DESIGNING THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE: Mind Full, or Mindful?

Inside Job

Mindfulness as well as wellness, which go hand in hand, are two of the current buzz words being used these days in everything from corporate slogans to phone apps. We are all trying to achieve the best we can by being more aware. Our interior spaces, the places where we humans spend most of our time need to do the same. Wellness should be thought of as the process and mindfulness as the action; particularly in the area of interior design.

Our interiors usually reflect our personality. Our homes are filled with what makes us comfortable. Our work spaces maybe not so much; but that is changing. As more people see what they do as an occupation as an extension of who they truly are, our office or work spaces need to do the same. Creating spaces that are designed for mindfulness will ultimately be designed for our well being.

brand, culture, wellness, workplaceBrand New PurposeMarch 27, 2019workplace, future of work, place, design, mindfulness, wellness, wellbeingComment

Are You About to be “Algo’d”—replaced by an algorithm? Part 1.

Algo’d (verb) al· go.d | \ ˈal-gə-ˌdid

Definition of Algo’d

1: a procedure for converting a human activity (i.e. work) to an automated process that can be performed by some type of computer-driven equipment or device guided in its operation by mathematical algorithms

2: solving an operational task in a finite number of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation

3: a step-by-step procedure for performing a task to accomplishing some end

Yeah, Says Who?

One of the major trends, blending demographic changes with technology advances, is the onward march towards greater automation in our economy. That’s a fancy way of saying, “The robots are coming.” And they are not just that warm, fuzzy image we have of R2D2.

LOVING LEADERSHIP: More Heart, Less Head

Being Your Own Leader in a Leaderless Era

Earth Day, 2018: The great thinker and liberator Nelson Mandela challenges us by asking:

“Who are we, not to shine?”

So in this blog and those to follow, we’re introducing a new, better and more effective way to be a leader, whether you’re leading 1, 10, or 10 million people.

“Who are we, not to shine?”

This is one of the most important questions for all of us today.

Why?

• Because most of our current global leadership is heartless—and their heads don’t seem to work very well, either.

• Because people, organizations, and entire countries are stuck in systems of ego-driven, expired thinking, and action that is jeopardizing our survival.

• Because schools teach memorizing information instead of critical thinking.

• Because so-called spiritual leaders are trying to co-opt, control, and commodify the Earth and the great mystery of which we’re all a part.

This is happening right now, and it’s been going on for millennia.

No Future for Futurists

No Future for Futurists

Are you going to create your future? Or, are you going to let the future control you?

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

The future isn’t working the way it used to. If you’re not at the driving wheel of your future, then you’ll get run over by the future and be tomorrow’s roadkill.

“When it comes to the future, one word says it all: You never know.” ~ Yogi Berra

We are consumed with the future.

Everywhere we look we see many articles and blogs pontificating on the Future and the Future of Whatever, particularly the Future of Work, which isn’t working. As financial institutions are fond of saying: “Past performance is no indicator of future performance.” In other words, what might have worked in the past, might not in the future. Systems leadership and design is based on now — not the never never of later on.

“Past performance is no indicator of future performance.”

Work The Future! Today is the art of the possible, practiced well in advance.

Work The Future! Today is based on possibility — based on asking and answering the question: “What is it we could do today, starting now?” It is the act of embracing the unknown as an opportunity and taking responsibility for it. Predicting the future is fed by the unknown and the fear of the future, and relying on someone else to take responsibility for it.

Whitney Vosburgh + Charlie GranthamSeptember 26, 2017future of work, future, futurists, North Star, purpose, innovation, culture, community, transformationComment

The Future of Work Isn't Working

Work The Future! (WTF!) vs. The Future of Work (FOW):

Are you going to design the future or is it going to design you? Your choice.

This is a long, important story made short and succinct. The way we have looked towards the future the past 150 years is woefully inadequate in the emerging post-industrial global political economy—what is happening to us all, right here and now. It has been a reactive mode of behavior.

That old story is gone. A new story is being born, which will require a proactive stance toward the future for individuals, businesses, and governments. We see it as a shift from the old “Future of (fill in the blank)” to a “Work The Future! Today” (WTF!) standpoint.

Backstory

What do Charles Handy, Charlie Grantham, Tom Malone, and Jacob Morgan have in common. They all wrote a book titled “The Future of Work”. Seems like every ten years or so someone feels the need to re-hash this topic.

Each had its unique focus. Handy on the evolution of large organizational forms. Grantham on the integration of IT/HR/Real Estate processes. Malone on the maturity of information systems. And most recently, Morgan on the need for organizations to adapt themselves to their employees. Each had a kernel of truth and was highly relevant at the time of publication. However, they all were reflections of what we call the OLD Story.

Whitney Vosburgh + Charlie GranthamSeptember 18, 2017future of work, planning, purpose quest, meaningComment

How Culture Can Turn Your Work Space into a Place

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast and operations excellence for lunch and everything else for dinner“ ~ Bill Aulet, MIT 2013

Introduction

Many design articles call for “Engaging workplace design that doesn’t stop with a response to technological and real estate needs. It must go further, supporting the creation and integration of a company’s culture, brand identity, and overall community.”

We’ve taken up that challenge. We want to draw out the distinction between “space”, which is the physical part of the workplace, and “place”, the social aspects of a work environment.

Genesis of the concept

It all begins with “purpose”. What is the purpose of the workplace? What is the purpose of those who perform their work in that place? And how do those two relate to each other? It is our contention that we are currently experiencing a shift in cultural narrative/story from the “Old Story” to a new one.

The purpose of work and where it gets done is changing quickly. We are talking about purpose in the context of work, where many of us find our highest purpose. However, we live in an increasingly purposeless world filled with purposeless work. The Old Story and its attendant social institutions were designed to promote continuous growth. These institutions are no longer life affirming, nor supportive of personal well-being (integration of body, mind, and spirit), let alone human wholeness (integration of individuals into a greater whole).

Brand New PurposeMay 14, 2017place, space, culture, workplace, community, purpose, design, future of workComment

Change, for the better.

Yeah, Says Who?

Being Your Own Leader in a Leaderless Era

Why?

— WTF! —