Is stress killing creativity and innovation in your organisation?

Is stress killing creativity and innovation in your organisation?

by • Comment, Wellbeing

Around 90 percent of CEOs state that they are displeased with returns of their investments into innovation. Companies invest in innovation projects, hire innovation consultants, run innovation workshops, and send their best and brightest to conferences and courses on innovation, yet fail to see the magic appear. Angered by this, many companies double down, throwing yet more money on innovation, only to see that returns fail to appear.

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Your company has a culture, whether you have designed one or not

Your company has a culture, whether you have designed one or not

by • Comment, Workplace

Company culture has been in the spotlight even more than usual recently, with stories continuing to surface about the impact that it is having on businesses. The most recent being Revolut, who were called out on their questionable culture and business practices. The issues were put down to “growing pains” and a lack of budget. The truth is, every company has a culture It’s not the state-of-the-art office, the bean bags or pool table. It boils down to the founding principals and the way business gets done. It is the feel of the work environment and the way people treat each other and your implicit attitudes and behaviours. Ultimately, all of these things are in your hands — if you take it seriously from the beginning.

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The meteor strike of coworking and the beasts that will remain

The meteor strike of coworking and the beasts that will remain

by • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design

The concept of coworking has only been with us for a short time, but there are already signs that it is evolving into something rather different. The most common misperception about the way evolution works is that it is based on some steady progression, driven by the merciless principle of survival of the fittest, with the best adapted climbing towards the top of an evolutionary tree. This gives rise to one of the most common questions posed by sceptics: if we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

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The flexible solution to workplace loneliness

The flexible solution to workplace loneliness

by • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design

For years, the word ‘office’ would doubtless conjure images of the traditional individual cubicle. However, times have changed, and where the cubicle once ruled the roost, a flexible working revolution is already disrupting the office market and reshaping the world of work.

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What lift design tells us about who we are and how we work

What lift design tells us about who we are and how we work

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

In 1959, cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman identified the personality traits which go hand in hand with disproportionate levels of heart disease. These include an overblown sense of time urgency, a desire to fit as much into each second as possible, excessive competitiveness and aggressiveness and frustration when other people are doing things more slowly than absolutely necessary. In other words – your typical 21st Century human. Friedman and Rosenman coined a term for such people which has now entered common usage. They called them Type-A personalities.

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Navigating organisations through digital transformation

Navigating organisations through digital transformation

by • Comment, Technology

It’s hard to escape the digital disruption that is reshaping not only the world we live in, but the fundamental way that businesses operate. Greater levels of data exchange and automation are creating new layers of innovation, shifting functional workflows to agile systems. And to prosper in this upheaval, leaders must look at how they can support their company’s ability to adapt and identify new opportunities to embrace these changes.

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Brexit, Brits and blending: what MIPIM told us about the state of corporate real estate

Brexit, Brits and blending: what MIPIM told us about the state of corporate real estate

by • Comment, Property

Man watching fireworks display in MIPIM, CannesMIPIM celebrated its 30th anniversary during uncertain political and economic times, yet the mood was positive and even the backdrop of an impending Brexit decision failed to derail the UK contingent. However, the one thing missing from MIPIM in 2019 was British politicians. They were all back home, participating in decisive votes in the House of Commons as Parliament continued to kick the Brexit can down the road.

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Workplace art can draw the distinction between branding and corporate identity

Workplace art can draw the distinction between branding and corporate identity 0

by • Comment, Workplace design

One of the many traps that lies in wait for unwary organisations is to confuse corporate identity with their brand. The visual aspects of an identity may reflect the firm’s personality and values, and a change may go in hand in hand with the development of a new strategic direction or culture, but a mismatch can be jarring if the stakeholder perception of the organisation does not marry up with its branding. More →

Coworking and a new golden era for the workplace and the people who inhabit it

Coworking and a new golden era for the workplace and the people who inhabit it

by • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

coworking officeThe idea of coworking is starting to resonate with a growing number of businesses and for a growing number of reasons. People new to the concept, or those who are aware primarily of its roots, may discover or retain a notion that it is a way for start-ups and freelancers to share space as a way of keeping down costs or networking with similar organisations. There is still a great deal of truth in this, given that the initial growth of coworking was based almost exclusively on the need for small tech and creative organisations to occupy space near to their larger clients, in precisely those urban enclaves that demand eye-watering rents and conventional leases.

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A quarter of a century ago, the newborn Internet set office design on a different path

A quarter of a century ago, the newborn Internet set office design on a different path

by • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design

Vitra Ad Hoc systemBecause we are now so immersed in technology, we can sometimes forget just how young the Internet is. It was only in 1995 that the final barriers to its full commercial development were removed. In 1994, the number of people using it worldwide was estimated at around 20 million, there were under 15,000 company websites and the UK had one ‘cybercafe’. Even so, there was something in the air. A sense that everything was about to change – and change spectacularly.

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Co-design is an old idea, but it belongs to the 21st Century like never before

Co-design is an old idea, but it belongs to the 21st Century like never before

by • Comment, Workplace design

A group of people share ideas around a tableAs with so many apparently new ideas that resonate in a contemporary context, co-design has a long history. Originally referred to as cooperative or participatory design, it was first applied in Scandinavia in the 1960s and 70s, especially as a way of engaging stakeholders in the public sector in the design and development of IT projects, healthcare and workplaces. Arguably, our modern understanding of the idea was first set out by C.K. Prahalad and Venkatram Ramaswamy in a 2000 Harvard Business Review article called Co-opting Customer Competence and a subsequent book by the authors on the subject. They argue that there is a growing trend for firms to actively seek the insight and competence of customers to offer them better solutions, tailored to their own needs. More →

The rise of the digital workplace is transforming the physical office

The rise of the digital workplace is transforming the physical office

by • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

serviced officesA recent survey by Gartner predicts that one in five workers will have an AI bot as their co-worker by 2022. It’s almost impossible to talk about the future of the workplace without mention of AI or robotics, and is therefore hardly surprising that there is a feeling of apprehension amongst workers. PwC’s 21st global CEO Survey in 2018 revealed that between 23 percent and 51 percent of respondents were “extremely concerned” about the speed of technological change, and indicated “anxiety about the impending promise and perils of AI.”

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