Center for
Workplace Innovation The Center for Workplace Innovation is a center for thought leadership focused on improving how we work. The way we work is changing. Humans have moved from the agricultural age through the industrial and information ages to the creative age. Years ago it would be unheard of for a manager to want employees thinking creatively or “outside the box.” Now innovation is essential to economic success. However, our workplace structures are still very much rooted in the past. The design of how and where we work has always been important, but attention and discourse have crescendoed in recent years as it is clear that well-designed workplaces translate into higher productivity, happier teams, longer employee retention, and increased revenue. Workplace innovation is a multidisciplinary endeavor, involving many design disciplines: architects, interior designers, furniture designers, product designers, graphic designers, and more — it also involves business leaders, entrepreneurs, behavioral scientists, organizational behavior experts, and more. The Center for Workplace Innovation at Design Museum Foundation exists to demonstrate how design and innovation can transform the way we work. The Center is part think tank, part resource — a hub for content and inspiration, cultivating a global community of thought leaders to advance the field. Our goal is to educate and inspire, to drive change in workplaces around the world. If we’re successful employees will happier, more engaged, and more productive; and companies will achieve greater success, retain top talent, and create more impact.
Think Tank Design Museum Foundation will gather workplace innovation thought leaders to direct the efforts of the Center, perform research, and curate content.
Design Impact Stories We’ll collect stories of innovative ideas and solutions that illustrate the impact design can have on the workplace.
Podcast We’ll launch a Workplace Innovation podcast featuring stories, interviews, and visits to interesting workplaces.
Summit Each year we’ll produce a national Workplace Innovation Summit, a one day conference featuring the latest thinking in workplace design and impact.
Events Throughout the year we’ll produce events focused on the various aspects of workplace innovation — events like keynote presentations, panel discussions, demonstrations, field trips, and more.
Exhibitions To reach a broad audience we’ll curate and produce public exhibitions featuring innovative ideas and stories related to workplace innovation.
We’re proud to collaborate closely with the Founding Sponsor of the Center for Workplace Innovation: Jamestown Properties.
Design Museum Foundation
30% According to Gallup, only 30% of employees are engaged in their work. Disengaged workers cost money and reduce organization’s impact — estimates put the cost for US companies at $500 billion.
72% We found at a biotechnology company that recently went through a workplace redesign that increased access to open space and natural light: compared to their prior workspace, 72% of employees said they felt more alert and productive.
41% Leadership IQ did a study that found 41% of new hires fail within the first 18 months due to poor cultural fit at work. Turnover costs are estimated to be 1-3x the base salary of the replaced employee.
Designing Impact Design can shape the future of work so that employees are engaged, happy, and productive. A human-centered approach to designing not only our facilities, but also our organizational structures, can make a meaningful impact.
Facilities Design We spend 35% of our total waking hours at work. During that time, the environment we work in effects our engagement and productivity. As work gets more complex, so does the workplace — it includes all the interior architecture, furniture, and equipment around us, as well as digital facilities like project management software. Environmental factors like natural light, color, and temperature are design decisions that relate directly to productivity. Creating workplaces that adapt to work styles is key, allowing for the focus and collaboration necessary to be successful.
Organization Design Organizations have the opportunity to be designed with the same thoughtfulness, intentionally, and rigor with which companies design their services and products. The design of how we work - our structures and our systems, human and technical - is critical for companies to thrive in the creative age — this includes how companies design leadership systems, human resources and performance metrics, and how organizations recruit talent.
Cultivating Culture
88% 88% of workers value work/life balance and positive company culture as the most essential to an ideal job. And 67% believe the most important aspect of a job is to have an employer with similar values.
Humans have adapted and progressed over time through our ability to create and cultivate culture. The intentional design of workplace culture is a powerful force that can engage and actualize people while increasing the health of organizations and the value created for all stakeholders. We are just starting to realize the potential value of deliberate and conscious cultivation of workplace culture — design provides the necessary tools to help guide the process to new levels.
Center for Workplace Innovation
Get Involved Endow a Curatorial Directorship
Host a Program
The success of the Center depends on strong, steady leadership. A directorship endowed in perpetuity provides the stability the Center needs to grow and thrive.
