Is your company built for change?
Are the structures supporting the organization adaptable and flexible?
I believe that the structure of an organization whether these are a physical building, or technology infrastructure need to be designed and adaptable for change.
This was the foundation of Ludwig Mies Van der Roth’s architecture-the pioneer of the glass building and one of the greatest architects of all time. The building you see above is the IBM Building, in Chicago’s River North area, his last and tallest. I used to live in Chicago and I admit that until today I did not know that Mies had designed over 45 buildings in the great Windy City-no wonder the city is so beautiful.
His buildings were revolutionary for the time. Nobody had seen a glass building before. We now take it for granted and see these buildings in every city in the world. That was revolutionary for that time and what I think made it even more revolutionary was the flexibility of his spaces.
He had the vision to imagine that what went on inside the space would change in time. He did not want to constrain what would unfold inside those four walls. This is why he left the inside open and flexible. Most of his efforts were focused on the outside structure of the building. The inside would be designed last and it was a space that could be modified easily and effortlessly. He would often say, “less is more”.
He realized that he could not control that part of the structure and that it would change in time anyways. What would last is the foundation and structure of the building letting the rest unfold unconstrained.
His openness to change was transferred to his work. After all, he took the initiative to leave Germany when he was already 51 years old to start a new life in the US because the school he led, the Bauhaus Institute, had been shut down by the Nazis and his style was criticized as un-German. The windy city thought otherwise.
By building from the outside in and leaving the inside open and minimalistic, it allows for the space to be flexible and easily modified depending on how the people inside evolve. These buildings are still standing and changing inside.
Is your company also designed for change?
Photo Credits, jmcmichael
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