Do you suffer from leg or foot cramps in bed? Next time it happens place a bar of bath soap near the cramp. Wait a minute or so. Experience the joy of release.
This ridiculous treatment is not “scientifically proven” or even understood, but it works (based on loose experimentation by my own self and numerous friends). Don’t expect double blind tests and FDA approval anytime soon, in the absence of related profit-making opportunity.
Maybe cramps are caused by an energy feedback loop. Soap interrupts the feedback loop. Or something like that.
How could this possibly be relevant for workplace design?
It has to do with trying new things. The workplace is changing radically, and yet many of us resist new approaches with the claim that “it won’t work for me” or with a challenge to “prove it.” Yet we can’t know what works without trying new things. And we don’t know what we’re missing except through new experience. When thinking about workplace changes consider this:
Some good ideas --
• cannot be totally explained or demonstrated in advance, but are nonetheless valid.
• lack research and marketing (due to limited profit potential), but are nonetheless valid.
• don’t work for everyone, but are nonetheless valid.
• are cheap and easy to implement, but are nonetheless valid.
When we demand rational explanations and documented results we can miss out on real value.
So if you get occasional cramps, keep a bar of soap on your bedside table. Next time, after you stop laughing, grab the soap and place it near the cramp. You might find that a new approach brings benefits that you didn’t even know were possible. Same goes for the new workplace.