An Empire State of Beyond Hybrid (Working)

New York City…The Big Apple…

I just got back from a week in the city that NEVER sleeps, so let’s discuss…

This concrete jungle is a marvel of human innovation and culture—a place of duality (where contrasts like tradition and modernity coexist) and singularity (unmatched in its influence)—and the main battleground for Return-to-Office!

On one hand, you’ve got Power Brokers, Landlords, and Big Banks digging their heels in on remote working since March 2020. On the other, you’ve got bleeding-edge tech company outposts, a cross-section of our most ‘with it’ young people (L.O.L. I feel old!), and a Renaissance Movement that echoes an urban revival: bustling coffee shops and bars, work clubs and coworking spaces, with art and fashion leading the way.

But what’s not leading the way? The traditional office…

After stepping inside MANY office buildings on my trip, it’s clear that the champions of 2019 ways of working are still stuck hoping and praying, rather than evolving into anything meaningful.

But I digress… The reason for this newsletter is to share some insights with you all.

Last week, I:

• attended CREtech (shoutout Michael Beckerman -- guy is the best connector I've ever seen!)
• interviewed Annie Dean of Atlassian
• hosted an incredible dinner with workplace execs and thought leaders
• attended Workshape Labs by Brett Hautop (guy is a workplace legend)

There are too many insights to share but here’s a few…

CREtech

The conversation around the office is still somehow focused on amenities and the “flight to quality”.

But all of this is just a distraction from reality…

Most employees don’t care about fancy amenities, they care about removing friction to get their jobs done, having flexibility and clearly defined reasons for coming to the office. Another talk track seems to be that people are the new “amenity” which feels utterly lazy unless facilitating connection is actually happening and that has very little to do with space.

The, there’s the “flight to quality”, which is grossly overstated as most leases signed in new office buildings were inked long term and most happened LONGGG before the pandemic. For context, I am still working on a few trailing office lease deals from my former brokerage life and I can tell you that kicking off new office developments like we were pre-pandemic ain’t happening like it used to—by and large companies are seeking to do more with less. Our CEO, Dan Bladen went on stage to talk about exactly that, doing more with less.

I’m not saying new office buildings will never get built again but the “flight to quality” is just a narrative to distract from high vacancy levels and low occupancy levels across the board.

Interview with Annie

There aren’t a lot of Future of Work thought leaders I’d say I’m a fanboy of…but I will admit…I am when it comes to Annie Dean .

And it was amazing to sit down with her.

We talked about some of the negative perceptions that exist for college students around flexible working due to all the negative headlines around hybrid/remote working since covid.

We talked about the challenges of navigating one’s career as the “shelf life” of the skills we possess get’s shorter and shorter.

And we talked about the opportunities that lie beyond hybrid (pun intended!) like the era of creativity and the ease of being able to invent instead of manage that is being brought on by AI.

PS: We also talked about building a personal brand (which Annie is done arguably better than ANYONE in the FoW space)

Kadence Dinner

If I’ve learned anything from hosting intimate dinners, its this: you simply CANNOT put a price tag on intentionally gathering together.

Meaningfully coming together, having hugs, and discussing REAL topics carries with it “exhaust” or “fumes” of trust and connection that carry forward for a significant amount of time!

We talked about:

• Acceptance around the challenges we’ve inherited because of Covid
• What Future of Work is worth inheriting for the next generations
• How hybrid work is a total distraction from more significant issues like “fake work”
• How things like gender roles are getting redefined by flexible working

We also talked about what we wanted to be when we grow up and our first email address’s!

Workshape Labs

If you care about the Future of Work and you don’t know Brett Hautop then finishing reading this newsletter and go follow him on LinkedIn.

The man is a legend…he swears often (which I love!), he simultaneously accepts and rejects technology, and he’s focused on all of us experiencing the workplace as opposed to going to the workplace…

Brett and his lovely team led a group of about 25 of us through some very carefully curated collaboration exercises that got us to slow down and understand why coming together (at least sometimes…) is SOOO important and how different types of spaces can either help or hinder our ability to achieve what we set out to achieve.

A few things that stood out to me:

• going to the office needs a facilitator
• technology free days at the office are KEY
• the workplace is at risk of being downsized without being reimagined

And guess what? Continuing to get all 3 of these things wrong ensures virtual work remains the preference!

So to conclude:

1. Despite its quirks, NYC is critical to humanity
2. The supply/services side of commercial real estate remains stuck in an amenity vortex…
3. Annie Dean is on the pointy end of the spear (the forefront of change)
4. Leaders who care about people and care about the workplace are alive and well but executive leadership still doesn’t truly understand their value in this mandate/cost-cutting environment we remain stuck in…