Quoting Henry Ford talking about the development of the Ford Model T:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"
I’m pretty sure many of us know that quote… but after a recent meeting with a prospective C-Suite client I’ve extrapolated it and wanted to share my thoughts.
Many organizations are looking to refine their office designs using the same processes and products they’ve used in the past. While these traditional practices have a place in planning, without the awareness of alternative solutions or process for thinking outside the box, they are unknowingly limiting their office performance.
So let me share with you a client who is seeking to reduce their space and relocate because of rising attrition and an occupancy of around 35-40%.
They engaged our advisors in this move to better understand how much space they’d require, but when discussing solutions, their “faster horses” thinking nearly derailed their progress.
We spoke about the reasons why people might be using their office. The dialogue below is part of that conversation.
They said “Well they mainly seem to come in for team meetings, socialize with their team and the [xxxx] team (confidential) come in because they collaborate in-person a lot, but we’re not sure how to reduce the number of cubicles”
“That’s useful information” I reply “We’ll need to dig a little deeper and understand their activities and interactions more, and whether the current workplace configuration and furniture inhibits their activities or puts them off from coming into the space. There may be some alternative work settings that better enable their work”
“Our cubicles are a good solution for us, we like them, we just want smaller ones and more meeting rooms” the client replies.
Choosing my words carefully I reply with “What if I could show you how we could create a high performing workplace, that gives you flexibility, optimizes occupancy and still reduces your space through the introduction of shared alternative worksettings, as well as some desks”.
“I think smaller cubicles are the way to go” was the response.
They might as well said ‘We've always done it this way’
A fixed mindset of ‘faster horses’ thinking becomes a barrier to explore proven, industry vetted solutions that can enhance office performance.
Visionaries and industry experts have long been combining creativity with industry knowledge to forecast everything from new products to new ways of working. Workplace design is no different. For that reason, we are finding that companies who continue to execute design solutions created in the last decade are reducing their office’s performance.
Many clients are fearful of the unfamiliar and worry that new solutions will degrade their brand expression and won’t align with working arrangement agreements.
Just the opposite is true.
In our reviews we are able to ensure the important guideposts are integrated into the final plan – often in a layout that boosts performance and reduces overall CRE costs.
As the conversation progressed the awareness I provided of better solutions for both people and business allowed this client to expand their view of their future office.
Raising awareness of alternative solutions is a balancing act of pushing back gently against predetermined solutions and accepting leadership preferences such as the example I’ve described above.
In some cases, the predetermined solution the client puts forward is not one that they have tried in the past, but it might be reflective of a recent trend, recommendation from a vendor, or seeing what others have done.
This information becomes part of the visioning process but the ultimate need for any solution should be rooted in the bespoke needs of the company as derived from visioning and data, which most importantly are the product of employee engagement, and leader guidance.
At this pivotal moment for workplace design it’s essential that that business leaders are consulted at the outset of the project, are included in the discussion and awareness sessions to explore the alternative and proven, industry vetted solutions, and can champion the new approach within the organization.
This allows the workstream managers, contractors, and associated vendors to depart the well-worn path of “this is how we do things” to support and explore the new process together and create workplaces aligned to the vision, and more modern ways of working, including the new workplace configurations.
Reach out for expert guidance from our team, and see what difference we can make for your people and workplaces.
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