Natural Selection Stalks the Workplace

As the work from home versus return to the office debate interminably simmers on, it is somewhat comforting to remember that the debate itself is irrelevant. Work is about getting things done. It doesn’t matter what Elon Musk or anyone else thinks. Those who get things done ultimately are the ones that get to decide…


As the work from home versus return to the office debate interminably simmers on, it is somewhat comforting to remember that the debate itself is irrelevant. Work is about getting things done. It doesn’t matter what Elon Musk or anyone else thinks. Those who get things done ultimately are the ones that get to decide where it gets done.

Natural Selection

This is natural selection for the corporate real estate (CRE) sector. Since the pandemic untethered the masses from their stations within rows of anonymous desks, offices have been attempting to rapidly evolve in the face of accelerated change. Unfortunately flowing like a herd towards a contrived compromise collectively referred to as hybrid working. Though what it means in practice seems to be infinitely subjective. The list of supposed innovations stretches from better sustainability, ESG credentials and more social spaces. Even as far as outright mandates, quite the innovation indeed. For the most part these innovations are mere hygiene factors masquerading as innovation. Mere table stakes in a pending war of attrition.

seeking success

Success, however is a little more elusive. Determined in part by the complex and everchanging balance between the workstyles of the people within an organisation, the work to be done and the suitability of the spaces provided. In that context it’s easy to see why the CRE sector would like to go back to the way things used to be. They were simpler times for sure. And for occupiers it is equally easy to see the attractiveness of issuing a mandate forcing a return to the office. Where control is more easily exerted. There is no return to the halcyon days of office work but there is an opportunity to create something greater.

a game without a playbook

The lesson is that there is no playbook for this situation, checking-out Google, Facebooks or [insert hot tech company name] newest or coolest offering isn’t going to point the way forward. The opposite is true also, blindly following GitLab’s fully remote setup isn’t for everyone either. The search for answers within CRE has so fundamentally missed the point by focusing on solutions, that no one has bothered to check what the question was.

but anywhere, must be somewhere

For every business that employs knowledge workers the question needs to start with ‘how does the way we work help us deliver for our customer?’ This is a unique proposition for every business. We find ourselves for the first time in a situation where corporate space is competing with technology. In a realm where almost any discreet task can be completed anywhere. But anywhere, must be somewhere. How does your ‘somewhere’ add value to your mission. Listen to your people, they know the answers, as long as you are asking the right questions.


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