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Significant Shifts The following is an extract from the Australian Financial Review, Boss Magazine July 2002 - Bill Ford: "In recent years in Australia, we have seen the beginnings of a long-overdue shift in public debate and organisation policies from macro industrial relations to micro workplace relations. These changes have significant implications for concepts of place and property, particularly in relation to large organisations and the professionals who provide them with property services. The lead groups in this change have recognised the need to shift the underlying concept of place so they support the journeys from traditional workplaces to the emerging learning ecosystems of a knowledge economy. In traditional organisations, place was seen as physical, fixed, measured, planned, owned and with clear boundaries. To develop learning ecosystems internally and externally to an organisation, it is necessary to conceptualise place as space that is adaptable, flexible, connected, linked, relational and navigable and will support engagement, participation, teaming and learning. Significant shifts These changes require significant shifts in the traditions, practices and processes of property-based professions, particularly in real estate, architecture and design. Conceptually and practically they need to shift from traditional notions of property fit-out to business re-invention for a dynamic economy. This means conceptually shifting from property focus to business focus, design brief to organisational brief, consultation to engagement, and workplace design to workplace relations. The practical application of these shifts requires new processes that encompass engagement and cross-cultural learning. The traditional professional disciplines by themselves are no longer adequate for developing the productive workplaces for a knowledge economy. There is need also to conceptually shift from traditional ideas and language that restrict our visions. Such shifts include moving from open plan to open organisation, individual places to value-creating communities, and designated places to communities of practice. The traditional organisational workplace clearly demarked working, meeting and training. In the emerging ecosystems the ideas of developing, relating and learning are integrated to develop communities of practice, innovation and value creation. Again, this will require conceptual shifts in workplaces from fixed to flexible and fluid, clear boundaries to fuzzy boundaries, supervising to mentoring, and authority of position to authority of knowledge. These developments have significant implications for all people in organisations. They will require processes to ensure opportunities for shared learning across traditional boundaries, particularly for organisations introducing new technologies and e-commerce systems. To support these workplace changes and creation
of new learning ecosystems, new partnerships, alliances and networks
are emerging. These new relationships and processes of shared learning
and co-production and use of intellectual capital are challenging
traditional notions of marketing and corporate hospitality. The
emergence of new organisational titles in lead enterprises indicates
that property is no longer the restricted domain of traditional
property people. The nature of the place and space of work and learning
is a central concern for all people involved in the transformation
of organisational life."
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