Sedus Place 2.5 (Version 7)

The magazine for productivity and wellbeing No 7/12 Minds

EUR 9,80 | CHF 12,00 | GBP 8,50 | USD 13,00

Reinhold Messner – A profile of the great explorer

Case study

Smells like team spirit – The new HQ of Kaffee Partner

Know how

Active working – ergonomics and office gymnastics

Balance Between movement and stillness

EDITORIAL No 7/12

Welcome to Sedus Place 2.5 One of the greatest challenges we all face nowadays is achieving a degree of balance in our lives.

The grindstone spins ever faster. As a result, who can honestly say that they find it easy to meet all the demands placed on them in the workplace at the same time as meeting their physical, personal and social needs? Sometimes the mountain we face can seem insurmountable.

When it comes to conquering such obstacles, there can be no better inspiration than the mountaineering legend that is Reinhold Messner. In this issue he exclusively shares with us his views of the parallels between extreme mountain climbing, walking on untrodden paths, and the challenges of corporate life. With the clear voice of authority he tells us of visions, planning and goals. And he doesn’t shirk from addressing the twin impostors of fear and failure. Everything he tells us is grounded in his experiences as an adventurer who became the founder of a museum and an entrepreneur.

While we are presented daily by omnipresent media stories about achieving Work-Life balance, it’s essential we look beyond the slogans and clichés to examine what we need to do in detail.

Not only will we benefit as a result, so too does everybody and everything with which we come into contact. In order to achieve a sense of balance, it’s essential that we listen to our inner voice.

It often tells us when we are burning out or even in danger of dropping out.

Even the physical harm associated with office life can be avoided. ‘Active working’ and a generally dynamic approach to day to day life are two of the most essential elements if we want to avoid coming to any harm. Mobile, ergonomic and height adjustable furniture have an important role to play in making our days more active, productive and healthy as part of the Place 2.5 concept.

Having a programme of simple physical exercise also helps, as you will see in this issue, and via the video clips on Sedus TV. If this makes you happier, you can even treat yourself with a glass of wine afterwards. Balance is achieved in many ways and the articles in this and other issues of Place 2.5 can help you to take the route to a balanced lifestyle.

I hope you enjoy the issue.

Best wishes

Dr. Bernhard Kallup Chief Executive, Sedus Stoll AG

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PLACE 2.5 No 7/12

Sedus Place 2.5 Sociologists tell us that our lives occupy three distinct places:

Place 1 HOME The first place is our home, which is being eroded by the demands placed on us for greater flexibility and mobility.

Place 2 OFFICE The second place is the office, which all too often neglects the wellbeing of the people who work in it

Place 2.5 THE PRODUCTIVE WORKPLACE When we deliver the sensory stimulation of third places into the office, we transform purely functional second places into energising environments where employees find more meaning, fun, success and fulfilment in their work. This is what we call an Office 2.5.

Place 3 LEISURE The third place is where we go to recharge our batteries. Yet in amongst the diversions and distractions, this can also be where we have our best ideas.

Sedus is committed to making the workplace somewhere that is productive for both the organisation and the people who work for it. Sedus is constantly developing new products and ideas to help firms create beautiful and productive contemporary workplaces.

This film tells you more about the Place 2.5 concept.

If you would like to discuss how to make your own offices more productive by developing a new and enlightened office culture,

w w w.p l a c e2 p o i n t5. c o m

we’d love to talk.

w w w.y o u t u b e. c o m / u s e r/S e d u s S t o l l AG

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CONTENTS No 7/12

08

36

Smells like team spirit

The new Headquarter building of Kaffee Partner Holding A healthy building and a shrine to the coffee bean under one roof

The balance between desire and ability

Interview with the explorer Reinhold Messner The adventurous spirit of the modern organisation

Contents 03 Editorial

IDEAS

CASE STUDIES

18 Email flowchart

To send or not to send?

04 Sedus Place 2.5

Don’t waste any more time

08 Smells like team spirit

The new Headquarters of Kaffee Partner Holding The sweet smell of success

28 News, Tips & Trends 30 A historical view

32 The world class Sedus swing up

A new task chair with the groundbreaking Similar-Swing concept Sedus’s new ergonomic chair takes a bow

34 Office Power Check 62 The desire for change 64 Overview

New Work Order – Aufbruch in eine neue Arbeitskultur

66 Mechanical data, copyrights and contacts

‘Generation Y’ is transforming organisations

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20 Pilot project: The future of urban manufacturing

The new home of Wittenstein bastian GmbH The first signs of Industry 4.0

CONTENTS No 7/12

56 48

Down to earth: A multifaceted character Work on the go

Balance in wine – Wine in balance

Part 1: Ergonomics is good for all of us

Why the people behind the wines are so important

Work on the go means a well planned space, some great

and how they raise their wines like children

furniture and a little bit of exercise

KNOW-HOW

16 A breath of fresh air

Humidification for open plan offices Improving air quality and performance

46 Seamless results: A new clean aesthetic in furniture design

MINDS

LIVES

36 The balancing act between desire and ability

An interview with explorer Reinhold Messner

52 Simplicity isn’t easy

Changing lifestyles to avoid a personality crisis Be nice to yourself - before you burn out

An exclusive conversation about the extremes of self-knowledge

56 Down to earth

Precise new laster technology

Balance in wine – Wine in balance

Not only beautiful, but environmentally

The story of the people behind the wine we

friendly

all enjoy so much

48 Work on the go

Part 1: ergonomics makes good sense for everybody A new form of office gym

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Smells like team spirit The new headquarters of Kaffee Partner Holding

B y Jo a c h i m G o e t z

The new lavish headquarters of the firm may seem to have gone up in record time, but you wouldn’t know it when you begin to appreciate the holistic approach of the architecture. This is a building that is redolent of the product with which it is associated. And that in turn is the result of the focus on wellbeing shown by its owner, architects, interior designers as well as the staff visitors and passers-by who are left in little doubt what it all represents.

