Recap #usmhomework at #usmworkhouse
I usually try to avoid working on weekends - it is the time where I rather spend time with my family - but if one of my favorite brands sends out an invitation for an event on the topic I probably am even more passionate about than Apple or running and this event is hold in a very promising fancy location... You got me! So I packed my bag and took a train to Berlin where a shuttle was waiting to take us to the Wehrmühle in Biesenthal, about 45 Minutes from Berlin.
Arrived there I was even more impressed by the real location as by the pictures I saw online before. Walking in you pass a superb old facade and enter a huge villa. What you will see then is a splendid large Parc alongside a small river with a barn and another building beside it. While the facade has been kept, the backside has been rebuild completely as Michael Hecken bought the place in 2003 - people who are into bikes like me, will listen up hearing this name... Yes, Michael is the founder of the eBike company HNF Heisenberg (now HNF Nicolai) and their first office was there. The Dixit Algorizmi Gallery Berlin was presenting their robots drawing portraits - a installation created by London based Artist Patrick Tresset.
After some very tasty food and drinks and looking around to the installation of USM and UNStudio, the program started in the barn. After a warm welcome by the moderator of the day, brand eins Technology Correspondent Thomas Range and USM Group Marketing Director Sandra Sch?r, the amazing Futuris Rohit Talwar held his keynote. You could summarize his words with: We will need to learn fast how to learn fast in order to engage in creative jobs and not get mental illnesses in old public buildings remodelled to creative work spaces. Obviously that is the very short version of another splendid Keynote by Rohit. I have my issues with futurists, they are often going to crazy about the future and that is what I like about Rohit, he still can elaborate fiction and probability. I liked very much, that he reminded the audience to think about the 7 trillion USD losses due to mental illnesses and related this to the digitization. Funny thing, that Markus Albers (Author of Digitale Ersch?pfung which means Digital Exhaustion) was part of the organization for this event with his company rethink. Rohit also clearly said, that big corporates like Deutsche Bank are doomed and will not be part of the future and that AI is no magic as it is build by humans.
After a short break the program went on with Ren Yee (UNStudio), Paul Skinner (TellArt) and Thomas Dienes (Group Product Development Director USM). Ren was explaining the concept of the #usmhomework and stated, that you have to build your environment in order to give you energy not rob it. He seemed to be a huge fan of WeWork′s approach to crunching huge amounts of data with AI in order to learn from behavior ands build the best Co-Working Spaces around. Paul clearly sees technology within the future fabrics and reminded to be careful with the customers trust as they could be afraid of AI within their fabrics...
After another short food and drink break, the philosopher was in the house - Robert Rowland Smith, Co-Founder of the School of Life made his appearance. Perhaps because I am so 1/0 driven, I really enjoy listening and talking to those guys. His topic was "What Fills the Space if Work No Longer Defines Us" and is a question society really just ask out loud, as this is a major shift in the next years... Robert stated, that work space went from working outside on the fields to working inside due to the industrial revolution, first in factories and later separated in office spaces. Now we talk about Co-working spaces and Home Offices. The Change is faster than most of the people are willing to adapt to... Robert was asking the crowd who used Psychoanalytic Therapy before - only 2 person came forward but asked who would need it, every one nodded... He mentioned is a link between a psychoanalytical Couch and a Sofa in an office: on both you are reflecting issues with your brain. Robert sees an issue as the Office looks like the Home and the Home looks like the Office. You would be too relaxed outside the job environment and not deliver, according to him at least... I really liked him mentioning that Startup should stop calling themselves Startup as business evolves. This not only a treat as you might put all your energy in the building up phase and get exhausted on the long run. I already ordered his latest book AutoBioPhilosophy directly after the session.
Overall it was a great event, nice people, amazing Location I certainly will drive to with my road bike in the future. Thank you USM for having me, it was a mind opener. I am sure you will have more of those outcomes over the next two weeks.
By the way, I wrote those lines from the ICE842 Berlin - to Düsseldorf, my mobile office.