Defining what it means to be a workplace innovator

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Trying not to be be afraid of failure is difficult. We\’re under tighter deadlines and pressure to perform at work with less, which leaves little room for error. But during this week\’s featured podcasts this is exactly what we came to realize separates real workplace innovators from the rest of the industry. The courage to fail. When cultivating the workplace of the future, we\’re bound to uncover a few ways that don\’t work before we find ones that do. Adi Gaskell and Kate North reveal exactly what that means to them, and why failure is often necessary to find success. 

Inspiring Innovation in the Workplace

Adi Gaskell  Director and Consultant, The Horizons Tracker, innovative thinker and published writer

\”Trying to live in a perpetual state of testing one\’s assumptions, never believing you know everything or you\’ve got everything figured out. Always be testing what it is you think you know. The knowledge and support is out there, I think we\’ve just got to get innovating.\” 

When it comes to defining what it means to be a workplace innovator, Adi Gaskell knows what he\’s talking about. As a featured writer for some of the most prestigious publications in the world, including Forbes and BBC, Adi provides an educated perspective about the heavy influence both technology and evolving social trends are having on our workplaces. 
 
During this podcast, we discuss how certain elements are changing how we see and use space. With the gig-economy and coworking spaces in full swing, a fascinating new era has emerged between the need to be in an office versus the ability to work nearly anywhere. Adi addresses some of the recent concerns about lack of collaboration at work – and how companies are scrambling to understand how to best structure their offices to encourage it. Adi believes collaboration can\’t be achieved with space alone, as social instruments are also necessary to foster this type of interaction.
\”If you want to achieve an outcome, then you need to definitely look at property and workplace as one aspect of that but you\’ve got to look at various other factors that support that [collaborative] behavior.\”
We came to the conclusion that we don\’t have all the answers, which is part of the process of being an innovator! As a community we need to encourage each other to take risks when it comes to our work, and often times that means not being afraid to fail. 
 

Workplace Evolutionaries at IFMA\’s World Workplace 2018 in Charlotte

Kate NorthVice President of Workplace Innovation, Colliers International

\”I think the ability to understand not only satisfaction but if there are indicators that can really begin to see performance those are all important pieces of data that can help us drive more informed decisions.\”

Serving as Global Chair of Workplace Evolutionaries at IFMA, Kate is building a community of practitioners, strategists and innovators who are striving to \”be the change\” they wish to see in the modern workplace. Also as Vice President of Workplace Innovation at Colliers International, Kate understands that the need for change comes from a global perspective. 

Kate and I discuss our excitement for the upcoming IFMA World Workplace conference held this October in Charlotte, NC. During the event, the Workplace Evoluntionaries [WE] community will be talking about how facilities managers can look holistically at IT and HR to encourage everyone to come to the workplace table. She also reveals that during World Workplace, the WE community is bringing together leaders from sustainability, real estate, and technology industries to discuss some of the main shifts we\’re all experiencing at work and how as collective communities we can support one another. Exciting stuff!

I asked Kate what her definition of a workplace innovator was, which led us to talk about the World Workplace theme yet again. Kate believes a workplace innovator is

\”…someone that is willing to move into that discomfort through their own curiosity around what is seeking to emerge…\”

and continue to learn by staying educated and possibly trying a few options that don\’t work – to find one that does. I couldn\’t agree with her more. Our role as workplace innovators is continually evolving, and while we might experience failure, we\’re bound to experience success as well. 

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