

The War on Interruptions: When Change is Hard - cwan
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/02/06/the-war-on-interruptions-an-excerpt-from-switch-how-to-change-things-when-change-is-hard/

======
Sukotto
Anyone at YC want to comment on if there's a correlation between quiet working
conditions and successfully launching a startup? Of the successful startups
you've funded, how many had quiet/private working conditions vs noisy/shared
ones?

------
houseabsolute
I'd be interested in thoughts on how I as a non-leader can modify my
environment to reduce interruptions at certain times, but do so in a way
that's not off-putting to my coworkers. I work in a row of cubicles and am
surrounded on all sides by teammates that I adore, but who love to talk to me
(and who I love to talk to). That's great, except when I need to get work
done, which is ironically my usual state at work.

~~~
michael_nielsen
Headphones, even when you're not listening to music.

Any form of easily-understood signal will help; the only requirement is that
it not be rude to those around you. (Alternately, it can be so over-the-top
rude that everyone thinks it's funny. But they'll also take the point.) The
funniest one I've heard is two students in the sciences who were writing
theses - they got a hold of a pair of white labcoats, and put them on when
they don't want to be disturbed writing their theses. "I'm doing science".

~~~
houseabsolute
Interesting. Headphones empirically do not work in my situation. Maybe a neon-
pink Do Not Disturb sign above my monitor that I can flip into position when I
want to zone.

~~~
michael_nielsen
Do headphones not work with everyone, or only with a subset of people? It
wouldn't surprise me if some people didn't take the hint, but I guess I'd be
surprised if nearly everyone missed it.

I know one person who tried a Do Not Disturb sign. Like yours, it was a bit
over the top, and that seemed to help. Again, worked with some of his
coworkers, and not with others.

~~~
_delirium
I've found headphones work better if I use them no more than 30-40% of the
time or so; then people wait until I don't have headphones on to ask me
something. Doesn't work if I have them on all the time.

------
buddydvd
Placebo effect?

The nurses are aware that the vest wearing policy is introduced to reduce
medication errors. Wouldn't the nurses just be extra cautious while wearing
these vests (not because there are fewer distractions around them but because
they know they are been observed)?

~~~
gridspy
Wouldn't any placebo effect wear off over the 6 month trial period?

Also : Who cares if the true reason is less interruptions? The environment is
reducing the error rate.

~~~
houseabsolute
I'm thinking that you're right: if the placebo effect reduces the error rate
by 50%, then the environment definitely needs a permanently installed placebo
like these vests.

~~~
buddydvd
I agree with you 100%.

All I'm saying is the nurse example doesn't really prove the main argument,
which is that fewer interruptions equals fewer errors. Right now, it appears
everyone reading this wants to apply this seemingly proven technique in their
own work place, when (maybe) all they need is a device that reminds them that
1.) they make mistakes and 2.) their mistakes are being measured and observed.

~~~
gridspy
Yes. You make an interesting point about how the research doesn't clearly
isolate the cause of the changes. What it does highlight is that you can
change the environment to effect performance improvements.

