Some problems get solved really quickly because of them. The number of times the person who knows the solution overhears others having a problem is astounding.
But then there are problems that just cannot be solved due to the level of noise. Especially some collaborative problems, where a problem requires two people to focus on it really carefully. Distractions just from hearing others talking can interrupt lines of thought and beyond a certain point limit mental ability.
This is never a positive thing to me. It helps when everyone has the same level of problems but it really sucks when you never need help from others. This is a personal problem with the open office I deal with now. I had a coworker that would make disruptions interesting and light hearted. Now its just me and a junior and his disruptions are everything from eating to talking to himself to having conversations with others at volume level 11. The last is not really his fault when someone else leads that charge but a fidgety person is not a great fit for an open floor office shared among 4 people. A much bigger open plan where that can be dissipated by the distance between others. Right now it just feels like someone is constantly in your ear eating potato chips loudly. I purposefully eat potato chips with my mouth closed and always think about my "audible footprint" but when someone else doesn't it's just so fucking annoying.
Some problems get solved really quickly because of them. The number of times the person who knows the solution overhears others having a problem is astounding.
But then there are problems that just cannot be solved due to the level of noise. Especially some collaborative problems, where a problem requires two people to focus on it really carefully. Distractions just from hearing others talking can interrupt lines of thought and beyond a certain point limit mental ability.