Thought Leadership

Yahoo called it right: Come home to create.

I’m an interior designer. As with most passions, I am constantly looking at trends and scouring products hitting the market that can elevate my clients’ spaces. That means lots of web browsing. Recently, doing just that, I came across this story about creative work space design. It resonated with me because it reminded me of Progressive AE’s philosophy and approach as we design creative spaces.

You may remember a couple of years ago when Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer announced a significant shift in Yahoo’s work style. The change sparked a lot of discussion about the role of the workplace.

In a nutshell, Mayer basically eliminated Yahoo’s “work from home” culture in favor of staff all working together, side by side. She was highly criticized for the move, with people saying that she was going to kill productivity, work life balance, and the ability for working mothers to stay in the work force. The thing a lot of the critics were missing was the value for a creative/innovative organization that comes from having creative minds bump into each other – especially for on-demand, impromptu collaboration.

Progressive AE’s overhaul of 42 Advanced Publications locations [project profile] throughout the US looked very different from Yahoo’s return to the nest, but their ultimate goal was very similar: how do we support critical work processes and encourage staff to collaborate and socialize, in order to help bring this organization to the forefront of innovation in an industry that’s faced with reinventing itself to stay alive?

Pondering all of these stories validates my conviction: designing a workplace that nurtures the in-office workday by supporting all modes of work – from focus to collaboration – can greatly support and enhance innovation—and productivity.

I have a moment of anxiety at the beginning of every project, because there is so much that’s unknown. The creative spaces we design are truly successful because of our process, and everything we do to ensure we are immersed in our clients’ cultures.

Until we’re really able to know and understand them, the creativity we bring to the table is purely subjective (an arena I don’t work as well in…). An activity-based workplace design strategy is only successful if it’s built on a foundation of deep understanding of the client, their goals and aspirations.

Learn the Secrets to Success in the Digital Age and see how MLive Media Group, along with parent company Advance Publications, determined that their future success called for immediate transformation.