Provocations Primer

Subtitle

Title

April 2014

Living Office
Provocations Primer
SM

Page 1

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations primer

Living Office

Provocations Primer
Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
WORKERS ARE SHOPPERS

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
LIVING BEATS DYING

MAKE A BEAUTIFUL MESS

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
YOU AND ME EQUALS THREE

Make a Beautiful Mess

You Plus Me
Equals Three
Page 2

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
THE NEXT BIG THING ISNT FOR YOU

Workers Are Shoppers

The Next Big Thing

Isnt for You

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten

Living Beats Dying

WE FEEL BEFORE WE THINK

We Feel Before
We Think
hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten

Living Office

MAKE A BEAUTIFUL MESS

Make a Beautiful Mess

Without the expectation of perfection,
give people the tools, space, and
freedom to pursue their work as it suits
them best.
Once guideposts and purpose are set, enabling individuals
to do their best work means relinquishing controlof the
work process, the work environment, and sometimes of
the work itself. There is no such thing as a perfect office, so
dont try to create one. Rather, a managerial and physical
environment that anticipates, enables, embraces, and to some
extent contains this chaos is one which people will naturally
occupyand succeed in.

Page 3

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Make a Beautiful Mess

Embrace disorder,
which can
enhance creativity.

In The New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds describes a recent

study that substantiates the correlation between creativity
and disorder: In this [study], college students were placed in
a messy or a neat office and asked to dream up new uses
for Ping Pong balls. Those in messy spaces generated ideas
that were significantly more creative, according to two
independent judges, than those plugging away in offices where
stacks of papers and other objects were neatly aligned.
Penelope Green made a similar case in the New York Times:
Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid
signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap
higher salaries than those with neat office landscapes) and that
messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and
cooler than their tidier counterparts.

Page 4

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Make a Beautiful Mess

Respect the stages

of creativity and
their requirements.

Page 5

Simon Hill, CEO and founder of idea software company Wazoku,

writes about the importance of both structure and flexibility
during the creative process:
In
order for ideas to develop properly, they need two things
which seem almost contradictory: structure and flexibility.
Structure allows you to manage the process that the idea
goes through and come to an understanding of when you
must review the idea or approve it. But flexibility allows you
to develop the idea freely and gives you the space to let other
ideas work off of it or take the idea through another stage,
if necessary. A platform that allows you both structure and
flexibility has the best chance of getting great ideas and making
them even better.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Make a Beautiful Mess

Recognize the
benefits of chaos.

Page 6

In Forbes, writer and marketing expert Ekaterina Walter

describes the relationship between chaos and creativity:
Chaos

creates urgency, and, with it, an invaluable opportunity

for us to redefine success and question our current structures;
it forces us to seek an unusual and diverse perspective, and it
pushes us out of the comfort zone and creates white spaces to
imagine something potentially breathtaking.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
WORKERS ARE SHOPPERS

Living Office

Workers Are Shoppers

Create an office that draws people
in with a compelling selection
of work settings and proficient
customer service.
Treat your employee as you would a customer by offering
unprecedented value and compelling choices that meet the
demands of their work, and help them achieve something
greater. Workers should be empowered to shop for the space
that best suits them in the moment, and freely and intuitively
cycle through these spaces over the course of their day.
Workspaces and settings must stay attuned to the market
demands of the workers using them. For an office to thrive,
the customer must always be satisfied.

Page 7

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Workers Are Shoppers

Your people are your

best investment.
Treat them accordingly.

In Fast Company, Marc C. Crowly writes of Googles approach to

creating a workplace where people can thrive:
What

few in business know is that Google has devoted the

same level of intellectual firepower it used to create self-driving
cars to discovering, refining, and implementing leadership
practices that optimize human performance in the workplace.
Crowly goes on to explain, [A Google team] validated their
understanding that people truly thrive in their jobsand remain
loyal to themwhen they feel fully supported and authentically
valued. This led to the launch of plentiful perks and a culture
intentionally anchored by trust, transparency, and inclusion.
Prasad Setty, VP of people analytics and compensation, told me:
No one has ever asked us why we should invest in our people.
Our leaders just assume its the right thing to do.

