Motivated Design's Blog

The Chinese New Year of the Metal Rabbit

motivateddesign — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:46:50 +0000

One of the most powerful tools in creating effective work spaces is knowing how to identify your personal directions. People have preferences, and personality types are drawn to face specific directions. You see this all the time whenever you set us a room where people can sit facing a wide variety of directions. sometimes it looks like they planned it, as if each team chose to sit together.

It has taken many years of study and experience to learn and codify this, and we love having this tool handy because it is remarkably important to enhancing personal performance. In the course of this process we became, without realizing it, Futurists. In other words, people who pull together a wide variety of information and forecast what is going to happen in a specific field.

The thing about forecasting is that you have to start the forecast somewhere, so we use the Chinese New Year, for a number of good reasons, not the least of which is that it is the most celebrated festival in the world, and it is based on a specific astronomical alignment, the New Moon in Tropical Aquarius. For our forecast we use a combination of cyclic research and some tools from traditional Western Astrology, all combined with an intense attention to global politics and economics in several language. For the past fifteen years we have been doing a location specific, global forecast that we publish on our website.

We don’t charge for the forecast. Instead we offer it as a traditional Chinese New Year gift to our family, friends, students and clients, hoping that it will provide some helpful insight as they navigate the year ahead.

You can read it on screen or as a PDF at www.SpaceAndTime.com.

Ralph & Lahni de Amicis

Where Have the Photos Gone?

motivateddesign — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:52:43 +0000

As offices have appeared and disappeared at a higher velocity in recent years one of the casualties has been family photos. Younger workers are often arriving for their first day at work spaces with very little history to express. Those working there before them haven’t had time to settle, or yet feel connected enough to the organization to put up any photos. So, following that lead, the newcomers don’t put pictures us either, unless it’s on their computer.

Family photos in your office show other people that someone loves you. It shows that you have a life and connections that extend beyond this place. It also shows that you have potential influence and leverage. How many back door connections are made through family and spouse?

That’s why people put up photos of themselves with famous personalities. A picture of you shaking the President’s hand goes a long way to raising your social standing. Photos help to solidify your position within the team because it tells your story, it makes you less of an unknown quantity, allowing the people you work with to feel safer with you, and more willing to cooperate.

Drs. Ralph & Lahni de Amicis http://www.spaceandtime.com

How Work Spaces Evolve

motivateddesign — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:28:31 +0000

In the shift from location-based businesses to personnel-based businesses there is a skills gap that we need to address. Workplaces were traditionally set up using tried and true methods developed over thousands of years. Ancient Romans, Greeks, Sumerians and Chinese had paper, ink and offices too. Instead of using post-it-notes and pencils the Romans used wax blocks and styluses in specially made leather cases. Today we still like leather cases for our notebooks.

Julius Caesar’s five year campaign in Gaul used flat, bound ledger books for accounting instead of rolled scrolls, an innovation that speeded up the cumbersome process of accounting for massive armies on the move. This is so similar to the transition from large computer spread sheets to the compact databases used on mobile devices.

When the Spanish laid out their towns in California according to the cardinal directions they were using a system of directions and proportions developed for Roman army camps, which acted like small towns. It is one of the qualities that makes living in California feel so balanced and comfortable, light sources, shadows and the paths of the prevailing winds were all considered in shaping towns to suit human needs.

Because it Worked

Office designs evolved and continued over long periods of time because the principles worked well for both the needs of commerce and human physiology. They were effective, efficient, and minimized fatigue while maximizing performance. Normally, when a person sets up a new work space they base it on the work place where they were trained. We do that instinctively, just like when we move into a new home we put the couch where our parents would have put it.

In designing the sets for family-based, situation comedies the single biggest design decision is selecting and placing the couch. They are custom made for the show and placed in the center of the set, because everything revolves around them. Interesting note: Modern couches are a recent invention, thanks to the French, who first made them popular around the time of the French Revolution and emergence of the Salon society. Before couches stools and benches were the primary places people sat which don’t encourage the same kind of cozy conversations that clearly lead to revolutions.

