> But they don't. Even when your door is open, they stand outside and knock.
I'm not arguing that can't happen in environments with offices that lock. I'm arguing that what causes someone to stand outside and knock is cultural, and culture is stronger than the architecture of your surroundings. Architectural choices can certainly encourage certain cultures, but ultimately they do not determine culture, leadership does.
> "Going to a conference room" is inherently a bigger deal than just hanging out with someone in their office.
It's not if there are enough conference rooms, and hanging out with someone in their office is not easy if you can't rely upon being able to find them in their office, because they're too frequently going from conference room to conference room.
Once again, you are arguing from a place of no experience.
> what causes someone to stand outside and knock is cultural
The point being... ? When people have private offices, they naturally grok that the office is a private space, not a public one. If they're not there, you have multiple ways of saying "I want to talk to you."
> if people barge in whenever they feel like it
But they don't. Even when your door is open, they stand outside and knock.
> This is literally what conference rooms are for.
Again, naivete here. "Going to a conference room" is inherently a bigger deal than just hanging out with someone in their office.