[DRAFT] Time for Office Opulence?

by **Nitaiyan** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:25 am

Title: Time for Office Opulence?

The Issue

Ministers, aides, and other state functionaries increasingly complain about drab furnishings and the decrepit state of government offices. They contend that the depressing work environment is deleterious for the psychological well-being and productivity of officialdom. Various proposals to address this malady are being pitched in your office.

Option 1.

“@@LEADER@@, why don’t you roll out the red carpet for @@NAME@@’s ancient crafts?” queries @@RANDOMNAME@@, an artisan of considerable renown, while spreading out an intricately-patterned rug on your desk. “Did you know that this country’s traditional art of producing hand-woven and hand-knotted carpets, rugs, and tapestries has been recognized by a major international body as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity? Just give the word, and our master crafters can supply textiles that will transform government buildings into dazzling oases of beauty.”

Outcome: tapestries displaying legendary imagery and historic scenes greet visitors who enter government premises

Option 2.

“Look at the appalling upholstery found in this abomination that you call an office!” thunders @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of @@NAME@@ Repair, Restore, Rebuild, while observing a roach crawl along a damaged and forlorn sofa. “No wonder state employees are experiencing mental agony - the problem is found in all this atrocious furniture quality and associated décor. Your only option is to refurbish this place and other government buildings with acceptable quality tables, desks, couches, and chairs. Here’s a sample of my Brancaland teak selections,” @@HE@@ concludes, while handing you a product brochure.

Outcome: the exquisite natures of @@LEADER@@’s office chairs eclipse those of regal thrones

Option 3.

Validity: Invalid for nations with the No Video Games policy

@@RANDOMNAME@@, a lead game developer from BarrySoft, offers an alternative plan. “Government staff members need periodic intellectual stimulation to keep sane. Facilitate this mental enrichment by installing arcade machines and video game consoles in their places of work, meeting rooms, and dining areas. Sure, critics will call the whole idea crazy and a license to slack off, but my own company’s studies contradict the naysayers’ natterings. Besides, can anyone in this day and age get through a shift without playing at least a few minutes of Super Barry Bros?”

Outcome: bureaucrats’ offices are increasingly indistinguishable from gaming arcades

Option 4.

Validity: Invalid for nations with the No Zoos policy

“Fish ponds outside AND INSIDE government complexes, that’s what everyone needs! Populate these ponds with koi, goldfish, sturgeon, and maybe the @@DEMONYM@@ bluespotted sunfish!” yells fish-raising aficionado @@RANDOMNAME@@. “Just go all out by putting in some sweet lotuses and pond filters for the fish. And hey, while you’re at it, setup a few office aquariums as well. This stuff might require some internal structural adjustments and the removal of sections of the floors, walls, and ceilings here and there, but, as you know, everything goes better with fish.” @@HE@@ finishes, while handing you a care guide and package of fish food.

Outcome: the business of government is getting fishier by the minute

Option 5.

“Can you believe these suggestions?!?” interjects libertarian author @@RANDOMNAME@@, while brandishing a copy of the voluminous ‘Profligacy in @@NAME@@ is rampant.’ “Government employees don’t like the atmosphere here? Well, tough! Do you think that taxpayers like pouring @@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ into lavish government suites, only to have them trashed by internecine food fights, like the one that occurred in this very room last week? The more things government touches, the more things it breaks, and the more things it breaks, the more broke it becomes. So, do you really want the government touching itself? Slash administrative spending instead.”

Outcome: places of government are noted for their crumbling exteriors and austere interiors

by **Tinhampton** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:54 pm

From what I gather, this appears to be a fairly generic "support industry/free trade/forget about industry" issue.The options would barely be any different if you cut down the description to simply "A group of concerned carpet weavers and free-market libertarians have gathered in your office to debate the future of the @@DEMONYM@@ textiles industry" - this should not be the case for an issue concerning something as momentous as an intangible cultural heritiage designation.

Nitaiyan wrote:the World Assembly Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (WAESCO)

There exists no WAESCO in the General Assembly canon (just to double-check). In April 2019, renowned editor Candlewhisper Archive said that "editors more involved in the WA pointed out that the WA folk aren't okay with us creating organisations within the WA within our fiction." I have no idea if this policy has changed in the past two-and-a-half years; there does exist a World Assembly Trust on Cultural Heritage but I don't think it does anything vis-a-vis intangible cultural heritage.

Nitaiyan wrote:renascence

Do the factories smell?