The Go to Office Became the Go to Guy

motivateddesign — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:14:40 +0000

Even with the mobility of today’s communication devices, most businesses are still dependent on stable locations for part of their operations, because people have to be someplace. Although we once dreamed of a paperless office, storage companies still make lots of money keeping old records dry. Most workers still need flat surfaces to work on, filing cabinets and specialized tools.

The situation has improved, after WWII office furniture was designed like battleships, grey and heavy; Bell Tell owned the telephones, laptop computers were called slide rules and you couldn’t bring a telephone with you. Businesses only changed locations when they had to.

Although many businesses are still location dependent, for many industries the shift has from their location being all-important, the corner store, to their team’s performance and technology being the power driving the engine. That is why it so important to be fluent in the language of design controlling work place dynamics.

The Left and Right Message

motivateddesign — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:49:46 +0000

What is the message in a desk position? If instead of facing the desk at the door we tilted it left, so the person’s right side is open to those entering, what does that say?

It says ‘I’m a mover and a shaker. I’m ready to jump up at a moment’s notice and head out that door to bring products to my customers. I’m the person who expands my company’s reach, market and power’. How does it say that? Because the right-side of the body is the muscular, armored side! In boxing you hold the left hand close to protect the body, while the right hand reaches out to attack. We offer our right hand in greeting because it is our less vulnerable side.

‘Hi, my name is Ralph, can I sell you something? Trust me, you’ll love it’!

Let’s spin the desk the other way. What does it say when your left-side is open to the entrance? It says, ‘I receive, I accept, I’m open to what you bring me and I’ll provide guidance and help because of our emotional connection’. The left side is where we feel our beating heart, it is the more emotional and responsive side of the body.

Think of it this way: We hold a new baby on our left side so they sense the beating of our heart, emulating the protective environment of the mother’s womb. You can’t get much more nurturing than that! Meanwhile the right side of the body is stronger and tougher, so that’s the side that we use to fend off the offers of others to hold the baby, until they start crying of course.

Back to work, when we put our left side towards the entrance it says ‘welcome in, I’ll be here, I’ll listen to you, and together we’ll solve your problems. It is not about jumping up and leaving the space, it is about being there and accessible.

When you face the door, either directly, or angled left or right, it says you are facing the outside world ready to take it on. You are a problem solver.

The right side facing out = Expanding your horizons beyond your close circle.

Directly facing at the door = Being in charge, yet balanced and adaptable

The left side facing out = Open to connections within your organization.

Drs. Ralph & Lahni de Amicis conduct their Ergo Dynamic Work Space Quiz for groups throughout the Bay area. They are authors of numerous books on environmental design and well being and have consulted for thousands of clients internationally in multiple languages. For more information visit www.SpaceAndTime.com and to arrange a talk and get a speaker’s package email Ralph@spaceandtime.com or call 707-235-2364.

Who Should Face East?

motivateddesign — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:29:58 +0000

The flexible office is good because individuals prefer specific directions; natural sales people work best facing east and philosophers like facing north. By allowing for directional differences you promote individual genius. That’s why we developed these guidelines.

Work spaces are oriented in dominant directions based on the main entrance. Traditionally bosses faced so they could see who was coming in the door. Symbolically the boss is in alignment with the company’s mission. With the boss on the 20^th floor they don’t see who is coming in, but facing that same cardinal direction keeps them in philosophical alignment! Using traditional methods makes us feel safe and confident.

Because of personal programming some people benefit from the work space’s orientation more than others. We say they are a good fit with the company. Their personality type describes what that direction signifies. Stable, dependable workers like to face south, so when you put them in a southern aligned work space of course they feel supported by their surroundings.

Before wide spread electric lighting people had a more prevalent experience of sunlight and the night sky, the phases of the Moon and the constellations. They decided the timing of important activities and were illumination and guide posts for night time journeys along unlit pathways.

Recall that primordial sense of the cardinal directions when you plot the route that you want your business to travel. When have your whole crew facing the same direction they are navigating by the same stars. What direction would that be?

