What’s New Work, Really?

Is New Work Cool Tech and Open Office Spaces? 

I thought New Work was an open desk policy, space for creativity, and some home office. Before Covid–19 hit, I observed colleagues occupying the same desk day in and out. And instead of experiencing heightened creativity, I got uncomfortable noise levels from calls taken at desks. Something wasn’t working.

Many companies sell New Work products and services. Nadella, e.g., wants to improve employee experience with Microsoft’s portfolio for collaboration, learning, and community management. I work at Siemens and we use Microsoft’s Teams app. Team’s improved how I collaborate, making home office work more efficient. There is a flipside, though. I’m always connected. When I see a message at 9PM, I think, “I’ve already seen it; I don’t want to remind myself of it tomorrow.” I respond. Don’t get me wrong, human-centric tech is surely an enabler of New Work, but just like cool office spaces, implementing tech won’t do the trick and magically eradicate my bad habits.

What’s New Work Really About?

Surely you get it by now, but let me explain how I realized what New Work is about: I’ve succumbed to the latest app craze, Clubhouse. A host pulled me on stage to join the

discussion “What is New Work?” To my fluffy response, the moderator said, “New Work is about culture. Can we finally acknowledge this?!”

New Work Is About Culture and People

Embarrassed by my Clubhouse experience, I sat down and did some research. In theory, New Work has five dimensions: people, places, tools, principles, and regulations. The founder of New Work, Dr. Frithjof Bergmann, defines it as a concept that meets individual demands. Bergmann’s definition stems from his research on the notion of freedom, enabling the combination of self-realization, self-determination and self-sufficiency.

Ok, but what does this mean in practice?

Exploring the Individual

“What if you see your firm as an ecosystem in which humans are a wonder that you’ve never finished exploring?” says Frederic Laloux, author of Reinventing Organizations, former associate partner with McKinsey & Company, and now coach. Laloux’s understanding of New Work describes companies as organisms with a focus shifted from output to integrity. Integrity, not from a business ethic’s perspective, rather that which allows the truth of every individual—the essence of our spirits—to emerge. Laloux encourages reading up on leaders with employee-centric world views. Decathlon’s CEO, e.g., spends one day a week stocking shelves. His efforts help him understand employees and see them as humans rather than resources.

New Work to Drive Innovation is Misleading

Many leaders Laloux encounters say they need New Work, because their company’s not innovative enough. Striving to increase the company’s ability to innovate is a mechanical- and resource-driven view of New Work that aims to increase the value of the firm. But New Work, according to Laloux, should stem from another motivation if it is to inspire sustainable, impactful change and unleash the magic in every employee. When you view people as resources, you’re missing out on much potential.

Bringing our Full Selves to Work

To meet individual demands, and bring our full selves to work, Bergmans suggests we start asking ourselves and our people “What do I/you really want to do?” To answer this question, accepting a wholistic approach for symbiosis of “private life and work life” is necessary.

Wait. This is scary. I mean, deep talk at work? Sharing private stuff, feelings, thoughts, world-views, personal goals with colleagues? With my boss?

Are we sure that we want this?

I’m Ok with Being Vulnerable

Vulnerability can be scary, but look at what we’ve learned through remote working: We’ve realized, “Hey, you’re human, too: You have a private life, and we share similar issues. There’s no avoiding partners or kids interrupting and appearing in our calls. Private life collides with our work persona. Our humanness, vulnerability, is evident, it makes us more relatable. We feel more comfortable opening up about personal matters.

A First Step Towards Wholeness

This shift has allowed me to feel more whole and more authentic at work. It appears that vulnerability and being authentic is beneficiary to our work experience and relationships. Taking it a step further with authenticity is to own my truth: “What do I really want to do (with my life)?” Leading a life from a place of integrity requires reflection and space where we are invited to share these reflections and be whole.

Work environment where openness is encouraged and where people feel safe to speak up and share their needs, will gradually lead to employees seeking self-realization. People will feel free to be themselves. As a graduate student, I learned that a company’s service profit chain starts with the employee. Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers. Can we find more creative ways to measure a company’s success rather than focus on profit, only? I believe profit will come naturally, as a product of an environment where people are free to self-realize and unleash their uniqueness and magic.

Self-Realization for Unification

Creating spaces of wholeness with culture of empowerment where people can self-realize helps us live from a place of integrity. Living from a place of integrity means we stand in our power by owning our uniqueness and living our truth. For me, this has led to feeling free and has helped me want to be of service to others.

I believe that enabling self-realization in firms can help us/the firm shift away from ego-driven perspectives of doing business into one that allows us to face the bigger, global challenges from a place of unity. The next time I’m pulled onto a Clubhouse stage, I’ll know that New Work is not about open desk policy nor about working from home, but an opportunity to foster sustainable company cultures that can help change the world.

I know, it’s a work in progress. We need bite sized steps. In my next blogpost I share practical insight from my podcast episode with Nik on how to put people at the center of establishing fit-for-purpose workspaces.

Stay tuned and take care,

Helena

Hey everyone,

I hope you’re enjoying my series of posts about leadership. Maybe you have some great ideas for topics which you’d like to see covered here?

Let me know! I value your feedback and participation!