I’m not there yet, I don’t work in an office full of bean bags or collaboration couches (isn’t it a settee?) nor do I have access to a juice bar. But in order to be a modern organisation we need all this to create a fun, happy place to work right?

Although I’ve not found evidence of a law firm with a slide or a ball pool, there are plenty that are embracing the “agile working” trend sweeping through corporates.

But are we doing this for the right reasons? There is a narrative that equates this new office style to fun and happiness, but a recent satisfaction survey by glassdoor shows a different story. The fun and happiness comes from the business itself, its culture, job security or work satisfaction. Much to my delight happy workplaces don’t need beanbags, barbecue stations and ball pits.

So let’s put back some traditional 1990’s wooden desks and plain black padded office chairs, keep the carpets a nice shade of grey or dark blue and put back those false ceilings with fluorescent lights?

No I’m not serious, but I think we need to look at why are we doing this and ensure it’s not just to try and make our people happy. And I actually think the law firms doing it are doing it for the right reasons. Create an office space that allows people to work how they want and how they need too, allow flexibility for the teams that want to move about and collaborate when they need to. Allow for quiet spaces and more traditional layouts for those that need to concentrate and support it with the right technology to facilitate all this.

For me I’d rather work in a law firms version of an agile workplace than a Google style office, after all I can’t help think that advocado bathrooms were once a huge trend!