Host an event, workshop, or exhibition — as a nomadic museum without our own space, we rely on hosts to welcome our programming into their spaces and help us build community.
Fund a Fellowship Thought leadership is at the core of what we do. Funding a fellowship provides the support necessary for a thought leader to work within the center as a one-year or multi-year fellow doing research, developing content, and publishing the latest thinking in workplace innovation.
Make a Gift Financial support is essential to the success of this initiative to drive the future of how we work. There are many ways to give and support, each tax-deductible and all funds go towards making impact in workplace innovation.
Sponsor a Program Support specific events or exhibitions, like our national Workplace Innovation Summit, to ensure success and become affiliated with this important work. There are multiple sponsorship levels, with a wide variety of benefits.
Become a Member Provide sustaining support for the Center through annual membership. Your membership unlocks a world of workplace innovation — receive early access to content, tickets to events, and more.
Advertise Support our media outlets and become affiliated with our workplace innovation content across our online, email, social media, print, video, and podcast channels.
Join our Think Tank Contribute expertise as a member of our Think Thank. This group of experts will help steer and direct this ongoing initiative to ensure successful work and outcomes.
Participate as a Speaker Share your expertise as a keynote speaker, panelist, or facilitator. Our goal is to feature the thought leaders across the country within innovative event experiences.
Write Design Impact Stories Telling success stories and showing how design can make an impact in the workplace is crucial to our mission. These stories will not only inspire, they’ll chart a path of positive change. We anticipate publishing stories online and in our forthcoming magazine.
To get involved or to request more information: Email: info@designmuseumfoundation.org Call: 1-888-287-0167
Design Museum Foundation
We believe design can change the world. Done well, it can elevate our quality of life, make businesses more competitive, and protect our environment. Design awareness, education, and expertise are more important now than ever before as design continues to impact communities, organizations, and markets around the world. Design Museum Foundation is redefining what it means to be a museum in the 21st century — we’re online, nomadic, and accessible to all through a network of exhibitions, events, and content.
Key Supporters: Autodesk Bergmeyer Bose Boston Architectural College Brown Brothers Harriman The Chiofaro Company CIC Boston
Our mission:
Bring the transformative power of design to everywhere, to inspire a world full of creative problem solvers. Design Museum Foundation knows no geographic bounds, therefore we establish nomadic museums — focused on individual cities and reflective of their unique needs — as branches of the museum. We currently manage branches in Boston, MA; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA — and we have a vision to establish branches in every major city. We produce exhibitions, events, and content across our 12 Design Impact Areas to show how good design improves our lives. Within each city we produce our public programming in places like government buildings, parks, malls, universities, airports, building lobbies, and more.
Creative Circle Enernoc Environments at Work Essential Fidelity Investments General Assembly Gerding Edlen Humanscale IDEO Keyshot Mad*Pow MassArt MOO NELSON Northeastern University Red Thread
PDX SF
Reed Hilderbrand
BOS
Sherin and Lodgen Solidscape Stantec Troy Boston Vitamin T Zipcar and more!
Our quarterly UNITE events feature thought leadership conversations — at this event panelists from Continuum, Boston Children’s Hospital, Mad*Pow, and Partners Healthcare discuss creating positive environments for care.
At another UNITE event, panelists from IDEO, Harvard, Steelcase, and Payette discuss intentionally cultivating collaborative generosity in the workplace.
Design Museum Foundation
Attendees enjoy our exhibition opening reception of Better Business by Design at the Innovation & Design Building. The exhibit featured stories where design increased the bottom line.
Boston Advisory Counil Co-Chair, Caleb Dean, begins his Design Museum Mornings presentation on new thinking in organizational design and development at Reed Hilderbrand’s new office in Cambridge.
“
Workplace innovation is crucial to activating the full potential of every employee at any organization. This Center will serve as inspiration for organizations who want to lead the way.” — Michael Phillips President, Jamestown Properties
designmuseumfoundation.org @designmuseumfdn @designmuseumbos @designmuseumpdx @designmuseumsf Copyright © 2016 Design Museum Foundation