Building an inspired environment:
Everything begins with an inspiring mission, but table that for a moment.
Time spent under pressure solves hard problems. Therefore, the longer you can sustain the pressure, the faster you can solve the problem. That's why creating environments to help people better endure the difficulty of problem-solving is essential.
Open office concept versus a closed office/cubicle concept.
I've worked in both environments at the extreme, and neither was very productive. The open-concept office lacked structure, and people fled from it simply to have private phone calls. The closed office setting was more akin to a prison or maze to find other people and potentially escape.
Having an office environment that was ready set for people to work in but also able to rapidly transition employees to other locations, either within the building, across the country, or somewhere in between, is purpose-built.
The default work setting should be in the office, a bullpen-style environment with a coffee shop vibe. Standing desks and tables, drop-in stations for computers to display on multi-monitors, comfortable single-seat chairs, and, of course, good coffee. Pair this with cut-away rooms and booths for private conversations and meetings should they arise, and you have the beginning of a productive setting that people want to identify with and belong to.
An interesting observation: an argument is that being surrounded by people as you work is annoying, but how often do you go to coffee shops and see many different people of varied backgrounds happily working on projects surrounded by strangers having conversations and working on projects separate and adjacent to them?
It's because coffee shops are exciting. And people want to work in exciting places where things are happening.
Combining the two ideas, working on things that inspire you in exciting places sets the tone and creates the endurance to yield impressive results.
#WorkspaceInnovation
#OfficeDesign
@perkinswill
@planforce