How The Office Design Experts Designed Their Own Office

If you are looking to design an office and want to do something truly stunning, more often than not you call Steelcase. In an interview for Fast Company, I talked to their CEO, Jim Keane, about his leadership approach, personal purpose and how he designed based on all their research and products.

When Jim Keane was promoted to CEO in 2014, one of the first things he did was look to make a radical change in both his office and the offices of his executive team. They had been in the same office environment for several decades and he knew it was time for a change.

"I loved my old office and old space. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it," says Keane. But he recognized that "I’m not going to learn anything if I just keep working with something that is very comfortable for me."

Here are four ways he and his team designed the executive offices that might inspire you to think about how you might begin to create your dream office.

1. In the Flow of Traffic

Keane moved their offices from the top floor and in clouds down to the first floor and in the middle of the daily traffic of employees and clients going about their routines. It has helped him build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. It added a critical need for spontaneity that was missing when his team worked in isolation that brings them daily delight, learning and opportunities.

Does your office help you build relationships and add daily spontaneity?

2. Different Spaces for Different Needs

Not only do different people need different kind of work spaces, most people needed different environments at different times each day depending on their work. Keane and his team designed their space with the assumption that people could bounce around during the day into spaces with varying degrees of privacy and quiet.

What are the different kinds of space you need for each part of your job?

3. Easy Access to Outdoor Space

Keane has found that between each meeting he needs a few minutes to reset and collect himself. It enables him to be present and really focus on people and ideas without bringing his last conversation into the room. It also helps him keep his energy up and go home with a full tank for his family. The best way, he has found, to do this is to step outside and get a breath of fresh air which makes being near an outside space critical.

What do you need to help you reset between meetings and tasks?

4. Decorating with Purpose and Personality

Keane has set up his new office and those of his colleagues to have the freedom to personalize the design of their workplaces. "There are all these companies out there trying to promote diversity of thought, but once they hire those people they want the employees to be exactly the same." Keane sees this as symbolic of the trend toward "cubicle farms" where each employee’s workstation looks identical. "They have squashed human spirit, instead of inspiring it." He wants each person’s desk to reflect their personality and purpose.

How do you decorate your space to remind you of the purpose of your work and express your creativity?

On the new ground floor offices at Steelcase, work has changed radically for Keane and his leadership team. The changed environment, from his point of view, has directly impacted their level of fulfillment they experience in their jobs.

To learn more about purpose-driven CEOs and how they are transforming work and leadership, explore Imperative’s series with Fast Company.

How have you designed your office to maximize purpose and meaning in your work? Share a photo with us on Twitter at @imperative!

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Aaron Hurst is an Ashoka Fellow, award-winning entrepreneur and globally recognized leader in fields of purpose at work and social innovation. He is the CEO of Imperative and founder of the Taproot Foundation which he led for a dozen years. Aaron is the author of the Purpose Economy and has written for or been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV and Fast Company.