From ‘Office Space’ to Creative Hub: The Networked Economy in Action

The 1990s cult classic movie “Office Space” tells the comedic story of an employee who is driven to his breaking point by corporate drudgery. The rows of impersonal cubicles, the fluorescent lights and a micromanaging boss all drive the main character, Peter Gibbons, to a dramatic point of no return. In a symbolic first gesture, Gibbons knocks down the cubicle wall that stands between him and the only window in the office before. With devastating humor, the film portrays a workforce exhausted by a one-size-fits-all office environment, optimized for productivity rather than creativity. Beyond the hierarchical corner offices and the clichéd conversations about “a case of the Mondays” at the water cooler, an entire generation is ready for a new template for working life.

Over 20 years later, we are still metaphorically breaking down cubicle walls. For companies to thrive in uncertain and ever-changing market conditions, they must understand the networked economy, prioritize the humanity of their organizations, and reimagine the office beyond a stifled center of productivity; they need to achieve all this in a "phygital" world, a combination of the physical and digital, that the pandemic has necessitated.

For companies to thrive in uncertain and ever-changing market conditions, they must understand the networked economy, prioritize the humanity of their organizations, and reimagine the office beyond a stifled center of productivity.

The Networked Economy is Here

In 1970, in his book Future Shock, the pioneering futurist Alvin Toffler imagined the future of the world and the economy. Many of his predictions map onto our reality in 2020, and one of his most notable contributions was to identify four successive stages in the global economy: agricultural, industrial, information and networked.

“Office Space” illustrates what Toffler thought of as the “information stage,” dominated by technology-driven productivity and the advantages it offered in terms of cutting costs. However, as Toffler predicted nearly five decades ago, technology and productivity alone cannot sustain an entire economic system. It’s the connections between people that are key to the networked economy: real-time connections among people, devices and businesses. 

In the networked economy, there are agile organizations, where essentially there’s incredible transparency, there’s a lot of autonomy, and there’s also an incredible amount of responsibility. We’re seeing organizations go to this agile format because change is so incredibly fast. It’s the only way to thrive.

The economic reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic have only accelerated this shift. Organizations with talent that can flex their creativity and problem-solve at scale will rise to the top of their industries. As Lisa Picard, CEO of EQ Office, sums it up, “In the networked economy, there are agile organizations, where essentially there’s incredible transparency, there’s a lot of autonomy, and there’s also an incredible amount of responsibility. We’re seeing organizations go to this agile format because change is so incredibly fast. It’s the only way to thrive.”

Making Humanity an Organization’s Guiding Priority 

In 2020, we are in the eye of the storm. Dramatic economic changes and a colossal shift in organizational priorities are taking place. We are witnessing a renegotiation of the contract that has existed between employers and workers for decades. Rote productivity is no longer the measure of success. Ingenuity and critical thinking are at a premium. Leaders can only foster these skills by prioritizing humanity in the workplace.

Peter F. Drucker, often referred to as “the father of management thinking,” believed that this anticipated new economy invites leaders to engage in an entirely new approach to running a business. As he wrote in “Peter Drucker on the Network Economy,” “Managing this new Network Society will require different behavior, different skills, different attitudes.” Rather than aim for uniformity and efficiency, leaders need to build a culture that optimizes the unique, individual strengths of an organization’s talent and harnesses the collective power of their creativity.

Rote productivity is no longer the measure of success. Ingenuity and critical thinking are at a premium. Leaders can only foster these skills by prioritizing humanity in the workplace.

Today, we are finding a glaring fault line in organizations’ training and development. Not all work environments have singled out ingenuity as a top priority. HR team members reported to McKinsey & Co. that in 2020, the top missing skill set is “problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity,” which are essential in a networked economy. At the heart of humanity in the workplace is the ideal 21st-century worker: able to break down silos, think holistically and challenge the status quo, rather than accepting it.

Reimagine the Office Beyond Stifled Containers for Productivity

Imagine the kind of workplace that Peter Gibbons of “Office Space” would create. He would undoubtedly start by banning cubicles. The film drives home how the generic workplaces of the industrial and information economies are little more than containers for productivity, containers that, ironically enough, are not conducive to real, collaborative work.  

The networked economy calls for the office to be a flexible hub that pulls team members in and offers a variety of environments and experiences that bring out their best work.

In the networked economy, teams will leverage digital technology to work, but never at the expense of the relationship building and problem-solving that happens when people gather together. The networked economy calls for the office to be a flexible hub that pulls team members in and offers a variety of environments and experiences that bring out their best work. These places should be vibrant, dynamic and full of life — making people eager to bring their full selves to work.

Although COVID-19 has pushed knowledge workers toward remote collaboration, both individuals and teams are seeing the initial returns diminish without the collaboration that allows people to innovate in person. If anything, ‘Zoom fatigue’ and the increasing mental health challenges due to a sense of isolation have underscored the importance of an exceptional workplace. The office is not dead, it just has a different job.

Looking into the Future

Change is accelerating, thanks to the interconnectedness of our world and the near-constant innovations in technology. Although it’s tempting to brace against these changes — or resist them at all costs — this shift to a networked economy can lead to a management strategy and culture that puts people first and serves them and their communities. As all this evolves, it’s never been more important to tap into the inherent creativity of the collective within our workspaces and beyond.