Aligning the evolving demands of businesses with the realities of flexible work will be the next challenge facing companies as offices reopen. — The pandemic initiated the largest workplace experiment in modern history. Overnight, entire industries went fully remote, challenging decades of unchecked assumptions about how work is coordinated and managed. As people start trickling back into offices, the experiment is entering a new phase of exploration: the future of the office.

You might be surprised how the neighborhood contexts you were embedded in before the pandemic shaped your relationship to transformative ideas and insights. — This post builds on: “What is the Value of an Office Location” and “What is the Value of an Office Space” The pandemic has challenged many previously unchecked assumptions about work. Discrediting the notion that we need to be in the office five days a week to be effective has…

Seeing beyond our current perspectives requires us to approach challenges in new ways. — In early May, ETEN, the restaurant attached to the Mediamatic arts center in Amsterdam, started experimenting with ways to reopen to guests safely. Taking a set of micro-greenhouses, they created self-contained dining pods. Encapsulated in their own space, guests can enjoy an intimate dining experience along the canal while remaining…

What do Amazon and Facebook know about the value of a physical location that everyone else seems to be overlooking? — In mid-August, Amazon stunned everyone when they announced their plans to open 630,000 square feet of office space in the iconic Lord & Taylor building on Fifth Avenue. Almost immediately after finalizing the purchase in early March, the future of the space was thrown into jeopardy. Within weeks, offices across…

The connection isn’t obvious, and that’s the point. Learning how to forage innovative connections and integrations is critical to finding innovative solutions to our toughest challenges. — In 1992, The America³ Team successfully defended the oldest international sporting trophy when they won America’s Cup. The race was largely won before the team hit the water through the multitude of innovative racing technologies they had developed. America³’s most secretive project was the development of Cuben Fiber (today called…

Truly innovative concepts are emergent. Building creative perseverance into your organization is more important than ever to adapt to an uncertain and constantly changing future. — What does the path of a vision look like as it mutates from a familiar starting point into a genuinely novel concept? Unless you are part of the creative process, almost 100% of this journey goes unseen. We experience transformative concepts, largely unaware of the immense amount of creative labor…

Physical proximity to team members unlocks dimensions of interactions and exchanges that are critical for creative collaborations. The long-term costs of eliminating these dimensions will come at the expense of transformative innovation. — New York City has over 550 million square feet of office space. Within a few short weeks, almost all of that space was abandoned. At first voluntarily, in an abundance of caution, and then by government mandate. Offices fell eerily silent. For those who remained employed, the precautionary distance placed…

Constraints imposed by markets and consumers are evaporating, allowing businesses to reinvent themselves in radical new ways. — In May 2019, chef Stefano Secchi opened Rezdôra in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. Riding in on a wave of anticipation after returning from Modena where he worked at the Michelin three-starred Osteria Francescana under world renowned chef Massimo Bottura, expectations were set high. Mr. Secchi did not disappoint. Within…