That's because 99 times out 100, those decision makers don't subject themselves to the open office. They always get their own quiet nook of the workspace with a door while the workforce gets the joy of learning how noise-cancelling headphones work (or, on the flip side: learn that their favorite brand of headphones aren't doing the job).
It should be required that whoever makes these decisions should have to dogfood them.
By what mechanism would this occur? I've spent enough time in the military to know human ego will never allow this to happen, it's like asking the fox to put a lock on the hen house, and turn the keys over to the farmer. Outside of exceptional leaders like the ones where lykr0n works-that actually want to be and behave like leaders-very rarely will you see command subjecting themselves to the shit endured by the commanded.
Let's start with CEOs and VPs work elbow by elbow in an open layout and have to buy headphones.
This isn't asking antagonistically, it's a legitimate ask, so I hope you'll understand my tone isn't one of aggression:
How am I over thinking it? The proposed idea is to require leaders sit with their constituents. Leaders are the ones choosing these horrible open office layouts. How do you make them do something that in many cases, as many folks are replying in this thread to the effect of-they do not want to do?
Do you appeal to the board of directors? What does that look like? When one says "this should be required", my immediate thought is, okay how do you implement it, and how do you actually enforce it?
And that's what I'm asking here. I don't think I'm overthinking it, but thinking exactly the question that will need to be answered if that suggestion is to take root anywhere. How do you require the leaders of your company to do something they might not want to do?
But to generalize at a higher level -- "by what mechanism do we force management to be decent?" -- the only one I've discovered is to be willing to leave jobs that have management practices that one doesn't agree with.
Unfortunately that advice doesn't work in the general case -- mobility is relatively easy for developers but we don't make up a large part of the population. I feel like the right answer is some changes in our social structure or economy that makes job mobility much (much) easier. Like a BI/Negative Income Tax, or free education, etc.
So why do they still have huge window offices? They could lead by example and give up those.
My experience was that everyone, including the CEO, was in an open office (40+ person startup, 800+ person growth company). But that it didn't really matter all that much because leadership (senior or not) was barely at their desk anyway.
I do agree that if senior leadership wants an open office plan, they should commit to working in such an environment with their teams.
VPs and line managers are open like the rest of the employees. And they spend a lot of their time in other meeting spaces.
It's all open, including the executive area. The only nod to privacy for the CEO is a corner desk flanked by board rooms on both sides and her admin towards the interior - it's open, albeit semi-protected. Same for the other C-levels.
VP and other non-executive management have the same desks as everybody else, intermixed with their teams.
We do have ample meeting spaces, from drop-in huddle rooms for 2-4 people to normal bookable conference rooms. And we spend a lot of time in them, especially management.
Would private offices work better for the company? I have no idea. But, the current environment doesn't strike me as any worse than the previous HQ, which had high-walled cubes but lacked ample meeting spaces.
Edit - and by "any worse", I mean there are flaws for sure. I'm not arguing open is great. Just no worse than the previous generation of cubes.
It's not human ego: people can be egotistical in any class. It's power.
There would be a lot of resentment if they closed themselves off into their own area like more of the old gaurd typically does.
Or like me learn those chronic ear infections you suffered as a kid can be triggered as an adult by wearing in-ear headphones for a few hours. Open-back headphones like the AKG K7XX don't cause the issue for me, but then again if I crank them enough to drown out that one annoying coworker then everyone around me hears what I'm listening to and it can trigger my tinnitus. Damn. Maybe I need to apply for an office because I have a hearing-related disability. :-)