Page 8

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Workers Are Shoppers

Appeal to the whole

person at work,
not just the worker.

In his I Just Work Here column in the Chicago Tribune, Rex

Huppke shares his impressions after a visit to Assurance,
an insurance company that ranked No. 2 among mid-sized
companies on the Tribunes 2013 Top Workplaces list:
The

employees I spoke with there, in keeping with what the Top

Workplaces survey found, said that at the end of the day, the
work is what matters most. But the perks, the team-building and
educational opportunities, the focus on volunteerism and good
health, those are the things that fortify their contentment.
And

company officials say theyre getting a strong return on

their investment. Along with improved employee retention,
an Assurance study of the implementation of its health care
and wellness plans found that the company saved nearly $1.7
million over a five-year period while spending only about
$180,000.

Page 9

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Workers Are Shoppers

Support work/life
balance. Its the
one thing everyone
wants.

Page 10

A recent study by PwC, the University of Southern California,

and the London Business School found that Millennials
as well as people from all generationsvalue quality of life over
career success.
the

Millennial generation, those born between 1980 and

1995, seek more workplace flexibility, better balance between
their work and home life, and opportunity for overseas
assignments as keys to greater job satisfaction.

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Workers Are Shoppers

Having choices makes

people happy, and
happy people make
good employees.

Page 11

Having choices makes us feel in control; not having choices

creates stress. An academic paper, The Effects of the
Physical Environment on Job Performance, explains how
this plays out at work: A mismatch between the demands
placed on workers and the control they have over the
physical environment in which they meet those demands
is by definition stress-generating. Environmental
empowermentincreases psychological comfort and reduces
stress by increasing decision latitude.
Research shows that up to 25 percent of the variance in
job performance is associated with differences in well-being,
and when employees have high levels of psychological
well-being and job satisfaction, they perform better and are
less likely to leave their jobmaking happiness a valuable
tool for maximizing organizational outcomes. Psychologically
distressed workers could cost an organization of 100 employees
$390,000 per year in lost productivity.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten

Living Office

LIVING BEATS DYING

Living Beats Dying

A healthy, prosperous
organization thrives on passion,
purpose, and growth.
Organizations and management are tools designed by
humans, a form of technology that must stay up to date
and remain relevant. The maximizing, profit-driven model
of business served well in another era, but now requires
updating. Aligning the fundamentals of human lifeour
natural modes of interaction, motivation, and creationto
methods of enterprise will harness the power of individual
passion and shared purpose to foster enduring prosperity.

Page 12

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Living Beats Dying

Organizations,
management, and
workplaces that
foster a more human
experience of work
require continuous
maintenance and
renewal.

Page 13

In his I Just Work Here column in the Chicago Tribune, Rex

Huppke cites Brenda Ellington Booth, a clinical professor of
management and organizations at Northwestern Universitys
Kellogg School of Management:
Companies

that have these people-first philosophies, they

have a high degree of trust among employees, Booth said.
Numerous studies show that people-first models deliver
above-average returns. But it requires a discipline from the
organization, the discipline to stick to it.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Living Beats Dying

Profit should not be the

only measure of your
organizations success.

Page 14

Authors Berrin Erdogan, Talya N. Bauer, Donald M. Truxillo,

and Layla R. Mansfield of Portland State University explore the
importance of happiness in the Journal of Management:
Happiness

of the individual has been a key concern for

individuals and societies across the ages. Over 2,300 years ago,
in his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discussed happiness as the
ultimate goal in human existence, as it is important for its own
sake, rather than being a means to an end. This idea is still valid,
with survey results from 41 nations showing that happiness is a
very important goal for almost everyone surveyed.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

Living Beats Dying

Build your business

strategy around the
needs of your people
and both individuals
and the organization
will prosper.