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A melange of light and sweeping forms define the five storey exterior of the main facade and colourfully and playfully bring to mind a cappuccino.

O

ne of the core principles of the design is that the offices should provide surroundings that are at least as pleasant as those that workers would find in their own homes. That was the vow made by the firm’s owner and founder Dr Andreas East as he broke ground at the site of the firm’s new headquarters at a former British army barracks in Osnabrück in Northern Germany.

However, the initial idea behind the development of the new building was the need to accommodate the firm’s growth

which meant it had outgrown its former home. The company had flourished as Germany’s leading supplier of speciality fully automatic premium coffee machines and its previous office in nearby Wallenhorst had begun to burst at the seams. The problem became so acute that some employees had been housed in temporary buildings on site. This was a far from ideal situation, not least in terms of communication between colleagues.

The decision was soon taken to relocate to Osnabrück, even though the town had

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higher commercial tax rates. However the move also allowed the firm to take advantage of a better location, a greater pool of labour including students who are essential to provide a flexible workforce for the company’s call centre.

One of the most remarkable and inherently striking features of the new building is its flamboyant exterior.

Depending on the building’s aspect and your perspective it can look like anything from a luxury liner, or a stack of fine china breakfast crockery and bring to ▸▸

CASE STUDY Kaffee Partner No 7/12

PROJECT INFORMATION Concept/Design/Project management:

3deluxe, Wiesbaden and igk Krabbe GmbH und Co. KG, Osnabrück Interior fit-out: Employee spaces

❿

❼

❿

❾ ❽ ❿❽

TON Objekteinrichtung, Münster Interior fit-out (Forum and Cubes):

3deluxe, Wiesbaden Total area:

❻

110.00O m²

❼

Workspace:

approx. 5.000 m² Stores and workplace:

approx. 5.000 m²

Floorplan - call centre

❺

❶ Museum ❷ Barista-training ❸ Store ❹ Kitchen / copiers ❺ Meeting (Open Space) ❻ Informal meeting ❼ Team leader ❽ Quiet Office ❾ Wardrobes ❿ Open plan

Project duration:

16 month Staff:

❿

❿

250 Sedus furniture:

❹

• Task chairs from the crossline range “Cappuccino-Look” • Workstations temptation c,

❸

with electrical height adjustment • Acoustic wall panels

Staircase

❶

❷

Glass partitions Entrance from foyer

N

Walkway 0m

10 m

mind the aromatic waft from a fresh cup of coffee or the elegant sweep of a swan’s wings.

This extraordinary design is a product of the collaboration of a group of dedicated professionals and the input from staff from a very early stage of the planning process.

Careful planning ensured that costs were managed efficiently and that the new development offered exceptional value for money. One of the main priorities was for the building to work as an integrated

whole so that the firm can reap the full synergistic benefits of true teamworking.

This approach is evident in the design of the lower two floors of the main administration building. This where the firm’s core office functions and call centre are located. The floorplan is based on the idea that modern working practices with their emphasis on clear and multifaceted lines of communication are best served by open plan offices rather than enclosed cellular groupings. The contemporary office is as much defined by the way it

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facilitates interaction, knowledge and creativity as it is by the desks and technology it houses.

Research shows that in those more traditional office layouts in which people are separated by distances of ten metres, colleagues only communicate with each other an average of three times a week.

That is nowhere near enough in a world that is defined by the ability of people to network and communicate effectively with each other. So it was essential that the new building provided an ideal

The colour scheme has a distinctive coffee theme but the interior of the call centre is entirely practical. The partitioned rooms offer plenty of space for quiet working without obstructing natural light and the culture of openness. Extraneous noise is minimsed by ceiling panels, carpets and screens.

framework in which dialogue and the exchange of ideas and information could happen effortlessly. The end result is a world class design predicated on the core principles of an Office 2.5.

The core principles of the space plan were determined by the areas required for specific job functions and the relationships between them as determined by the client. The designers then used this information to create an environment precisely tailored to the constructed layout of the building. The result is a definitive solution, a completely different outcome to bog-standard speculative buildings, those citadels of commerce that offer a lowest common denominator approach for occupants and high rate of return for investors. IT is a physical manifestation of the firm for which it was designed, a fact recognised in part by Kaffee Partner’s award as one of

Germany’s TopJob Employers for 2012.

Some three hundred employees are housed in the 5000 square metre avantgarde multi-terraced multi-storey terraced main building. At the heart of this is a forum which is the main central meeting place for employees and customers. It is the venue for multimedia shows, glass workshops, special events including cookery displays as well as providing a range of meeting and conference facilities.

The adjoining coffee museum is home to a number of historical artefacts and is equipped with traditional coffee making equipment. This is the source of the pervading aroma of coffee that has been developed over many years to become the pure product so familiar to visitors, customers and employees alike.

The open landscape within the office also serves as a showcase for the numerous

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applications of the high-end coffee making equipment for which the firm is renowned. The space also features displays of the company’s advertising slogans, which are based on the benefits of the premium products it sells. These include memorable phrases such as: ‘Show your employees how much they mean to you. Use their coffee break to give them the flavour of a weekend in Italy. At the heart of this main space you can find the firm’s call centre operations, home to around 80 staff who enjoy the same exceptional fit-out and focus on communication that is evident throughout the building.

Not so long ago, such large offices were beset by serious acoustic challenges, which were often solved in unconvincing or even ineffective ways. In many contemporary workplaces, however, the technology that is now being used ▸▸

The pronounced curves of the exterior of the building are replicated indoors. Wall and floor mounted lighting help to further define and emphasise the organic and dynamic feel of the interior design by 3deluxe

to deal with the issue performs so well that the level of acoustic control and privacy is superior to even cellular offices.