Sharing Sunlight

motivateddesign — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:10:08 +0000

Before electricity entered the workplace teams sat at their stations facing the same direction to take advantage of the sun light illuminating their tasks. Understanding light sources is critical for creating effective office designs because the body reacts automatically to them and magnetic influences. Geese navigate long distances using magnetic nodes in their skulls. South sea islanders prize their traditional navigators who feel their way to the islands over the horizon. We react to these influences even when we’re not consciously aware of them.

Our GPS and Google maps speak to our conscious, frontal brains, but the primal brain where emotions and fight or flight live navigates by the cardinal (light source) and magnetic (particle based) directions. The glandular system times the body’s cycles to the electromagnetic fields of the Sun and Moon and growth and healing cycles depend on them. The body grows in Solar cycles and heals in Lunar cycles. Without you realizing it your body leans against the current of magnetic particles flowing from the North to the South Pole. How does that affect you sitting at your desk?

Ralph & Lahni de Amicis conduct their Ergo Dynamic Work Space Quiz for groups throughout the Bay area. They are authors of numerous books on environmental design and well being and have consulted for thousands of clients internationally in multiple languages. For more information visit www.SpaceAndTime.com and to arrange a talk and get a speaker’s package email Ralph@spaceandtime.com or call 707-235-2364.

Who is in Charge Here?

motivateddesign — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:02:03 +0000

When you walk into the boss’s office and they are facing you, what message does that send? It says, ‘We both know who’s in charge here’. That positioning, that posture shows that the boss is ready, willing and able to face issues and solve problems NOW! When you walk into that office arrangement be prepared for decisions to be made, whether or not you like them. Managers who set up their office with a commanding posture have a clear vision for the future of their enterprise. Their decisions will fit into that long-range plan which can be confusing when you’re just looking for a short-term answer.

If you’re habitually frustrated by a boss’s decisions, then turn yourself around and look at it from their side of the desk, literally. It is like the Indian adage of walking a mile in a person’s moccasins before you criticize them. Consider what they are seeing when they are working, adopt their perspective. Face the same quadrant of the compass as your boss and see if you are inspired by the same stars.

www.spaceandtime.com

Television Sets tell it All

motivateddesign — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:00:37 +0000

Television marketing messages appeal to emotions. People buy for emotional reasons and justify it later intellectually. Watch a TV commercial depicting any work place and look carefully at the set and you’ll notice that there is nothing random in their choices. When Ditech wanted to express ‘ no hidden fees in their loans’ they showed the woman answering your call in a transparent cubicle; no secrets there.

Mercury Insurance depicted offices with ridiculously low ceilings, desks and doorways with hunched over workers ‘inspired’ to lower prices. It was thoroughly silly but got your attention and delivered the message. The ‘doctor’ selling you drugs sits in an office set, the older the product’s target demographic, the more conservative the furniture.

Set designers know viewers are easy to pitch to because they know the visual language of TV which is similar but neater than life, reality has more random factors. That profusion of ‘doctor’ shows have transformed medical offices everywhere until they all look like TV sets. When you walk into a business or work space you read it the same way that you read a commercial, or situation comedy, or crime drama. Keep that in mind when you design your space and use that to your benefit.

The Task Specific Space

motivateddesign — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:31:24 +0000

Because computers do many different tasks work spaces are design specific. The marketing team uses the same hardware as the art department and bookkeeping and there aren’t any drawing boards or ledgers in sight. The software is different but the ergonomics similar. When you move into an office who knows if the previous occupant was doing the same job? With the popularity of cooperative ventures, contracting and consulting who knows if they worked for the same company? Don’t assume the office design was fine-tuned to do your job; tune it up yourself.

Additional work brings additional benefits; your work space isn’t carved in stone and you can shape it to your own style and talents. This is a huge advantage! In most countries culture and family history limit innovation and genius by funneling efforts into narrow cultural parameters. Being able to create technology and enterprise without a suffocating history made the United States an economic power. Being able to shape your own work space is like having a clean sheet of paper and a big box of crayons, the possibilities abound.