Jay Deragon, digital strategist and author, writes of a recent

study on corporate culture management in his The Relationship
Economy blog:
An
11-year study by John P. Kotter and James L. Haskett
included 207 companies in 22 industries. The results
showed that companies that managed their corporate culture
significantly outperformed similar companies that did not.
Between managed and unmanaged corporate cultures, the
research found:
1. Revenue growth of 682 percent (managed) compared
to 166 percent (unmanaged)
2. Stock price increase of 901 percent compared to 74 percent
3. Job growth of 282 percent compared to 36 percent
4. Net income growth of 756 percent compared to just
1 percent

Page 15

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
YOU AND ME EQUALS THREE

Living Office

You Plus Me Equals Three

Us isnt just you and me; every
relationship creates a third entity of
shared character and purpose.
A successful office plays a role in facilitating and maintaining
a symbiotic balance between individuals and their groups. It
connects people to their work and to each other. Workplaces
must emphasize that which cant be accomplished on
a screen or through a device. They must proliferate an
atmosphere of trust and fellowship. For workers to reach their
potential, the office must always feel like a community worth
belonging to.

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

You Plus Me Equals Three

The most effective

offices foster an
environment where
people can easily
connect with one
another and their work.

Page 17

In a post on her Future of Work blog, Lynda Gratton, professor

of Management Practice at London Business School, notes the
increasing relevance of personal connections in the workplace:
There

is a distinct trend across the world of work becoming

more virtual, as workers flee to their homes for peace and
quiet, while corporations are only too happy to turf them out
of expensive and carbon-hungry offices. However, what we
found fascinating wasthe re-emergence of co-located work in
neighborhood hubs and local coffee shops. It seems that sitting
in our pajamas all day does not always trump the cut and thrust
of face-to-face office work.

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

You Plus Me Equals Three

Draw people in with

an atmosphere
that proliferates
interaction, confidence,
and creativity.

Page 18

NKD, a corporate learning and development company, posted

an article exploring a humans natural instinct to collaborate:
[Professor

Alice] Roberts research provides a powerful

message that for us humans, collaboration is woven into our
DNA. We can be confident that when we come together, to
create something new or solve a problem, our team members
will happily share the success of the outcome with us. I guess
you could say that we know weve got each others backs.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

You Plus Me Equals Three

For people to do
their best, they need
to feel like they
are important members
of the workplace
community.

Page 19

In an October 2013 article in the Bradenton Herald,

Jerry Osteryoung, Professor Emeritus of Finance at Florida State
University, writes about team-focused organizations:
Many

companies report that employee morale and production

increase after adopting a team concept. This collaborative
atmosphere goes a long way to make the point that each
employee is important to the mission of the firm and holds a
stake in its success.

hermanmiller.com
2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten
THE NEXT BIG THING ISNT FOR YOU

Living Office

The Next Big Thing Isnt for You

Each Living Office is unique, designed
specifically for the work of unique
individuals and organizations.
The design and management of the office has to begin
with a careful consideration of people and their work.
There is no one-size-fits-all, off-the-shelf solution for an
optimal workplace. The solution for each organization must
necessarily be different based on the aspirations and needs
of the organization and the organizations workers. Achieving
a Living Office requires perpetual inquiry, solid intuition, and
decisive action.

Page 20

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

The Next Big Thing Isnt for You

Focus on what
wont change.

Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals, a Chicago-based

software firm, and co-author of the book Rework, instructs
readers to focus on what wont change.
A lot of companies focus on the next big thing. They
latch on to whats hot and new. They follow the latest trends
and technology.
Thats a fools path. You start focusing on fashion instead
of substance. You start paying attention to things that are
constantly changing instead of things that last.
The core of your business should be built around things that
wont change. Things that people are going to want today and
ten years from now. Those are the things you should invest in.
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, Rework, Vermillion, London, 2010, p 87.

Page 21

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

The Next Big Thing Isnt for You

Embrace the promise

of your companys
unique culture.

