Back in the late 1960's, Dr. Robert Summers began an exploration into the impact that the environmental decisions that surround us have upon the social dynamics we experience. In an entirely new way of looking at the world, he blended psychology, architecture, and crowd behavior into a new science.
One of his many efforts was driven by a curiosity as to why people in the local airport, waiting for a flight, didn't talk to one another, even when they were clearly part of a family, or social group. He spent hours mapping verbal exchanges, movements of people, and activities before he began to look at the environment itself.
One of the most striking things he noticed was that in order to converse, people had to turn their heads and bodies in their chairs. The chairs themselves, bolted together in straight lines, did not allow natural conversational groupings to form.
He obtained permission from the airport director to unbolt several rows of chairs and arrange them in casual circles, or semi-circles. He then filmed the results over several days.
The change in behavior was remarkable.
The physical indices of stress, that so many exhibit prior to boarding a flight, were markedly reduced. Gate attendants reported a significant reduction in the number of passengers who challenged decisions and displayed aggressive behavior towards airline personnel. Personnel on the flights reported calmer, more compliant passengers during take off.
The chairs were then returned to their prior arrangement and bolted together, prohibiting natural social grouping from forming.
A comparison between the two groups was marked. So much so that the airport manager had all of the chairs in the entire facility unbolted.
In response, the janitors who serviced the terminal went on strike. They claimed that they were forced to move the chairs in order to clean under and around them, and that that was complicating their job, and placing them in "physical danger".
The airport manager was forced to re-bolt the seating system in straight lines, making it easy for the janitors to push a broom, or floor polisher, the length of the terminal without any detour.
The janitors had won, and the awkward seating, passenger discomfort, and more sanguine mood were all sacrificed to the need to sweep efficiently.
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I offer this tale as a node of reflection as the New Year approaches. Look around you. How many of the events, experiences, difficulties that you encounter everyday only exist because some one with an agenda that does not even touch on the core goal of your activity, has defined the ways and methods which determine your actions?
How many things are you doing simply because that is the way it has always been done?
How many things are you doing that demand your actions conform to a model of efficiency, not a model of comfort, or pleasure?
Are you willing to "go on strike" to change this world that is molding your actions into a model most convenient for the janitors?