mind recently as I was doing the quintessential startup company thing. I was trying to fit out Koto's (that's our divisions new name) new office with furniture. There are a few mandatory items for your run-of-the-mill tech office. You need to have a computer, which everybody already had. You need to have a desk and you need a chair. You may argue on the last two but from a practical perspective they are mandatory. Just about everything else is optional in same way or form. So naturally I focused on the mandatory items first. Desks were relatively easy. We favored open style desks, not cubicles, and we wanted them to be adjustable height so we all didn't die in our 40's from sitting all day. This is a commodity item and while some are certainly better than others, their were few if any holy wars over this selection. Chairs on the other hand...well this is where the fun began.

Picking an office chair is the business equivalent of a four-way stop sign. Nothing on this planet exposes humanity's stupidity more than a busy 4-way stop. As a species we seem incapable of processing the arrival of 4 independent agents at a single point in time and then applying a first in - first out algorithm to the queue. The slightest perturbation to the system throws it into chaos. Office chair selection presents almost the same dynamic. If you present a team with too many options, chaos and indecision, too few options, insurrection. I learned that no matter how easy going you are, you will have an incredible strident opinion about what office chair is the best. The Dalai Lama is probably sitting in his Herman Miller Embody chair incredulous at the HumanScale or Allsteel fans.

As the executive manager of this agile crew, I started out as a benevolent camp counselor. I acquired multiple sample chairs and encouraged opinions and feedback. Did we want to be distinctive and send a message that we were way outside the box or draw a line right down the middle and maximize overall expected value for everyone? Should I allow for individual selection or should I enforce a consistent look for the office. Within a few weeks, I became convinced that someone would be writing an episode of Silicon Valley on this experience. There were debates about the proper angle for your knees when typing, the concept of active-sitting, which chair features were absolutely necessary and which were optional, the right fabric, the right color. If you factored in the salaries of everyone multiplied by the time spent in discussion, we were going to have some expensive chairs if we kept going like we were. In addition, it turns out chairs can have a long lead time depending on what you order. Four to six weeks is not uncommon at all and the move-in date was approaching. So, I moved from camp counselor to third-world dictator. Let's just say, decisions were made.

I am fascinated with how other managers make these types of decisions, especially as you cross the generations where the expectation of inclusion goes up exponentially as the age goes down. I have the luxury of building a team from almost scratch. We have pulled in some of the smartest people you will ever meet, way smarter than I. But when you create a team that fast you have to quickly learn how they tick and what motivates them. If you want to learn a lot about your organization, how they think, bargain, where they stand...ask them how they want to sit. It will be enlightening, and hilarious.

p.s. If you want to know what chairs we ended up selecting, here you go (not these particular colors). I elected not to enforce a rigid standard but not allow complete individual choice either so I almost certainly made everyone just a little bit disappointed. The real question will be how they feel after some time in the saddle, so I will come back and give an update in 6 months or so.

Hag Capisco Sit-Stand Chair

Steelcase Gesture Chair.

Generic exercise ball.