The open-plan office is framed as a tool for creativity and transparency, but historically, large shared spaces were designed to make behaviour observable.
The idea traces back to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, an architectural concept where individuals self-regulate because they might be seen. While today’s offices are obviously not prisons, the psychological principle of ambient visibility still applies.
A Harvard Business School study found that face-to-face interaction in open offices declined by approximately 70%, with employees substituting digital communication instead. Rather than encouraging spontaneous exchange, constant exposure appeared to increase withdrawal.
Environmental psychology tells us that when people are visually exposed from multiple angles, the brain interprets this as a low-level threat. The resulting stress response, called the Turtle Effect, leads us to protect focus by reducing interaction.
Sound plays a role too.
Research from Cornell University on the Irrelevant Speech Effect shows that the brain is particularly sensitive to nearby human conversation, even when we try to ignore it. The result is mental fatigue that has little to do with workload.
Leaders frequently promote Radical Transparency, yet they often work behind doors, walls or soundproof glass. They themselves understand that complex thinking benefits from protected work zones.
Walls don’t necessarily create silos. They often create focus.
Privacy is not the opposite of collaboration.
It is often the condition that makes meaningful collaboration possible.
The question for modern workplaces may not be how open can we be?
But rather: where does focus need protection?
Does your office design support deep thinking—or simply constant visibility?
The more useful question for modern workplaces may not be how open can we be, but rather how do we protect focus?