Some time back, I commented about the need to remove the sad chairs in building 300. I happened upon one of many chair removal ceremonies a few weeks back, and I snapped this photo to share.
Over at Fistful of Talent, they were discussing how important chairs are to innovation. While my new chair is not the very fashionable lime green, at least it does not collapse when I sit down, and for that I am thankful.
This gets me to the point of my post. I’ve been thinking for awhile about a culture of being thankful. Really thankful. Not just realizing that there are things that make me happy, but making sure to articulate them.
I had an excellent discussion about this with a colleague the other day, about how some people are not comfortable being thanked publicly. They might prefer private thanks. Others want the world to hear. So far I have never come across someone who would say that they don’t want to be thanked. So as part of my personal goal of being openly thankful, I want to say thanks to my company for fixing the chair situation in building 300.
An unexpected side benefit for me, was the move from the 2nd floor to the 11th floor. The 2nd floor in building 300 belongs to Apps IT. While there are some excellent benefits to being on the same floor with IT, especially if you are nice to them, the floor did tend to look like the back of an electronic store and less like an office. In addition, my office had a very large tree growing outside the window, so my view was obstructed. On net, not an office to invite people to see.
As you can see, newly remodled 11th floor has a wonderful view. In addition, there is new paint on the wall, new carpet on the floor and excellent chairs. So thanks again to everyone who had a hand in upgrading our building. I’m sure this has made me much more productive and innovative.
Meg Bear 
Meg,
That view isn’t bad but can you see Larry’s yacht form there. I was very thankful when I moved to the 16th floor and get this view
They beat my view hands down: Gents and Ladies toilet doors (oops… restroom for US speakers) immediately above the low cube wall. Mind you, it does mean I get to say hello to a lot of people!!
Damn… I should have quoted that in my self-appraisal as proof of my positive attitude 🙂
@David, thanks for reminding me that I aspire to be you someday 😉
@Pete, excellent innovation. George Costanza would be impressed, your own boss might not be, but then again I hear he is always staring out the window these days so hard to say either way there…