Rachel Emma Silverman, WSJ:

Even though digital technology has led to significant productivity increases, the modern workday seems custom-built to destroy individual focus. Open-plan offices and an emphasis on collaborative work leave workers with little insulation from colleagues' chatter. A ceaseless tide of meetings and internal emails means that workers increasingly scramble to get their "real work" done on the margins, early in the morning or late in the evening.

Forced collaboration is arguably the most celebrated-on-paper but degenerative-in-practice organizational scheme to date. Read Susan Cain's book Quiet to understand why.