Saturday, October 10, 2015

"Working out of the box"

"Working out of the box" by Ms.Aparna Piramal Raje's book intersects between  the business & design. It dwells deeper on workplace, office design and connects with leadership styles of 40 CEOs. A quick tour of 40 corner offices is one of the compelling reasons to read this book. 


You may find these below excerpts very insightful.

Mr.G.V.Sanjay Reddy, M.D. of infrastructure conglomerate- his soundproof office overlooking the airfield serves as a metaphor for his ability to stay calm amidst turbulence. Indeed this is truly composed.

An imperfectly constructed slanted walls in Mr.Vikram Limaye's - CEO of IDFC Ltd., office underline the problem of building world-class infrastructure in India.

Ms.Lynda Gratton- CEO of Hot Spots Movement situated in one of Europe's most beautiful buildings. Her insights on the future of work - is that Organisations must stop confusing hours worked with output, and must understand that people must not be chained to a desk to be productive.

Mr.Park Won-Soon, the Mayor of Seoul, an anti-corruption activist. Each item in his office  has a story. The hand written Post-it notes, kitchen garden & bookshelves in between slanted cabinets - representing social gaps.

Mr.Kishore Biyani, Chairman of Future Group - his office has a wall of portraits of select world leaders. The last panel in the collage is a mirror, where anyone can see themselves- suggesting that anyone can aspire to be a world leader.

Google's office desks are height-adjustable, enabling occupants to stand and work. The workplace is a direct expression of the company's belief that in order to achieve extraordinary results. 

Workplace & culture are key variables to enhance the productivity of employees.