Working in the UnOffice

Chapter 1: Sharing How We Work and Thinking Outside the Space

ONE: 
Sharing How We Work and Thinking Outside the Space

Goodbye office. Goodbye, kitchen table. Goodbye, Starbucks coffee counter. For small businesses and organizations, as well as indie workers and freelancers, coworking is developing into a real viable option for getting things done. In the past, when identifying places to work, independent workers, small businesses, and organizations often had to choose between several scenarios, all with their attendant advantages and disadvantages: working from home; working from a coffee shop, library, or other public venue; or leasing an executive suite or other commercial space.

Well, enter coworking. At its most basic level, coworking is the phenomenon of workers coming together in a shared or collaborative workspace for one or more of these reasons: to reduce costs by having shared facilities and equipment, to access a community of fellow entrepreneurs, and to seek out collaboration within and across fields. In fact, coworking makes the traditional office set-up seem downright antiquated and quaint, something that belongs more in a museum exhibit and is sorely out of touch with today’s creative and dynamic workforce.

Coworking spaces offer an exciting alternative for people longing to escape the confines of their cubicle walls, the isolation and distractions of working solo at home, or the inconveniences of public venues. The benefits and cost-savings in productivity and overall happiness and well-being that can be reaped from coworking are also potentially huge. Enthusiasm and creativity become contagious and multiply when you diversify your work environment with people from different fields or backgrounds. At coworking spaces, the chances of “accelerated serendipity”[1] occurring—those “Eureka!” moments that take place during the most unexpected turns—are greater than in any other environment. Members pass each other during the day, conversations get going, and miraculously idea-fusion happens with everyone benefitting from the shared thinking and brainstorming.

So what gives coworking its traction and charm for thousands of workers around the world?

The Making of the Coworking ‘Perfect Storm’

There are several social and economic trends that are making coworking an ideal option for independent workers, small businesses, and organizations. All these factors and opportunities have come together in what experts like to call a “perfect storm” for the growing fascination with coworking:

#1 Shift Toward a ‘Sharing Economy’

#2 Home is Where the Work is: Rise of the Telecommuter and Home-based Businesses

#3 Digital Workers on the Cloud

#4 Where Good Ideas Come From: Working with Others

#1 Shift Toward a ‘Sharing Economy’

Coworking is at the heart of the new trend toward sharing and “collaborative consumption.” Those who grew up with the children’s show Sesame Street may remember the episode with the Geefle and the Gonk who wanted to eat nectarines growing on a tree. The Gonk was too short to reach the fruit; the Geefle could reach them, but couldn’t bend his arms to feed himself. So they decided that the Geefle would pick the fruit and the Gonk would feed him half. Happy with the way things worked out, they decided to keep the system. “Let’s call it cooperation,” says the Gonk. “No,” pipes up the Geefle. “Let’s call it Shirley!”[2]

Sharing—be it goods, time, expertise, or even responsibilities to acquire nectarines—isn’t anything new. These days, it just goes by names more highbrow than “Shirley.” And it’s changing the way we spend, interact, work, and live. Welcome to the new sharing economy.

Your Car, My Couch—A New Way We Share

Admittedly, sharing may not be a virtue one readily owns up to. But chances are, you have a Facebook account, and you’ve uploaded pictures of your newest baby—human or otherwise—told your friends what you had for breakfast and posted a link for one of your current causes on your wall. What is that, if not sharing? And it’s that online sharing that’s making it easier for people to share offline, experts at Latitude Research have found.[3]