In Osnabr端ck, the solution is based on a range of sophisticated measures that contribute to a healthy and productive acoustic environment. These include acoustic sails in the ceilings and soundabsorbent panels within furniture produced by Sedus.

Carpet is also important in reducing unwanted sound and is even better for people with allergies, as shown in research, which demonstrates how it traps dust and allergens far better than hard flooring, from where it is cleaned away without adversely affecting the indoor air quality.

Air quality is particularly important in the call centre where dry and heavily particulated air can have a seriously detrimental effect on the people working

the phones. The solution is a series of Draabe humidifiers.

The ergonomic wellbeing of staff is catered for by the electronically height adjustable temptation desks and crossline task chairs supplied by Sedus. The design of the workstations allows for a greater degree of movement for employees, to help them remain active and so avoid the back problems and pain associated with static postures.

For impromptu and informal meetings between colleagues, the office provides a central core of break out space in the middle of the main working space.

Larger meetings typically take place in more remote bespoke conference areas or in the Kaffee Partner Experience area.

When staff want to have a confidential phone call or enjoy some focussed work, they can use the clear clear-partitioned private offices that line one section of the

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main open plan area. Tellingly these offer acoustic but not visual privacy.

The attractive green plants that can be found throughout the building serve a number of purposes. Not only do they improve the indoor air quality, they are also useful in helping to define the space, often at an architectural scale.

Care was also taken in the way the building balances natural and artificial light sources. This has been engineered to provide exactly the right light levels for specific tasks, especially in more challenging areas such as next to windows or in areas without a high level of ambient light.

Similar care was taken in the choice of colours and finishes, a factor which plays an essential role in the creation of an Office 2.5. It would be easy to assume that this would be solely inspired by colours associated with coffee, but the decision

CASE STUDY Kaffee Partner No 7/12

❺

❷ ❻ ❹

Floorplan - foyer

❶

❶ Reception ❷ Lounge ❸ Presentatons ❹ Exhibitons ❺ Cafeteria ❻ Lighting ❼ Walkway to call centre

❸ ❼ ❸

Main entrance Walkway N

0m

10 m

taken by the client and the designers has produced something entirely unexpected.

The development of the new headquarters building provides a perfect example of how a number of firms and individuals from different disciplines can partner across a long and complex programme of planning, construction, design and fit-out to create a unique, evocative and groundbreaking workplace.

The result is that there is a distinct synergy and a harmony between the various interior elements that means

that furniture, planting and finishes create a perfectly resolved whole. There is a strong emotional appeal in the way colours define rooms. The cross detailing on the backs of the crossline seating and the backbone-like aesthetic of the cable management on the temptation workstations evoke human characteristics.

And while the colours and finishes are certainly modish, they have been selected to provide a timeless and restrained backdrop that will not tire and clash

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with changing fashions.

Even those parts of the building that might be perceived as not fully open, such as the penthouse suite of offices for executives maintains the building’s principles. Here you will find swinging ceiling and wall lights designed by 3deluxe, harmoniously specified alongside furniture from the same firm and dark oak flooring with complementary white inlays.

These elements are redolent of the exterior features of the building. ▸▸

CASE STUDY Kaffee Partner No 7/12

THE MAN BEHIND THE NEW BUILDING Dr. Andreas Ost answers questions about the project

What was your vision for the building?

We wanted to optimise the flow of work in a very practical way. We

The central zone of the open plan

enjoyed an excellent approach to communication at the old building but

offices (call centre) is given over to meeting and break

thought we could do even better here. We had specific timescales set out

areas and the colour scheme designed by the fit-out

and asked seven architects to pitch for the work. We liked the results but

firm TON Objekteinrichtung counterpoints the rest of

weren’t blown away until we were recommended we speak to 3deluxe

the building.

by Sieger Design who develop coffee machines with us. We employed them after a second pitch. The building helps us to be seen because it is extremely transparent.

One important factor is our hotline which allows our engineers to solve customer’s problems by phone. We are the market leaders in B2B equipment in Germany with 60,000 customers and 80,000 machines nationally.

The elegant sweeps of the white facade are functional as well as beautiful. If you thought they were merely decorative, you’d be dead wrong because they function as dividers for the building’s terraces and as shading elements to keep it cool.

For the architects who had won the tender in the face of fierce competition to design the building against seven other practices, the challenge was to create a sophisticated resolution of what were essentially a cluster of static and distinct buildings.

They also had to take into account the complexities of working with the local construction firm igk Krabbe, who enjoy a deserved reputation for their expertise in building and engineering and who were responsible for all of the buildings on the site.

The design by 3deluxe focuses on two key

What were the most important characteristics you had defined for the new building?

We sell our machines on the basis that they are a feel good purchase for the workplace. So we want to help our own colleagues to enjoy going to work. Anybody who spends six to ten hours in one place needs to be comfortable when sitting, have height adjustable workstations, good acoustics, exceptional air quality and – of course – a good cup of coffee within arm’s reach.

We don’t have strict hours and we don’t micromanage but we are recognised as an exceptional employer. That’s because, as well as the furniture and architecture we also have a consensual approach to corporate culture that is verified by an employee questionnaire. That is good for us and helps us recruit more effectively because everyone feels part of the team, can think outside the box and enjoys their work.

Are employees positive about the new environment??

Yes. Their positive attitude and pride are even more evident since we moved. I enjoyed it when people told me that this was the best office they’d seen during my 30 year tenure. It’s true to say that things are better, but they are also different. We had the opportunity to do things in new and improved ways.

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Even the reception area on the executive floor uses the same colour scheme of browns and whites (3deluxe).

features of the complex, the creation of a single main walkway for staff and visitors that connects the semi-public areas of the building and its various facades. Initially these were not designed with the light touch that is so characteristic of the building. The first ideas that attempted to resolve the different parts of the complex relied on an effort to integrate its various facades.

