Where To Start...

Yesterday's Globe and Mail had an article by Stephanie Whittaker about the do's and dont's of decorating a cubicle.

Click here for the article.

As it turned out, I'd just, the day before, been in extensive discussions with a co-worker about how to decorate my own cube. I've been at my new job for a month now but I've been putting off the decorating or re-organizing - partially because I was feeling out the situation and partly because it's half full of the remnants of my predecessors and I was relucant to make the extra work for myself.

The advice from the Globe and Mail seemed to follow suit with what I was already feeling (thereby also fueling my suspicion that newspapers are really written for the underworld of lowly luddite-industry article-clippers like myself and not the culturally and politically-savy elite [Don't tell the Arts section that I said that]). Apparently pimping your cube is a careful practice, one which should be carefully and strategically planned out to reflect your career goals (ok, actually though, I was just looking to cover up a bit of my grey-on-grey cloth wanna-be-walls). You're expected to survey your surroundings and plan your own space to suit. Take cues from your superiors. Don't overdo it. Twenty-percent personal is the optimal balance. Too much of anything cute or brag-worthy is a bad thing. Too much girly is a horrible thing. In fact, the article quotes Linda Constant, a professional development coach with Montreal-based Optimus Performance as saying, "If you're a woman aspiring to rise through the ranks and you have kitten or flower motifs on your paper clip holder, don't expect to be taken seriously."

Now, I have to disagree with Ms.Constant. At the end of the article, Ms Whittaker suggests a few hints, including the tip that "Corporate culture counts". I think it's really all about that - you've got to set your space with the context of the company. Yes, people will look at you funny if you start tossing throw pillows around and start decorating the place with a definitive country-hobby feel in a high-tech company - but, say, you're in an industry that appreciates a bit of irony, in that case I think a mug with some kittens on it might go a long way in the water cooler-discussion topic department. A million action-figures might make you look like a certain well-known 40 yr-old virgin, but a well-placed figurine of satirical importance might just spark a conversation. Or, hell, it might just make you happy. And if you're happy, maybe your cubicle might not feel like a tiny, shrinking hell box of an underpaid, under-respected, university-debt-ridden existence...you know, maybe.

But wait, I digress. Everything about starting a new job is about figuring out what the "Corporate Culture" of the new place is. I've worked in a huge variety of industries and whether it meant buying my waterbottle from MEC or wearing suit pants passed down to me from my mother - I've inevitably molded my image to suit my enviroment, to suit my goals. Man, I just turned into a yuppie for a second. Ok, I didn't really mean that. Let me rephrase that - An office is a public space, but a cubicle is your private space within that public space. It's a balance - a careful one and one that takes some strategic planning if you mean to do it right. I plan on making mine comfortable and possibly worthy of a bit of conversation should a co-worker stop by to give me some photocopying to do. Other than that, I'm going to let it happen organically. If something cool happens and I get a picture of it - I'll put it up; if I get a toy with my lunch, I might stick it on top of my monitor; but on the otherhand, I don't plan on keeping a copy of every corporate event invitation I get and tacking it up with pride. I might just see if the dollar store has a mug with some kittens on it and I'm thinking about framing some elementary school report cards, but I'm not ready to try to make my cube say more about me than my mouth.