Edd *Data Istari* C.

Our COO banned headphones in the office. His reasoning: "Headphones create invisible walls between employees." He wanted more spontaneous collaboration. IT has 34 employees who spend most of their day on calls. I asked if headsets were exempt. "No exceptions. We need to break down silos." Fine. Monday morning, we stopped using headphones. At 9:15, the entire IT department was on speakerphone. Three engineers troubleshooting different problems simultaneously. Two people talking to Microsoft support. Someone on hold with Dell. A printer technician explaining warranty coverage at full volume. By 10 AM, the office sounded like an airport terminal where every flight had been canceled. The COO came over. "Can you guys keep it down?" I explained that we were collaborating without invisible walls. He asked us to use the meeting rooms. I told him there were four meeting rooms and 34 IT employees. He suggested taking calls from home. I asked if he was approving remote work. "No." He then suggested lowering our speaker volume. I said we could, but customers wouldn't hear us. Tuesday, HR organized a meeting to address the noise complaints. The meeting was conducted over Teams. Everyone joined from their desks. Without headphones. The feedback was spectacular. Wednesday, the COO ordered himself a $380 pair of noise-canceling headphones. I rejected the purchase. Reason: Creates invisible walls. The headphone ban was lifted 19 minutes later. Apparently collaboration ends when leadership can hear it.