The final solution is based on a design that blends the exterior elements with 150 custom made six ton concrete elements that aim to evoke the joy of drinking coffee, which is of course the firm’s main selling point and the emotional keystone of the building’s architecture. In addition these architectural elements provide a visual and aesthetic link to the massive manufacturing building.

The forms also work as intelligent elements of the building, which shade the terraces beneath them and subtly alter the form of the building as the perspective from which it is viewed changes. From afar, the wave forms seem comparatively static. Up close, they become far more dynamic.

The facade also plays deliberately with colour. The exterior is primarily white but accented by a palette that evokes the world of coffee. The window frames and sun blinds appear in tones of copper, giving the facade of the building an occasional metallic glimmer.

Many commentators and designers have claimed that in the future the design of more and more offices will be rooted in the nature of the organisations that inhabit them. If so, the headquarters of Kaffee Partner provides one of the best examples. â—†

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More information about Kaffee Partner

w w w. k a f f e e- p a r t n e r. d e w w w. k a f fe e- p a r t n e r- e r l e b n i s w e l t. d e w w w. 3 d e l u x e. d e w w w.i g k- k r a b b e. d e w w w.t o n- o b j e k t. d e

KNOW HOW Balanced climate No 7/12

A breath of fresh air How to humidify an open plan office

B y D o m in i c G i e s e l

The use of humidifiers on two floors of the open plan offices of the Kaffee Partner headquarters shows how important it is for employees to work in a stimulating and well balanced working environment. It is testament to the fundamental idea that office environments should motivate, inspire and support the people who work in them – not make them sick.

W

e have known for some time how good interior air quality, a moderate temperature and sufficient ventilation play an important role in improving the levels of productivity and of job satisfaction amongst employees.

‘There is growing demand for the kinds of buildings that improve the wellbeing of the people who work in them,’ claims Dr Reinhard Kutscher of Union Investment Real Estate. ‘They can give organisation a competitive edge in the market for a qualified professional workforce.’ In a survey of 3,000 office staff carried out by his firm, a pleasant interior climate was perceived to be one of the top five aspects of a comfortable and productive workplace.

During the winter months, many people can be adversely affected by dry air. A little over a third of employees surveyed by the University of Lucerne felt there was

too little moisture in the air in their offices. This is a particular issue during the Winter when relative humidity routinely falls below 30 percent, especially when we understand how important ambient humidity is for the wellbeing and productivity of employees.

Coping with viruses and dust

Coping with dust and viruses

The mucous membranes of the various parts of the human respiratory tract, including the nose, lungs and bronchi, perform a vital cleaning and protective function. The optimum humidity for a healthy mucosal immune system is around 45 percent. When humidity drops below around 20 per cent, the self cleaning functions of the mucous membranes can grind to a complete halt.

This is because at lower levels of humidity, the viscosity of mucous

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increases to the point at which it is unable to remove the microorganisms, dust and allergens that collect in the body. The consequence is, of course, an increased risk of disease and allergic reactions.

Losing your voice

Low levels of humidity can also be associated with certain vocal disorders.

Common effects can include dryness of the throat and mouth, coughing and general hoarseness. We need a good level of mucous lubrication to maintain effective vocal function. When the relative humidity in our surroundings is too low, the effect on the mucous membranes means that the vocal chords lose a large degree of their general elasticity. In addition, the epiglottis at the back of the throat may not close completely and air may get into the

KNOW HOW Balanced climate No 7/12

»Wellbeing at work is a fundamental right.

Humidification of the air helps our employees to breathe easy.« D r. A n d r e a s O s t, Founder of Kaffee Par tner Leasing AG

trachea. In the worst cases, people may suffer from serious coughing and chromic swallowing which ultimately can lead to a complete loss of the voice.

Working with computer screens can be very damaging for the eyes. Obviously dry air doesn’t help, because it can have such a drying effect on the eyes as it sucks up the tears from our tear ducts.

When humidity levels are very low indeed, it is even possible for the tear ducts of some people to crack. In addition, particles from poorly ventilated air can lead to irritation and even infection of the conjunctiva.

The installation of a humidifier is recommended for buildings with a relative humidity below 40 percent.

Offices can benefit from nano-nozzle humidifiers which are very quiet in operation, upgradeable, and fit into most environments. The discrete devices can be attached to a wall or ceiling from where they can spray their thin mist of tiny particles of moisture which is instantly absorbed into the air and evenly distributed across the room.

Each humidifier can be controlled digitally and each will automatically deactivate once an optimal pre-set level of humidity is reached. Water is fed into the humidifier after first passing through

In open plan offices, the correct levels of humidity in the air can have a profound benefit for the wellbeing of employees.

a series of filtration, sterilisation and demineralisation processes to ensure it is hygienic.

These sorts of humidifiers can help to create year round levels of comfort The pleasant breeze emitted by each provides a noticeably fresher climate with yearround constant humidity, leaving skin revitalised, the respiratory tract clear and increasing all round wellbeing. As a result it reduces stress, reduces the risk of illness and has a generally beneficial effect on the health of individuals. ◆

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You can find more information on this important subject at the Draabe website.

w w w. d ra a b e. d e

IDEAS Email Flow Chart No 7/12

Email Flow Chart To send or not to send?

No

Is the email work related ?

Are you allowed to send private emails at work?

Yes

No

Don’t get caught!

Yes

Can you resolve the issue only by email ?

Yes

Is the person to whom you are sending the email nearby?

Yes

No

Is the email really work related?

No No

Yes

YOU ARE AT WORK

Stop!

Formulate clear objectives.

Do you copy too many people in?

No No

An average of a fifth of emails is sent to people for whom it is irrelevant* Clarify the distribution list.

Yes

Yes Yes

Have you ever spent a long time searching for an email?

On average, senior executives spend around 3 years dealing with email during their career.

How about you?**

No

No

Are you sending the email just before you leave work?

