The Verge had an article last week titled “Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying.” I stopped everything I was doing as I read it. Read it again. And then read it a third time. As I understand from this article, the UK has demanded that Apple create a back door…
Considerations for Moments of Spark and Connection in the office.
The single best reason I come across for why offices are still critical to business strategy is that they are enablers of collaboration. Specifically, when people are together, it can generate moments of spark and connection, leading to innovation and creation. I cannot fault this reasoning because I have personally felt and experienced those sparks…
It is not always possible to solve the biggest problem facing you in the moment.
I have spent some time reflecting on my posts over the past year. There has been a strong workplace slant to them. On reflection, this makes a lot of sense. The problems facing CRE professionals are down to how to design and build an office for the post-pandemic world. For most of my time on…
Power, Community, Empathy.
Welcome to 2025! This is the year we finally get a direction, figure out together where corporate real estate is going, and make a plan to get there! Or not. I’m not sure anymore to be honest what is going on. As I write this, it is nearing the end of January. Not even a…
A surprisingly difficult question to answer in the current world: what is the role of the workplace in how employees work?
Most everyone reading one of my posts works in or around Corporate Real Estate. This self-selected group has probably spent an inordinate amount of time in their career thinking about what a workplace is, how they are designed, how employees use them, and the attributes successful workplaces have. But one big fact has been brewing…
CRE leaders need to stop thinking in terms of weekly occupancy and shift to a monthly framework.
Most conversations I have with people about workplace occupancy include the phrase “days per week in the office.” Over the past two years, this way of thinking about occupancy has become increasingly problematic when considering how people actually work. It can be hard to overcome the hybrid propaganda about 2 to 3 days per week…
It is time to retire all “Return to” concepts. If your Return has not yet happened, it probably is not going to. #CRE
The world is now mostly two years beyond the end of almost all COVID-era restrictions. A “New Normal” has been established through intentional action or unintentional patterns forming. Headlines that continue to talk about Return to Office or Return to Work (with Amazon causing the most recent ruckus) are missing the point about how people…
Trust. Such a little word to carry so much weight.
It is almost a cliche to talk about how important trust is in business. The only reason it is not fully in the realm of cliche is because there is too much truth to it to disregard. Trust is not something that can be quantified. Like friendship, it exists on a spectrum that can change…
Not every decision needs to be data-driven.
I am a data-focused person who uses data to develop strategies, guide site plans, plan budgets, and generally make decisions. What people do not see are the many, many times when I decide not to use data to back up a particular point. The editing process is tricky that way, it is impossible to see…