Weekends are time when things slow down a little. Your weekend shouldn’t be two more regular work days. That’s a sure road to burnout. Take time to refresh yourself. Take time for something different. Take time for some of that reading you can’t find time for during the week.

Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. This week there are articles about the places where we work, how they affect us, and how we can make things better.

From Adi Gaskell: How Open Plan Offices Strangle Collaboration

“Despite the evidence mounting that open plan offices are increasingly bad for employees, their appeal endures in workplaces around the world, not least because many managers feel they facilitate the sharing of thoughts and ideas. A recent study adds further grist to the mill as to their negative impact however.”

From Dylan Walsh: “The Workplace Is Killing People and Nobody Cares”

“A new book examines the massive health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees.”

From Michael Parke: How to be happier at work

“Learn to know when you’re happy and to enjoy the process of finding out what’s right for you”

From Cal Newport: The Peacock in Menlo Park: On Open Offices and Signaling Theory

“A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a new study that took a careful look at interactions in an open office. It found, contrary to popular belief, that moving to an open format made people less likely to talk face-to-face with their coworkers, and more likely to instead send distracting digital messages. Not surprisingly, these changes led to lower productivity.”

From Jason Fried: Library Rules: How to make an open office plan work

“Last week, DHH skewered the open office floor plan. He was right. But wait, we have an open office floor plan. And we’ve done a respectable job figuring out how to make it work. Maybe I should share something about that.”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

Book Suggestions

Dying for a Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance—and What We Can Do About It by Jeffrey Pfeffer

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor

Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More by Morten Hansen

Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Every week I share some recommendations of business books that I think are worth a look. Follow this link to the most recent list.

Every Monday, I do a blog post about business reading and business books. Follow this link to the most recent post.