The Otis Elevator Company installed the first public version of its newfangled invention inside New York department store E.V. Haughwout, which helped convince people it was safe to use. The impact: Freed from the tyranny of stairs, buildings shot skyward, enabling the creation of the office tower
Five-Day Workweek, 1908
The modern weekend was born when a New England cotton mill started to close on Saturdays as well as Sundays so all employees could observe the Sabbath
- The impact: The practice spread to nearby businesses and then caught on nationwide, especially after labor unions started pressing for it
MCI Mail, 1983
Email was a novelty when MCI debuted this tool for business use
Coworking, 2005
The idea behind the first coworking space, which had eight desks and offered group lunches and activities, was created by a programmer in San Francisco.
Rolodex, 1956
The innovative rotary desktop device that stores contact information for easy reference.
- Even in the digital age, it’s still available at an office-supply store near you, as it was in the days when it was an essential workplace tool.
Slack, 2013
Email-fatigued workers longed for a better way to talk to each other. Enter Slack.
Casual Fridays, 1966
To boost Hawaiian-shirt sales, a Honolulu trade group cooked up “Aloha Fridays” and encouraged local workers to wear the shirts to the office at the end of each week. The impact: Employees embraced the idea, and Aloha Fridays eventually hit the mainland, evolving into today’s familiar Dockers-fest.
