US newspapers report an outbreak of faith-inspiring artefacts on workers’ desks. For example, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution surveyed its readers and found a variety of shrinery, including magic charms, prayers hung on office walls and “spiritually inspiring” tropical fruit fridge magnets.

One reader hangs a prayer by her desk that says: “Dear Father, I come to you regarding my work performance. It seems to me that I should be more productive.” Sounds like one step short of, “Lord, please don’t downsize me”.

Then there is feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of arranging furniture, which proponents claim can boost profitability. Angela Ang, of the UK-based Rising Dragon Feng Shui, suggests that businesses can protect their bottom lines by putting bosses in the corner farthest from the door – to adopt the “command” position.

You should also bin all office cacti because their spikes cause “shar chi”, making the air fierce. And hide all wiring – tangled wires generate “snake shar” and cause accidents. Feng shui fans claim that the system has been used in offices for more than 5,000 years. I’m not sure that they had wiring problems back then.

What not to do when motivating people

It should come as no surprise that there are probably as many ways to demotivate people as there are to fire them up

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But feng shui can cause office strife. I once worked in a department that was relocating, with the usual politicking about who was going to sit next to whom in the new place.

When we arrived at our new desks, nothing resembled the agreed plan. The boss had secretly called in a feng shui adviser. All the yin yang energies might have been harmonised correctly, but people who needed to consult regularly had either to crawl under desks to reach each other, or walk through someone’s else’s office. Getting all your dragons in a row isn’t always the answer.

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