In 1968 Robert Propst invented what has become one of the most hated modern inventions: the cubicle. However, in 1968 it wasn’t the cubicle. It was Action Office II and it looked and functioned quite differently. It is worth pointing out that the cubicle as many of us picture it today, looks nothing like what … Continue reading Contradictions in Creativity: The Story of Cubicles
I am not the first person to say this and, to be honest, it has been said enough times by enough people that it no longer feels like it must be proven. Our society regards being wrong in a negative way. Most of us are brought up like this, with big red X’s when we … Continue reading Making Mistakes
Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread slicing machine and sliced bread was first sold commercially in 1928. Humans have been making bread for at least 10,000 years, maybe even 30,000, so the invention of commercially available sliced bread is exceptionally recent. Given the now ubiquitous nature of it, one can easily argue it as … Continue reading Why Innovation by Itself is No Good
Nature is well-known for coming up with novel and efficient solutions to various situations. While survival of the fittest doesn’t really apply to ideas and creativity, perhaps there is something we can learn about nature’s processes for providing species with the best tools for the job. There are at least four known processes in nature’s … Continue reading 4 Ways to Learn Innovation from Nature
One of the items that frequently comes up when considering shaping your environment for creativity is having a variety of distinct and defined spaces to occupy. The low-down is simple: a variety of spaces inspire a variety of modes of thinking and a variety of activities. This is about the creative process itself and it is also … Continue reading Creative Office Examples: A Variety of Spaces
For there to be segregation, there usually has to be some communication of segregation. This communication is often, based on its message, damaging to relationships and therefore damaging to freedom and collaboration – two very important ingredients for creativity. Unfortunately, segregation can occur from very subtle factors. This is because segregation is a term that … Continue reading On How Easily Segregation Can Occur
There is an interesting article here by Jeff Guo at the Washington Post that describes how people around you can influence your thoughts and actions. The article describes recent research that shows that during a flight, if the person sitting next to you buys something, you are 30% more likely to buy something yourself. This … Continue reading Are Your Co-workers Blocking Your Creativity?
The argument is clear: to increase creativity I need to spend money on developing practices or upgrading my work-space. How do I know this will pay off? You don’t know. In business and in life, you rarely know. That is why there is a whole field called Risk Management. Many businesses – and I have … Continue reading Will Being More Creative Add Costs?
My head was spinning. I was sitting on a bus with my face pressed against the glass window. It was the middle of the day. Outside people and cars passed by as they went about their daily business. I didn’t register any of it. My mind was elsewhere. I was going home from my final … Continue reading Why You Should Leave Things Until the Last Minute
A series of articles in a recent Harvard Business Review discusses the balance between transparency and privacy in offices. This issue is of particular importance to offices in creative industries because the work process can be a lot more fragile and sometimes personal. Although not about architecture or architectural offices these articles seemed to hit … Continue reading Privacy and Creativity
producing creativity 