One core tenet…

… that has kept me at Steelcase for some 30 plus years,… is the growing evidence that ‘SPACE MATTERS’…! I just don’t question anymore that my work setting makes a difference in my output, even my satisfaction.  To say I should be able to work just as well regardless of the space is a bunch of bunk.  I’ve seen literally hundreds of spaces that are beyond crummy, for anyone to work,… and hundreds of really cool spaces, where work is at a buzz.  I’m convinced,… the impact can be positive or negative,… but never neutral.  While my work focuses on spaces where office tasks are done,… I would claim the exact same thing – it matters - about other spaces I hang out (restaurant, theatre, museum, etc.).  Last week I was at a conference on Design Strategy at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago,… a remarkable architecture in a wonderful location.  I’m certain it enhanced the value I got from the conference.

Defining and designing great spaces, figuring out why some work and some don’t,… is how I spend my days (and more nights and weekends than I care to admit).  It’s not easy and continues to get more and more complex, due to all the stuff that’s changing, and the effect this has on individuals and teams as they work.  Just one example,… mobile technologies and wireless connections, let me work anywhere I choose.  But with an unlimited number of options, WHERE I CHOOSE TO WORK, is a much more important decision than it used to be when everyone just went to the office.  How do you decide…?

For me, it depends on the type of work I’m doing.  Is my need an ‘individual’ need, like concentration (review a series of articles), or contemplation (evaluate an idea).  Or is it a ‘group’ need, like collaboration (create a research proposal), or communication (present my budget).  Depending on the type of work, I look for a different space.  If I don’t, I’m just not as good, and it shows in my output.  I hate it when I have to struggle to do the right task in the wrong space.  Just yesterday, I was trying to read a patent application at my desk. After re-reading the same section a half-dozen times, I walked out and went to breakfast.  Maybe it was the omelet, maybe it was doing a familiar task in an unfamiliar space, all I know is if I match up the task to the space,… I do better, and I’m happier, it’s that simple.  Evaluate your space.