Congratulations! You’ve arrived. You’ve earned that nice cushy office where you can shut the door and no one can hear you listening to the greatest American Idol video ever on YouTube (or looking for a video card to send to your mom on Mother’s Day).

Yep, the office is fantastic. But if you want to demonstrate some real leadership, toss your junk into a box and move into Downtown Cubeville.

Before I explain why I encourage you to head out into the ant farm, let’s acknowledge why cubicles are one of the most horrific inventions ever. You have no privacy. You can hear everything everyone around you says. You can smell every roadkill ’possum Lean Cuisine entrée your neighbor heats up in the microwave. You can be subjected to the scorching hellfire of your cube-mate’s space heater or the gale force winds of their oscillating fan. The lovely industrial gray or taupe of the cube walls makes you want to scream.

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