Yes

No

*Source: What Emails cost business, Handelsblatt, 2011 **Source: Emails waste 40 minutes a day, The Standard, 2011 The flow chart is published with the kind permission of the Zukunftsinstitut, w w w. z u k u n f t s i n s t i t u t. d e Infographic: fpm, factor product mĂźnchen

Is it absolutely necessary to send this particular email right now?

Yes

Se

U

nd

necessary and irrelevant emails can take up as much as a quarter of a typical working day. Internal communications are particularly choked off by the storm of personal messages that lack any sort of relevant facts, ideas or information. To help ensure you don't spend years of your life wading through unwanted emails, we present a flow chart to help out. To send or not to send, that is the question.

Yes

No

Is the email work related?

Go talk to them instead!

Not by email you don’t. Wait till you have a chance to chat in person.

Are you just spreading gossip or chatting about your pets or kids?

Yes

No

Over 90 per cent of respondents actively lie in emails at times.

YOU ARE AT HOME

If it’s a personal greeting, do you send it to a number of other people?

No

Yes

Just think about other people’s inboxes.

Around 13 per cent of all emails are considered irrelevant. Only 41 per cent are considered irrefutably useful

Around 56 percent of staff surveyed felt that the majority of emails could be replaced by a call or a personal converstaion

Yes

Would a one to one chat be a better option?

No

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Face time!

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

Pilot project: The future of urban manufacturing The new home of Wittenstein bastian GmbH

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CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

The flat building blends seamlessly into its surroundings with its pond, playground and leafy landscaping. Interior (below left) shows the surprising transparency at the heart of the design.

Left, the high-tech production facility and the neighbouring glass facaded offices.

B y Jo a c h i m G o e t z

A factory in the heart of the city: An entirely new type of manufacturing facility has emerged on the premises of Wittenstein bastian GmbH in the town of Fellbach on the outskirts of Stuttgart. It is the brainchild of the firm’s parent company, Wittenstein, a publicly quoted SME with headquarters in Germany and the USA. The new complex of manufacturing and administrative buildings has been specifically designed to facilitate the development of the firm’s high tech precision engineered gears and comply with the business’s enlightened approach to corporate social responsibility which includes a commitment to continuous improvement, energy efficiency and carbon neutrality.

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T

he new building is also testament to the idea that a Place 2.5 applies to working environments that combine both administrative and operational functions under one roof. Staff in both the primary office building and the factory benefit from the progressive approach to a productive workplace.

At first glance, the new building displays an understated architecture that blends seamlessly into its surroundings. Yet, on closer inspection an entirely different picture emerges. This is a facility that bears close examination and lightly yields its groundbreaking approach. ▸▸

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

WITTENSTEIN AG Company profile The mechatronics specialist Wittenstein AG, in Igersheim in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Southern Germany. It consists of eight-divisions including Wittenstein bastian GmbH in Fellbach near Stuttgart. Wittenstein bastian specialises in gearing technology and prides itself on having the highest manufacturing and engineering expertise and a close working relationship with clients from various industries. The Group employs about 1,500 people overall.

President and CEO Dr. Manfred Wittenstein was voted the “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Germany for 2011 and represented Germany at the “World Entrepreneur of the Year 2012” event. This prestigious annual industry award recognises entrepreneurial excellence. The award especially recognises approaches to employee development, innovation and sustainable growth. Manfred Wittenstein was descibed by the awards judges as a man who ’transformed a small and ailing family sewing machine operation

The generous reception area doesn’t just offer a view into the production facility.

With its combination of plants and soft seating it has a friendly, almost domestic, atmosphere.

into a world leader in drive technology. Wittenstein is a visionary in machine engineering’.

The medium sized engineering company enjoyed its first flush of success supplying gears to the nascent German automobile industry, notably to Daimler Benz.

Things have come a long way since then but the company remains at the forefront of the development of new gearing technology. Tellingly, however, its new Fellbach home is a short walk from the local train station, allowing it direct access with Germany’s public transport infrastructure.

So how does a large production facility work in the middle of a city? We normally

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expect factories to be banished to the urban periphery, their grime, noise and emissions consigned to the city’s shadows. At Wittenstein, however, the response is not rooted in what has been done in the past.

This is the self-styled ‘Future of Urban Manufacturing’, which embraces an innovative approach to dealing with the sound and dirt that has habitually made factories such poor neighbours for homeowners.

For a start, the two-storey height of the building makes its presence unobtrusive.

It is surrounded by greenery, which also

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

The open plan offices, with their clear views into the factory, use eletcronically height adjustable workstations to allow employees the chance to customise their work styles

serves as an acoustic shield. Outside the main entrance, there is a pond, a biotope to provide a living environment for a variety of plants and animals and a playground that is enjoyed by the entire neighbourhood.

The facility also serves environmentally conscious motorists by providing them with two electric car charging points. As a result the manufacturing plant is no more obtrusive or damaging to its surrounding than any modern home.

The groundbreaking concept at the heart of the building was developed in partnership

with the Fraunhofer Institute and led directly to the development of a number of significant technical and architectural innovations.

For example, energy is supplied in large measure by a cogeneration plant consisting of micro-gas-turbines powered by natural gas. Waste heat from the production processes at Fellbach is captured to warm the offices during winter. The energy needed for the air conditioning is supplied by photovoltaic panels on the roof which produce the equivalent energy needs of some 100 homes.

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Even water is treated sparingly. Toilet cisterns are topped up with collected rainwater.

The end result of this visionary process is that, even allowing for the fact that the entire complex is now air conditioned, the new building uses over a third less energy than its predecessor and is more than a half lower than the targets set by the German Energy Saving Ordnance. The building has earned a Gold rating from the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council).

This is a pioneering achievement as the ▸▸

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

Informal meetings take place throughout the day, ofetn on an ad hoc basis during coffee breaks

building is the first of its kind - with production and administrative functions housed under the same roof - to achieve this accreditation.

