It was one of the few perks of senority at Microsoft. Whoever had been at the company the longest on a team was the first to get new hardware. The next most senior got their hand-me-down. And so it went until the newest guy turned his old equipment into the recyling teams. But, honestly Microsoft updated hardware so often, it wasn’t a big deal.
The real perk for being the most tenured employee on the team was that you got your pick of office spaces. My friend CK once joined a team that was mostly new employees. When the team moved buildings, CK got the big corner office. His boss got the smaller one next door.
Personally, I’ve never worried too much about offices. I figure that if I have a desk and a phone, I don’t need more than that. So, it was with mixed indifference that I recently made the switch from a cubicle on the North side of our building to an office on the South side.
Offices have some advantages, don’t get me wrong. You have actual walls that you can hang stuff on. You have a door that presumably closes. You also have more room to bring stuff in. I call it “office art.”
And that’s the part that I appreciated the most. Office Art has two purposes: public and private.
Publically, people will see what you choose to put in your office. Some people will post awards. I have a framed copy of a book I wrote. It hangs in my home office. I also have a slew of Ship It awards from a career in the software business. So far the only real public Office Art I’ve put up besides a couple of trophies from company events, are a series of books.
- The Art Of The Deal
- The Art of War
- The 70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries
- The Prince
Those particular books were chosen specifically. I have a library of a couple dozen business books. These four send a message just by being on the shelf.
I’ve indulged more with private Office Art than I have with public art. I have some sports memorabilia.
- Football autographed by former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhal
- Three mini-bats, one with my company name, one with the Mariners logo and one that I received at the Louisville Slugger museum
- A mini football helmet autographed by my brother’s friend Ronnie Lott
- A basketball bobblehead autographed by my former neighbor Desmond Mason
I have the requisite pictures of my family, and a mini-fridge. But, frankly, I had all that stuff in my cubicle. But, there was something that wouldn’t fit in my cubicle. It’s definitely a private piece of Office Art. It fits nicely behind my door.
I don’t much care if I have an office or not, but if I do, I’m going to be office mates with baseball hall of famer, Ken Griffey Jr. He didn’t fit in the cubicle.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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