The article is about a pretty small, close-knit startup serving a free gourmet lunch by professional chef. I doubt anyone there feels like it's stifling and I doubt anyone is thought less of for occasionally doing their own thing.
Certainly this is a Forbes blog and someone may take the idea and try to force it into an environment inappropriately, but arguing that it can never work seems over the top.
Perhaps you misunderstood my comment. I can only speak to the fact that based on how it was described (the reporter may have misrepresented what it was like for dramatic effect) I would find it stifling. Even if the description is 100% spot on and it's not for me, it could be that everyone there enjoys it and it becomes a good filter for finding employees who are into that kind of culture. I never stated that it can never work. Only that it would only work for me if it's a no-pressure, opt-in, spontaneous thing.
The article is about a pretty small, close-knit startup serving a free gourmet lunch by professional chef. I doubt anyone there feels like it's stifling and I doubt anyone is thought less of for occasionally doing their own thing.
Certainly this is a Forbes blog and someone may take the idea and try to force it into an environment inappropriately, but arguing that it can never work seems over the top.