Nitaiyan wrote:Option

Do you really need to give everybody two jobs? This is going to be like that article the Mail Online published a few years ago (I can't find the link right now) about Made in Chelsea's Ashley James strutting about the red carpet in a pair of thigh-high boots where they just threw about a lot of job descriptions but in different paragraphs

2nd June 2022 edit: I rediscovered Maybe(lline) she's missing something? Former Made In Chelsea star Ashley James protects her modesty with denim shirt as she attends beauty launch in thigh-length stiletto boots today and my goodness, is it quite something. James is variously described in this article as a "reality star," a "DJ," a "lifestyle blogger," a "body confidence champion," a "musical siren," a "television personality," and a "writer" in that order. And they didn't even mention that she'd run the London Marathon earlier that year. Also the carpet was black not red

Nitaiyan wrote:Result

Say-what-you-see-in-the-option-text style issue effects fell out of fashion fifteen years ago.

by **Nitaiyan** » Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:53 pm

In an effort to make the issue less generic and convoluted, I reworked the entire concept to be based on another idea that I had been considering. Here is the essentially new, rather than just revised, issue draft:

Draft added to original post:

How about this? The effect line for option 2 could be reworded if it sounds awkward for monarchies.

by **Nitaiyan** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:25 pm

The third option would only be valid for nations without the no video games policy. I am considering whether to add a separate option for nations that do have the no video games policy, or just leave it at that.

by **Nitaiyan** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:53 am

Third and currently most recent draft (added to the original post):

by **Terrabod** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:14 am

First things first - it's a lot easier for people to follow what's going on with your drafting if you keep the most up-to-date version in your original post, and in the same post you list the older drafts (example here). See how the old drafts are listed in the original post with the most recent version front-and-centre? The bbcode used for old drafts is:

Code: Select all: [spoiler=1st Draft]text[/spoiler]

Secondly, I think this has become an issue about how we should decorate government buildings which isn't really Leader's problem (there's probably a designer who'll do that kind of thing). The core problem here is poor work environment causing low morale - focus on this problem, and instead of discussing decoration styles restrict your options to solutions that will counter this core problem.

For example, you could well have an option (yeah, probably just one) to get in a team of designers who'll breathe new life into government facilities as this is a potential solution. No other options should consider redecoration, whether it's with fish or tapestries. Another potential solution is to promote flexible working/work-from-home (as many people in RL will now be doing), although this may require a "has not banned the internet/computers" validity. It also may be too similar to the "let us work from the beach" option in the existing issue about employee truancy - perhaps another commenter has an opinion on that. A good crazy option (many issues have such an option) could involve a Google-type work environment where your employees go down a slide to get from the reception to their desks or something - a similar idea to your BarrySoft idea but turned up to 11.

So yeah, have a think about how you can change the focus of this draft from "choosing the kind of decoration you want" to "improving worker morale by improving the work environment". Maybe take a look into the different ways real life companies have dealt with this issue.

And please make the changes regarding organising your draft! It would be a big help to commenters.

by **Nitaiyan** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:03 pm

Thanks for the advice. I have edited the initial post to show the most recent draft, along with the two earlier drafts. I am also going try to rework the options to focus more definitively on the poor work enviroment/low morale factor.

I probably just need to totally separate the tapestry thing from this issue. Originally, I had an idea that I might create an issue inspired by UNESCO's recognition of certain crafts as intangible cultural heritage. But after encountering various difficulties, the issue morphed into this one. Might be better to revisit the tapestry factor in a later topic, rather than try to insert remnants of it into this one.

by **Terrabod** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:01 pm

Nitaiyan wrote:Thanks for the advice. I have edited the initial post to show the most recent draft, along with the two earlier drafts. I am also going try to rework the options to focus more definitively on the poor work enviroment/low morale factor.

I probably just need to totally separate the tapestry thing from this issue. Originally, I had an idea that I might create an issue inspired by UNESCO's recognition of certain crafts as intangible cultural heritage. But after encountering various difficulties, the issue morphed into this one. Might be better to revisit the tapestry factor in a later topic, rather than try to insert remnants of it into this one.

No worries! Another tip would be to edit where you've posted other drafts (e.g. three posts above this one) and just replace the text with [draft added to original post] or something. That would make those now obsolete posts much smaller (making the comments easier to read through) and would have the added benefit of preventing confusion (people might think those are the most up-to-date versions instead of the version displayed in your original post).

I agree with your point about separating the issues. If such an issue doesn't already exist (I'm not sure) then intangible heritage deserves its own draft that focuses solely on that topic. A muddled up or confused issue is never a good thing, so always focus on one central problem or question.

On that note, I'm not sure if a "work environment -> low morale" issue has already been added to the game. I'll have a look just now and see if I can find anything. If it's of interest, there's a list of existing issues here that you can search to find out if your idea has already been done. The Writers' Block is another useful resource - if you post an issue idea there before you start writing the Got Issues experts will tell you if it has been done before and whether it's a good idea (note that posting there isn't compulsory at all). Apologies if you're already aware of both - I don't know what level of issue writing experience you have at the moment.

EDIT: All I can find at the moment is Option 3 of #732: "A Peeping Problem" which consists of a workplace improvement guru instructing Leader to reduce workplace stress through initiatives like "letting workers set their own hours, adding bean-bag chairs to the office, heck, maybe even mandating slides be put in the break-room". The issue itself doesn't deal with decrepit workplaces (the issue itself is about workers' right to privacy regarding their work computers), but I'd definitely be interesting in hearing what others think.

by **Terrabod** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:26 pm

Double post, sorry!

[DRAFT] Time for Office Opulence?

[DRAFT] Time for Office Opulence?

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