Change your perspective - for real
* not my office

Change your perspective - for real

I work in an open office. Many offices have moved to an open floor plan in the last decade or so, ours was like this in 1996. Even given that environment, the most I had ever moved my desk was about 20 feet from where I first started, and then some years later I moved that 20 feet back to my original spot.

A few years ago, I undertook the grand experiment of moving to another building. I unplugged two things from my desk (we have a box called a python, which comes down from the ceiling and provides power and network to our desks), unlocked the wheels on my desk and journeyed on. I was able to fit my desk in an elevator, and since our buildings are mostly connected, I rolled my desk through my original building and into the one next door. After finding a suitable placement, I locked my desk wheels, plugged back into the new python and was up and running again. Total time out of pocket - probably 15 minutes.

What I noticed, almost immediately, was that I began viewing everything differently. I was parking in a new garage, closer to my new space. I walked different paths through buildings and across campus. More importantly, I was interacting with an additional set of coworkers, and hearing about different things from across the company. Now, this isn't to say I don't like the team I was sitting with; I do, they are all great people and competent workers, and I am still a part of that team (that part is important, and I'll get back to it), but I was now expanding my base and adding people who I wouldn't have interacted with otherwise, and that never hurts you in an organization.

Fast forward a few more years. I returned to my team, where I worked in the role I had prior to my move, for another couple of years. But slowly, the changes I was a part of during that move started to become the new way I worked. I sought opportunities to engage with other groups, to share knowledge and stories. I had a larger network, and I knew people I would never have known otherwise. Those changes led me to try a new class at work - Design Thinking. I went on to help teach that class, which eventually led to my new role.

All of this to say, a small change in perspective changed my whole life. I know, it sounds like a grand overstatement. It isn't. My new role, the activities I became involved in, the people I started to interact with literally changed the course of my career. That change altered how I interact with colleagues, friends and my family. It changed the lens with which I view many things, and I think for the better.


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