The architectural concept has been developed from a well thought-out brief from the client, not least in the way it resolves the potentially conflicting demands of the ecological, commercial, technological and ethical aspects of the design. The principles of Place 2.5 underpin the approach which offers staff a stimulating and productive working environment.

This is initially evident in the broad entrance which includes an open staircase to the upper floor and is fitted out with a selection of soft seating areas and lush planting and a bespoke reception desk.

The principles are carried through to the production facility, where the emphasis on transparency in the layout is testament to the firm’s commitment to its progressive principles.

The design of the building also speaks volumes about Wittenstein’s commitment to maintaining the close working relationship between the firm’s

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administrative and operational functions.

The offices are on two floors, connected to the production facilities via a a series of corridors or directly by an open gallery.

This means that although there is a greater distance between the main office and its meeting rooms than would normally be the case, the layout encourages a greater level of communication between office and factory employees.

It also means that everybody can see directly into the manufacturing plant whenever they move around the building.

This is true even for short trips to make

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

PROJECT FACTS Planning:

Architecture office Obinger, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany Total floor space:

6.400 m2 Production floor space:

2.700 m2 Employees:

80 Project cost:

12,5 Mio. Euro Project duration:

9 months Office furniture by Sedus:

sopha, temptation c, open mind, mastermind, meet table with over easy, relations storage, grand slam storage Longer and more formal meetings take place in the conference rooms with their modular table systems that can accommodate a wide range of meeting types.

coffee in the kitchen, while walking to the toilets or when taking a break in the canteen which is found in the central Forum of the building.

This is all quite deliberate and it has had a number of important consequences. In the past, administrative staff had rarely seen each other and communicated, especially on an ad hoc basis. They now encounter each other regularly increasing the number of informal interactions exponentially.

Not only does the improve the flow of information and ideas, it also helps to

improve working relationships significantly.

Many smaller problems are now resolved organically as a result of informal meetings in corridors. When something more formal is required, staff can use one of the casual meeting rooms furnished by Sedus, or possibly one of the conference rooms situated near the emergency exits.

Encouraging people to spend more time moving around the building has other notable benefits. Certainly it offers a degree of physical activity that is beneficial for the general health of employees, but it is also a ▸▸

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CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

INDUSTRY 4.0 The four phases of industrialisation

The introduction of mechanical production in the 18th Century.

Key technology: steam engine

Division of labour, mass production and automisation during the 20th Century. Key technologies: electricity, conveyor belt

The rise of ICT (information and communications technology) since the 1970s. Key technologies: CNC

The flexible design of the meeting rooms means they are able to handle one-to-one meetings or larger conferences.

(computerised numerical control) machinery

Autonomous products and decision making processes define networks in near real time. Products are developed which have memory and communications capabilities.

Key technologies: cyber-physical systems, virtualisation, networked objects

boost to their creativity. This is essential in an economy driven by intellectual capital and the most effective forms of communication between colleagues.

The unconventional design of the office is also essential in minimising the chance of distractions caused by noise. The meeting rooms serve as an acoustic buffer between the two wings of the building.

To make doubly sure, whatever noise the manufacturing facility produces is dampened in other ways too.

The space also serves as a thermal insulation barrier allowing the factory’s

26

temperature to be easily maintained at a fixed 22°C. On the opposite side of the factory is where you can find a number of other essential departments including the stores, logistics, shipping each with their own climatic controls.

The result is that the employees in that part of the building enjoy consistently optimised working conditions with all the physical and psychological benefits they offer. Even visitors who spend infrequent time in the factory reap the rewards for time spent in the perfectly acclimatised air. Equally customers benefit from the

CASE STUDY Wittenstein No 7/12

❶

❸

❷ ❺

Floorplan

❶ Offices and administration ❷ Manufacturing ❸ Deliveries ❹ Terrace ❺ Landscaped wall ❻ Parking

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❹

❶

❻

Main entrance

❻

N

Driveway 0m

20 m The landscaped wall (5) helps to reduce noise for the building’s neighbours. The dark grey area (1) comprises offices and

administration. It helps to shield the manufacturing facility (2) against external heat and, like the delivery area (3) serves as an acoustic baffle for the factory. The local train station is within walking distance to the south of the complex.

technical precision and consistency that comes with working in fixed ambient conditions, so product quality is consistently high and guaranteed.

The development of this groundbreaking building has not only ensured that those who work in it enjoy substantial benefits in terms of their wellbeing, but have also put in place the preconditions for the imminent vision of ‘Industry 4.0’. This is founded on the idea that engineers not only can look out through their glass partitions on to the milling and drilling machinery of the factory, but can also steer

and change the programmes they use with the click of a mouse button. In turn this vision will be shaped by the idea that the future of manufacturing lies in a real time connection online. The main beneficiaries of this new approach to what we might term cyber-physical systems and processes will be customers, who will be empowered to make changes up to the very last minute to get products that are exactly aligned to their demands. Not only that, these new innovative processes will increase product quality over time. Crucially, for the firms involved, they will cement their positions

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and secure their futures at the cutting edge of new manufacturing techniques.

This is just as true for the new techniques, such as Place 2.5, that are redefining our relationship with work to make us all more productive, creative and happy in what we do. ◆ A link to the website of the mechatroni specialists Wittenstein AG.

w w w.w i t t e n s t e i n . d e

MISCELLANY News, Tips & Trends No 7/12

News, Tips & Trends A colourful selection of inspiring ideas related to this issue’s theme

Pure balance – Wingsuit Flying

Water filters for making the perfect cup of tea

Balancing Stones The ancient practice of stacking stones in beautiful and seemingly gravity defying formations is an art that has been practiced around the world in one way or another since time immemorial, whether as a form of self expression, as part of a personal spiritual journey or to act as a signpost for others. The art lies in gauging precisely the proportional weight, size and centre of balance of each stone. Learning is a matter of trial and error but most people are able to develop a knack for it and can soon create their own formations.