In a post on Forbes.com, contributor Glenn Llopis writes about

how companies like Nike, Apple, and Target dont excel by
following the latest trend. They excel by embracing the promise
of their unique culture:
Cultural

intelligence means being intelligent enough to create

a workplace culture that gives positive direction for your
organization and its people. In fact, a strong workplace culture
makes it easier for an organization to stay focused, define its
goals, and deliver on those goals.
The

strength of an organizations cultural promise is rooted in

its business model, decision-making and strategies. Like in life,
there are temptations to sway from your core beliefs. The ones
that stay true to their cultural promise will succeed, and endure.

Page 22

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

The Next Big Thing Isnt for You

Your workplace should

authentically represent
your culture.

Oliver Burkeman, author of the book The Antidote: Happiness

for People Who Cant Stand Positive Thinking, has spent years
studying what makes people happy. In a post on FastCompanys
blog, he writes about the need for a workplace to authentically
represent a companys culture.
Inauthentically

fun workplaces can be deeply alienating

environments: if the famous ping-pong tables and meditation
pods of Silicon Valley do keep workers happy, thats probably
because they reflect a commitment to letting people relax when
they need tonot because anyone feels forced to use them.
In
fact, any environment that doesnt fit the culture is alienating
or at least disingenuous. Employees know that having a coffee
bar doesnt necessarily mean its acceptable to linger at it.

Page 23

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

The Next Big Thing Isnt for You

Set a pace for change

that your organization
can manage.

Continuous change is part of organizational life, but humans are

wired to resist the unknown. Good change management lowers
that resistance by building trust. More importantly, it builds
change adaptation skills so that the next change is easier.
While change itself has become business as usual for many
companies, however, managing it has not. Seventy percent of all
change initiatives fail.1 Reasons include a lack of a clear vision,
strategy, or commitment. They also fail because the company
doesnt manage the change.
Sometimes resistance in a change management effort can offer
important clues about what adjustments a company needs to
make in order for the change to move forward.
Read more in Herman Millers How Change Management Makes
You Good at Change.
Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria, Cracking the Code of Change, in On Change Management, Harvard Business
Review Press, Boston, 2011, p.139.

Page 24

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Herman Miller
Daniel Carlsten

Living Office

WE FEEL BEFORE WE THINK

We Feel Before We Think

Instincts are powerful. They color
our every thought and are the root of
our actions.
The human brain is constantly reacting to and processing a
bandwidth of inputs and information far beyond conscious
perception. Cues from the environment and each other
powerfully drive how we feel and what we do.
Purposeful designs can accommodate and harness this
human operating system. In such an environment people
will immediately grasp what they can do, where they can
go, what things are for, and why they are the way they are.
Productivity and pleasure will come naturally. It will just feel
right.

Page 25

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

We Feel Before We Think

The design of your

space can affect your
mood and work.

Winston Churchill said, We shape our buildings, and afterwards

our buildings shape us. Design affects not just behavior
but also brain activity, according to a neurophysiology study
(commissioned by Herman Miller) that assessed how different
office settings affect physiology.
The quantitative findings show that our bodies do react to
settingswe do feel before we think. Baseline happiness
of participants varied with the setting and was highest in the
Plaza, an open, moderately noisy public space with lots of
natural light.
Individual performance was correlated with positive mood
before and after completing tasks that were part of the research.
Because setting affects mood and mood affects performance,
its reasonable to conclude that design of a space affects
individual work performance.
Herman Miller, The Neurophysiology of Office Design Study: The Objective Findings, February 2014.

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

Provocations Primer

Living Office

We Feel Before We Think

Dont assume
that quieter
is always better
or less stressful.

The research also found that office plans that have more noise,
natural light, openness, and foot traffic (buzz) increase
creativity. Participants showed greater ability to solve a unique
problem as members of a group in settings with more buzz.
Although the task was technical in nature, the results held true
even when researchers controlled for the technical background
of group members. People need quiet spaces sometimes, but
sometimes they need a space that energizes them.
Spaces with buzz also help us relax. Researchers gathered
information on participants stress levels by measuring
adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), palmar sweat, and heart rate.
Participants stress level was lower in high-buzz spaces, both at
the outset when entering a high-buzz space and over time.
Herman Miller, The Neurophysiology of Office Design Study: The Objective Findings, February 2014.

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2014 Herman Miller, Inc.

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