And no, I don’t mean “killing you” in the mental sense, if you’re dissatisfied with your current employment situation (though that can be harmful too). I mean in the cold hard physical sense. If you sit for 9+ hours a day (most of us sit for 9.3 hours/day), you could be dramatically decreasing your shot at a long and healthy life. In the recently published Harvard Business Review article “Sitting is the Smoking of Our Generation,” Nilofer Merchant explores the dangers of the sedentary lifestyle that is plaguing our nation. She argues that the association of the obesity epidemic with this generation is similar to the smoking epidemic of previous generations—except far worse. While the death rate related to tobacco use is 3.5 million, the death rate associated with obesity in ... read more+comments

Over the couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the need to be “present” in the office. It started with sitting at the Redskins’ playoff game watching the brilliant Robert Griffin III “man up” to play through his injury….with devastating results. This was followed by returning to work to sit next to a colleague with a very loud, very yucky, chronic cough, and news headlines about the flu outbreak. PEOPLE, please realize that the best way to support your business or team is not always being present! Work from home if you can, let a healthy teammate step in if your illness (or injury) is hampering your performance. That said, the culture of the workplace and of the professional sports world, is to be present regardless of whether it’s the right thing to do or not – “presenteeism.” Even many modern companies who promote mobility ... read more+comments

By now, you’re probably aware of the phenomenon that is car-sharing (such as zipcar and the new car2go), and you may have even become familiar with apartment-sharing (through Airbnb and other such home-rentals)—but what about office-sharing? The movement known as “coworking” (or “co-working”) is one of the alternative work buzzwords that’s emerged over the last few years. You may have heard these spaces called different names – Hubs, Hives, or as co-founder of Hub-LA Nick Kislinger describes it: “a members’ space for people who give a ‘darn’.”  He goes on to describe Hub-LA as much more than a 4,000 square foot warehouse where people work the day away on laptops.  Rather, he sees the space as just the start of an “exclusive social experience and community.” The more conventional definition of coworking is “a style of work that involves a shared working environment or office, and independent activity. Unlike a typical office ... read more+comments

We all know that visuals go a long way in communicating your message and enabling a higher information retention rate for most people. Yet we still seem to produce materials that are very text heavy or with simple, undistinguishable graphics. I am guilty of this time and time again, not because I am not interested in producing something more graphically appealing, but because I just don’t make the time. I don’t want to spend hours creating something that will only get a few minutes of attention. At the same time, if what I’m sharing was more interesting, maybe it would gain more attention? Well, it was this dilemma that put me on my quest to help me find tools to help me address. In my search, I stumbled upon this write-up on AGBeat that exposed me to the world of quick and easy infographics, specifically Piktochart. I was curious, so ... read more+comments

It’s easy to fall into the routine of the familiar. Normally, this can be somewhat comforting, but when talking about work and the need to identify new ways to create and add value, being able to approach the familiar from a different point of view is critical. Last year I was introduced to Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, by Michael Michalko. This book is chockfull of activities that force you to exercise your powers of observation, which naturally enables you to approach familiar situations from a new perspective. If you’ve ever found yourself going through the same motions on every project or walking through the same agenda on every team meeting, maybe your need of a dose of creative thought. A flip through the book can help to spark a new thought, but if you’re ever in need a break Michalko’s website includes a handful of exercises to challenge you. ... read more+comments

It’s a…conference room?  It’s a…misshapen bicycle?  No no…it’s a ConferenceBike!  This 7-person mobile conference room in the form of a bike is a real product (don’t believe me? Check out their website!) and just might be the future of conferencing. The ConferenceBike (or "CoBi" for short) was created in 1996 by Eric Staller, an American Artist.  He chose the name ConferenceBike because the bikers are seated in a circle facing each other rather than in tandem.  The price tag for one CoBi is pretty steep—approximately $13,000—but if you compare that to leasing more space or renovating to add a conference room—the price seems less extreme.  Thus far, they have mostly been sold for tourism and recreational purposes, but a few companies have gotten on board…or bike…and are using it for team building or to take their meetings on the road! I’m not ... read more+comments

        Jonathan Olivares - "The Outdoor Office" Exhibition  Working outdoors is hardly a new concept. If you ever had a “hip” English teacher in high school or college, I’m sure you’ve experienced a few classes held outdoors on a nice spring day. The world of academia aside, as companies try to keep up with rapidly evolving technology and new definitions of “workplace”, corporate America is having more serious conversations about the realities of working outdoors.         Slacking off, or the next breakthrough?     Today we have more options than ever for where we can actually get stuff done. While the majority of workplace strategy focus has been with internal mobility, the reality is that many of us are already working away from the office (at home, airports, coffee shops, etc.), so why not outside? Supporting precedent examples include sustainability and wellbeing initiatives. Companies are starting to look to the outdoors for how to support their ... read more+comments

Ever fallen alseep at your desk? Or wished you could pull a George Costanza and create a bed INSIDE your desk? As a workplace specialist, I spend a lot of times walking around people's offices. There are two things I typically see related to sleeping at work: 1. People actually sleeping at their desks during the workday - generally frowned upon, but there may be a good reason - new baby at home, illness, late night at the office the night before, narcolepsy, too many cocktails at HH the night before (ok, that is not a good reason, but it is a reason). Embarassing personal story: I once went to visit a professor during office hours and he fell asleep while I was talking. Not sure who that's more embarassing for, but....clearly he needed some rest! 2. People working late or coming in very early. Or just staying overnight. With businesses really trying to ... read more+comments

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk (a small open-plan workstation – 56 Net Square Feet – I measured, it’s 7’ wide by 8’ deep), trying to think while listening to someone vacuum the plotter at the end of my row. I am fairly certain I could have vacuumed the entire office in the amount of time it took the service guy to clear out the plotter, but I digress…. Yesterday was also the day that one of my buddies sent me a link to this article: Trying to be Creative in a Dilbert World. I was sure it was going to be another article that says the open plan office is the worst place ever, that no one can think because it’s too loud. I was pleasantly surprised. Although the article is a bit longer than I would have liked, it does a balanced job of looking at the ... read more+comments

I have planned a number of medical schools and one of the really amazing new education techniques I've seen is teaching students through the use of "simulators" or robots that look alarmingly human. These robots are used as a supplement to students practicing on volunteers (or standardized patients). The robots are used to simulate situations in the operating room or other routine procedures. Students might witness the sim-man having a heart attack and they literally treat the robot as they would a human, including giving it medication. Using robots like this will prepare students for the stress they will later see on the job with real patients. Another recent application I've heard about for anthropomorphic robots or "humanoid" robots is for the care of the elderly in Japan. People apparently respond better to robots that look more like them, and if you're from Japan, apparently you ... read more+comments