For my part, I think coworking is bringing something very powerful for the future of work : a new professional attitude, based on openess towards others and readiness for the unexpected.
Jean-Yves Huwart Coworking Europe 2010 conference On Mar 7, 8:03 pm, Jeannine <[email protected]> wrote: > I really don't mean that question in any kind of hostile way, I really > am curious, because it comes up a lot. And I don't think I know what > people mean when they say that. Honest, no hidden agendas, no secret > trap to be sprung, I am just puzzled by it. > > To stick with your analogy, in the 70s a beanbag chair (known then as > a Sacco, man am I old) was wildly fashionable but by no means > everyone had one -- it was something of a statement. Now it is still > the case that not everybody has one, because not everybody likes them > -- but they are surely mainstream it seems to me. Everybody knows > where to get one and what they look like, you don't have to explain > them. > > Right now I think coworking is wildly popular and fashionable. But by > no means does everybody do it, and not everybody knows where to find a > space. I think we are certainly verging on that, though, and in > fairly short order (5 years, maybe?) it will be part of the cultural > heritage (YMMV depending on where you are in the world of course). > But I don't think myself that it will be a challenge to ordinary > commercial real estate, any more than bean bags became the prevailing > model of seating. It will change and influence ordinary real estate > (and high time, too). But replace it? I personally doubt it. > > I think coworking is rising along with some other things for reasons > independent of it as a movement: I think the way we think about work > was dictated in large part by the technology of the Industrial > Revolution and for many good and valid reasons. We are it seems to me > witnessing the transition dictated by the Information Revolution and > the way we think about work is changing to suit the available > technology, as it always has. > > Which way it will change is anybody's guess but (just as with the > Industrial Revolution) the people who will shape the change are not > the people who choose for it: the pioneers, the information workers, > the office nomads. The people who will truly shape the change are Joe > the Plumber and Bill the Welder, Sue the Bookkeeper and Anne the maker > of handbags. If it doesn't work for people who did not choose it but > had it thrust upon them,it won't go. > > Jeannine > > On Mar 7, 7:00 pm, CoCoMSP <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Regarding the question of mainstream, the word itself is useless, > > unless we're searching for some kind of external affirmation from the > > broader culture. > > > But I think most of us would agree that coworking spaces offer a high- > > quality alternative to traditional workspaces, home offices and coffee > > shops. If "mainstream" means that coworking is made available to more > > people, then I'm all for it. Let's share the wealth. > > > Someone I know who is in the commercial furniture business put it this > > way: back in the 70s, cubicles became the "dominant design" of > > workspaces. And that happened for a number of reasons, many of them > > positive at the time. Now that cubicle farms are in serious decline, > > what will be the dominant design (or designs) of the future? I'd like > > to think that coworking (or some descendant of coworking) has a good > > shot at filling the gap. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
