Mother Jones

Thank God for Mother Jones. The wise, old magazine (and now of course Web site) published a good-sized piece on coworking this week.Personally, I find it to be one of the best I've read on the subject. First, it is well written and an entertaining read. But what really makes this look at the coworking movement compelling is that Kiera Butler, the author, takes a closer look than most at the idea that independent workers crave community and seeks to understand that desire rather than just accepting it.

As shocking as it may sound, we may actually need the office, despite its reputation as a soul-sucking pit of conformity and monotony. In a recent analysis of 40 years of research, Stephen Humphrey, a professor of management at Florida State University's business school, found a strong correlation between the level of social interaction at work and job satisfaction and productivity. He also found that this correlation has strengthened over time—that now more than ever, the office has become a refuge of sorts. "It used to be that everyone could hang out around the water cooler—now we telecommute or spend two hours in our cars on the way to work," he says. "We suddenly start to realize, we miss socializing—and we need it."

Even better, I'm pretty sure Butler must have used the synergistic benefits of coworking at Citizen Space in San Francisco to fine tune her angle.

I wanted my share of spontaneous collaboration, too, so I announced that I had to brainstorm story ideas. I braced for a roomful of annoyed glares, but my fellow coworkers stopped what they were doing and began playfully tossing suggestions my way—as if it were a game, not work. It was very unofficelike, in a good way.

In the end, she concludes, simply: "Sometimes the least important thing about going to work is, well, work."Thanks for the picture go to factoryjoe at Flickr.