My grandfather told me a story. Once upon a time, 40 years ago in 2011, he had the honor of facilitating a provocative debate at the CoreNet Global summit in Atlanta. The concerns of 40 years ago seem so weird to me now. My grandfather said that the debate was on the tensions between “mobile” work and “co-located” work. It seems that at that time there was a struggle going on in work to understand the real value of working together and/or working apart. Weird. Today in 2051 there is no discernment.
Even though my grandpa’s colleagues were totally capable of seeing the value of both mobile and co-located work on people at that time, they wisely chose to take polar positions. Stellar! No better way to expose the underlying currents in a struggle than to take polar positions. He described to me that a very interesting result happened - when grandpa asked the audience if both mobility AND co-location were equally important, 99% of the hands went up immediately as a clear “yes”. They intuitively knew the answer, even then – relationship first, work second, place third.
They were beginning to think anew about human performance. But what they were missing was the full impact of relationships on people at work - no matter if it be physical and/or virtual space. They still felt performance was tied to efficiency and effectiveness, holding that the interpersonal experience of people at work was a byproduct of the need to work. This belief left space as an anchor keeping them from setting sail. They didn’t realize that the question was not about mobility or co-location. The question was about who they were as people, and who they intended to become as tribes together. Only when they realized some years later that who they were as people was the core question, did they begin the search for the deeper meaning of RELATIONSHIP at work. That is when “managing people” transformed into “passion formed work”. That is when “servant leadership” matured into “leadership as an art”. That is when “smaller physical space equal’s business value” was superseded by “every space, physical or virtual, creates people value”.
At that time in 2011 in Atlanta my grandpa and his friends were still working in the struggle of whether their physical and virtual places were their masters or their slaves. They just couldn’t see the struggle they were truly in. They had not yet asked themselves the question: just because we can create a thing, should we?
- They were the masters of “design” in that they were fully capable of configuring and outfitting the physical and virtual places with fabulous abandon; elaborate or simple, beautiful or ugly. They were slaves to the glutinous results, and paid dearly for their glutinous ways by over building and over designing without resting on the reasons “why”.
- They were masters of the “data” that they were so wildly affected by; busy tying all sorts of metrics together in order to discover their “holy grail” of performance. They were also slaves to their data when at each turn and combination they discovered new and unique results. What a confusion that created! They were asking “what” is this new performance, instead of “why” perform.
- They were maters of their “technology” creations, able to beautifully manipulate their devices and the functions provided, even by our 2051 standards. And they were complete slaves to their technology, expecting it to produce their goals and dreams in their pursuit of productive work. They often become so enamored with the consumption of the cool that they forgot to ask “why” their creations were affecting their development as people in relationship.
Maybe they couldn’t see in 2011 because they had not yet anticipated the transformation of the world we have in 2051. Design, data and technology are secondary to the core purpose of work and place. They are no longer discussed or debated. Design, data and technology are akin to breathing clean air, which is a gift in itself today. Back in 2011 design, data and technology was still the tail wagging the dog.
I thank my grandpa and his friends for their insights into beginning the discovery of the true nature of people at work. We know in 2051 that physical/virtual space is a smaller part of our solutions of the value of work from relationship making. Back in 2011 more than 90% of the workforce of the world reported high levels of dissatisfaction with their personal work. Now that we fully align place with people, physical and virtual are two sides of the same coin, equally important to creative value for people. Today 90% of people are highly engaged in their work world. Thankfully so, as we need all the support we can get to solve our profound issues…
Brady Mick
BHDP Architecture