Columnists
April 10, 2023
IF AI can replace what you do without anybody noticing, the problem isn’t with the technology
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing
Perhaps the least surprising news from the current AI media frenzy is that Buzzfeed has already been using the tech to publish a lot of its stories. There’s an obvious response to this and it’s not about how amazing the AI is. If an artificial intelligence can write vast quantities of formulaic clickbait stories on […]
April 10, 2023
The allure of workplace bullshit
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
Although the legend of Faust is one of the Germanic world’s foundational narratives, its archetypes and themes were already established by the time Goethe codified them in his 1808 play. They have since become universal. The idea that somebody would sell their soul to the Devil to gain something or rid themselves of unhappiness is […]
April 7, 2023
The need for reimagination in an age of uncertainty
April 5, 2023
Do you have a crystal ball when it comes to leading change?
by Jennifer Bryan • Comment, JB, Workplace
March 31, 2023
Are we asking the right questions about the workplace?
by George Muir • Comment, Everything Omni, Facilities management, Property
In 1989, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, performed a TV sketch called Information. You can watch it below. It featured Stephen Fry sitting at a desk with a placard displaying the word “INFORMATION”. He asks, “Can I help you?” to which Hugh Laurie replies, “Oh, I would like some information, please”. Though, in the discussion, […]
March 30, 2023
Every workplace innovation contains the seeds of its opposite
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
The announcement by Apple that it wanted its employees to work in an office for three days a week sparked the usual, tedious pile-on about how many days people should spend in a physical workplace each week. This included the columnist at Grazia who joins the tens of millions of people around the world who […]
March 29, 2023
People have to create great leadership in the face of unrealistic expectations
by Karen Meager • Business, Comment
While modern business leaders are still expected to provide strategic thinking, leadership and make business decisions, their effectiveness is no longer just about profits. These days leaders are also being held responsible for employees’ mental health and wellbeing, psychological safety, as well as diversity and inclusion. They are expected to be decisive yet flexible, empathetic […]
March 28, 2023
MIPIM 2023 confirms that green sells. But is commercial real estate buying?
by Anna King • Comment, Environment, Property
MIPIM may have returned last year, but 2023 was the year it felt back. That was despite widespread concerns over the rising costs of refinancing and a banking crisis that started with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and quickly moved to Europe, with Swiss financial regulators beginning to put together during MIPIM […]
March 24, 2023
What Studs Terkel can teach us about how we talk about work
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design
Studs Terkel is a particular hero of mine. I like his name, his style, his association with jazz but also the way he wrote. His characteristic approach was marked by interviews with ordinary Americans about their jobs and how they felt about them. He did lots of other stuff but that was his work. What […]
March 24, 2023
Company culture is one of the hardest but most valuable things to get right after a merger
by Siobhan Byrnes • Business, Comment
Like never before, 2021 saw record-breaking levels of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity globally, a trend that continued into 2022 until a challenging macroeconomic landscape resulted in a sharp decline in activity. This was mainly because businesses waited to see what the coming months would bring. Whilst experts believe that M&A activity won’t return to […]
March 23, 2023
Getting back to basics in The Great Workplace Conversation
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing
There’s nowhere near enough talk about our base instincts in the Great Workplace Conversation. Objectively speaking, we remain relatively highly evolved, communal and intelligent primates. And so we are driven by things we like to admit to – love, empathy and the Golden Rule. But also things we don’t care to admit to in quite […]
April 19, 2023
We shouldn’t be deterred by the wonky start to the circular economy
by Becky Gordon • Comment, Environment, Workplace design
We’re all familiar with the circular economy in some shape or form. We know the principles of recycling materials back into the original product to create a perfectly circular model of sustainability. But in practice, as architects and designers are finding, the development of the circular economy not quite so simple. Circular design is possible […]