Innovation Cultures - Thinking Innovation v2 | Page 16

THE NEW AESTHETICS OF WORK “ We are spending less time in cubicles as companies seek to unlock creativity and innovation through open space designs, and rethinking the rationale for being in the office, at all. “ Today, more than 35% of professional and creative work in the US is performed by freelancers. Over the past decade, how we work and where we work have undergone dramatic change. Telework has become so commonplace that the unlovely term no longer is used. We are simply working wherever we are: at home, at the café, at the airport, and in the office cafeteria. We are spending less time in cubicles as companies seek to unlock creativity and innovation through open space designs, and rethinking the rationale for being in the office, at all. Ubiquitous connectivity and mobile devices have become the norm, allowing us – or inducing us – to stay always on, always connected. And today, more than 35% of professional and creative work in the US is performed by freelancers1, another shift in the economics and ecology of the world of work. by Stowe Boyd Researcher-at-large Work Talk Research Clearly, the largest disruptive factor at work has been the emergence of the Web and the impact it had on us as individuals, and on the way that business is conducted. But there are a number of other trends at work here, working independently and in concert to change the way we think about work, collaboration, innovation, and purpose. 1. A Jobs Plan for the Post Cubicle Economy - Sara Horowitz - The Atlantic 14