&quot;Our open plan office is great for camaraderie and vibe, but it can sometimes make it difficult to focus, especially if you’re working on a task that requires deep concentration. Some people hold a lot of context in their working memory at any one time, others don’t. Some people welcome interruption, others don’t. To work together effectively, we ensure that everyone is aware of the almost-universal-but-usually-unspoken ways that engineers work day to day.&quot;<p>It&#x27;s fascinating how resilient the open office plan is to all the research showing it&#x27;s bad for productivity.<p>&quot;Camaraderie and vibe&quot; are difficult to quantify, or to even explain in concrete terms how they contribute to profits, revenues, or whatever your most important metrics are.  Or, for that matter, demonstrating &quot;camaraderie and vibe&quot; actually increase with an open plan office, versus individual offices.<p>On the other hand, the ability of engineers to focus and solve problems obviously has a direct influence on the company&#x27;s bottom line, I would think.<p>Frankly, it would be refreshing to see more executives just admit they don&#x27;t want to spend the extra money for real offices, than hiding behind &quot;camaraderie and vibe&quot; to justify their decisions while trying to still seeming cool and hip.