According to Zhang Dafu, the great tea master of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, the quality of a cup of tea is 20 percent dependent on the tea and 80 percent on the quality of the water. Using clean, soft water and no other unwanted elements can significantly affect the flavour of a cup of tea. Water filters can enhance the flavour of tea by removing the unwanted things mixed into our water and especially the calcium. The BWT table water filter transforms tap water. Thanks to the patented Mg 2 + filter cartridge technology which also enriches the water with magnesium which enhances its flavour. w w w. b w t- f i l t e r. c o m

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Wingsuit flying is not an extreme sport that is ideal for either novices. Nor is it especially suitable for the faint hearted, it has to be said. It is a sport that is best preceded by years of experience of skydiving.

It’s not cheap either. As well as the training costs, there is the price of the equipment which can easily run to several thousand Euros.

But once you’ve overcome these obstacles, the eventual experience is as close to genuine flying as it’s possible for a human to get.

The high-tech suits feature distinctive nylon wing membranes which spread out like the wings of a bat, which fill with air during flight, allowing the user to glide through the air at speed. After falling for about 150 metres, it is possible to take full control of the flight, changing speed and direction with slight movements of the body before using a parachute to land safely.

MISCELLANY News, Tips & Trends No 7/12

Personal Fitness For the many of us who frequently struggle to find enough time to take the exercise we should and eat more healthily

because we are bogged down in work and the constraints of day to day living, personal trainers can be a godsend.

Their ability to focus people and develop individual plans for them is recognised by a growing number of companies, including those with dedicated sports and exercise facilities on site but who would like to help their employees to develop exercise plans. w w w. u k p e r s o n a l t ra i n e r s. c o m w w w. d m o z .o rg/He a l t h /F i t n e s s/O rg a n i z a t i o n s

Balance Board An indispensible aid for anybody keen to test and develop their sense of balance and core strength at work, the Balance Board packs away quickly and easily after use, making it the ideal fitness accessory for the workplace.

It consists of a wooden board mounted on a wooden half-ball. The user stands on it to help improve their sense of balance, concentration levels, coordination and response times.

It is also a great way to develop muscle and core strength. As well as its clear practical uses it’s good old fashioned fun. w w w. s i s s e l . d e

Wandkick – going for goal This small portable goal is ideal for use in offices and other small spaces.

They have been known to lead to minitournaments between colleagues during breaks from work and can help to ease the daily grind. A folding stand allows it to be set up easily. All the walls are made from sustainable wood sources and

manufactured by a team of disabled workers.

A link to a film about the practice of indoor football.

w w w.w a n d k i c k . d e

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MISCELLANY Historical view No 7/12

Historical view

It was the middle of the 1920s when Albert Stoll II returned from a trip to the USA to work in the firm his father had built up. Albert made the journey home with a head full of ideas for new products.

One in particular – the Federdreh - came to be recognised as a seminal product in the history of chair design.

Its major innovation was the central threaded sprung column which offered the user the ability to choose the precise height for the seat which offered them the most comfort. This structure gave the product its name (Federdreh translates as ‘Spring Rotation’), and its ability to have the same degree of cushioning in the seat regardless of the height selected.

The spines of users were protected from the jarring normally associated with a too rigid seat. This basic principle of independent suspension was incorporated into generations of designs and is still used in the current Sedo-Lift mechanism.

The swivel chairs made by Stoll at this time typically used castings made in the US. Height adjustment in these models was achieved by selecting specific heights and locking the seat in place using a rod

to pin the seat height against one of a series of holes in the central column of the chair.

There were a number of variants of this adjustment including models which used a foot pedal to engage the seat height, others with a wooden knob under the seat which was known as a swivel-locking mechanism and yet another which used a semi-rigid Bowden cable to fix the height of the seat.

Also in the 1920s, Stoll became one of the first manufacturers to introduce castors to the legs of chairs. This innovation was completely unheard of in Europe and introduced a whole new meaning to the expression mobile working.

Initially, Albert imported the castors for these chairs from the USA but soon began manufacturing them on site at the Stoll factory as demand rose. This tradition continued up to the 1980s when it was outsourced to take advantage of the economies offered by specialist manufacturers.

These design features were considered so novel that nowadays we would describe them as unique selling points. Indeed it was this level of innovation which not only boosted sales but also established a clear identity for the firm.

Another innovative feature was the socalled Nereg mechanism which was a type of tilt control which allowed people total freedom of movement in a number of directions enabling them to read in a

30

comfortable position, reach across desks and into draws or lean back and relax. The early models were customisable to account for the different body shapes and sizes of users.

This model was so forward thinking that its principles endured up until 1973 when new regulations were introduced for office seating which meant that its type of adjustments could no longer meet legal standards.

Looking back, we can see that not only were the roots of the modern Sedus approach to ergonomic seating established with the launch of the Federdreh by Stoll in 1925, so too were the sophisticated principles of Place 2.5.

The thinking was way ahead of its time and so too were the ideas behind the products. ◆

Looking back, it is clear that the foundations of the modern concept of Place 2.5, were laid in 1925 with the development of the Federdreh

The key contemporary characteristics of mobility and ergonomics we now perceive as the norm were originally encapsulated by the Federdreh and by the Nereg mechanism. Indeed a marketing slogan of the time could easily apply today: ‘Nereg improves productivity and wellbeing at work.’ This is the same fundamental idea that underpins the Sedus philosophy of Place 2.5.

IDEAS swing up launch No 7/12

World class Sedus swing up A new task chairwith the new kinematic Similar-Swing concept Part 1: The concept

❹

❹

❶

The key describes the

❷

basic structure of the chair: for example, in order to make a the direct link between the mechanism and dorsokinetics (1) with integrated height adjustment (2), the

❸

logical shape of the backrest is needed to support the central connection. The seat kinematics (3) allows a lateral tilting of the chair.

Thanks to the SimilarPlus mechanism (4) a synchronous movement of seat and backrest is available for every posture.

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IDEAS swing up launch No 7/12

The new swing up chair system from Sedus is a direct descendant of the classic Federdreh chair which dates back to the 1920s. Research findings including work with the Department of Ergonomics at the Technical University of Munich have been applied to the new product by determining the optimum seating conditions throughout each working day for contemporary workers. Sedus has cemented its reputation as a pioneer in chair design by designing swing up to increase the number of movements a user can make while seated, improving the intuitive use of the chair and so ensuring healthier and more productive working.

F

rom an evolutionary perspective, sitting down is not a natural position for humans. The last great change in the human body came around the time of the Stone Age when we were still extremely physically active. That fact is the underlying reason why there is such a strong link between physical activity and mental acuity. The flow of blood and hormones throughout our bodies correlate exactly with our levels of physical activity and the brain can only function properly when it is properly nourished by the bloodstream. This is the essence of our mental development and intellectual capability. This indisputable fact presents a unique challenge to office workers who are placed in a literally unnatural position by the nature of what they do.

Cooperation with the TU Munich

The development of the new chair is rooted in a collaboration between Sedus and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and in particular with Dr Klaus Bengler and his team. An extensive analysis into the way people use office chairs highlighted those specific aspects of individual movement that could be better encouraged by the design of a chair.

The next phase was to determine exactly which additional features were needed to make the chair more comfortable and more dynamic to prevent muscular damage caused by static postures and improve productivity. More specifically, the team

looked at how the movement of the pelvis can be encouraged to replicate at least some of the flexibility that evolution has preprogrammed into our bodies.

The new concept at the heart of this design is called Similar-Swing which ad a new level of movement beyond what is normally expected of a good synchronised task chair.

What is particularly important in this regard is the lightly sloped seat which has a maximum angle of 8 degrees.

The conceptual result

The kinematic action of the new chair accommodates each movement of the body so the user is always in the correct and most natural posture. The body has an innate ability to anticipate its own need for movement and the chair is able to allow that to happen freely and without any feeling of a loss of balance.

DESIGNER STATEMENT Rüdiger Schaack on the challenges he faced in developing the design of swing up.

The most beautiful and at times challenging aspect of this project was that all stakeholders from research and design to manufacturing worked hand in hand. A number of ideas and

The seat also encourages gentle movements of the back synchronous with the seat tilt. At the same time the dorsalkinetics in the backrest come into play allowing for completely synchronised movement. The sprung mechanism within the seat gently pushes back against the body while it is moving to encourage an upright posture. The armrests play no part in this particular movement so the user never feels as if he or she is losing control.

approaches were tested and modelled, discarded and improved until eventually the final functional model was created with the ideal ergonomic approach.

• Dorsokinetics, the unique selling point, has been developed to incorporate the height adjustable backrest and thus the chair is always fixed in the optimal position for the user.

• The seat is mounted on a circular plinth and provides directed,

The new chair was developed according to the principle that it should almost seduce people into moving around more while sitting. As a result the chair has a direct and positive impact on the wellbeing and productivity of the individuals who use it effectively.

The world debut of this groundbreaking new chair from Sedus took place at the international office furniture and facilities exhibition Orgatec in Cologne during October 2012 ◆

controllable and supported flexibility for the user. This encourages motion in the pelvis as well as the back, including forward and backward inclined movements thanks to the SimilarPlus mechanism.

A video presentation is available on the Sedus TV channel on Youtube

w w w.youtube.com/user/SedusStollAG

▸

The second part of this feature will appear in the next issue of this magazine, Place 2.5, Nr. 8.

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MISCELLANY Office-Power-Check

90% 80%

72

70%

%

50% 40% 30%

The productivity and happiness of employees is directly linked to the quality of the workplace and so has a direct influence on the success of the organisation. Sedus has set out to make our experience of offices profitable and has invested in the development of a definitive tool with which organisations can work to get the best out of their workplaces - the Sedus Office Check.

◆ Ruheinseln

IMPORTANCE ▸▸

How to measure the quality of your offices

◆ Acoustics ◆ Climate

AVERAGE IMPORTANC E

60%

Office Power Check

100%

No 7/12

S AT IS FACT ION ▸▸

20%

30%

40%

PUT IT TO THE TEST! In conjunction with the Hagstotz ITM Research Institute, Sedus has developed a new analytical tool aimed at establishing the optimum level of performance for specific workplaces.

Its aim is to provide decision makers with the chance to identify areas for improvement in the way their building serves them, each of which should lead to improvements in levels of wellbeing and productivity.

Topics of the survey include various aspects of individual wellbeing, contrasts between these factors in the past, as they currently stand and projections for the future as well as an analysis of levels of satisfaction with other aspects of the workplace, their importance in relation to other factors. In addition, the survey

covers various psychological aspects of the building.

Following the completion of the survey, participants are offered a breakdown of the results highlighting the current position and identifying specific areas for improvement.

Sedus has developed the concept of Place 2.5 to help businesses achieve a new culture of productivity and wellbeing in their offices and the Office-Power-Check is an invaluable tool to help them achieve just that. Organisations that have pursued this idea have achieved remarkable results.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering found it had increased productivity by as much as 36 per cent and also benefitted from a significant reduction in absenteeism.

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Not only that, those creative processes that often take place away from the office, in people’s leisure time for example, can now be enjoyed in-house in an environment that incorporates areas for communication with areas for relaxation which not only helps people to have better ideas but also helps the business attract the best and brightest employees ◆ A direct link to the Office-Checks

w w w. s e d u s. c o m /e n /q u i c k- c h e c k

MISCELLANY Office-Power-Check No 7/12

◆ Lighting ◆ Internal comms Ergonomic furniture ◆

◆ Hygiene

Furniture quality

◆ Screens

◆ Fit-out

◆ Consultation on workstations

◆ Office size ◆ Commute ◆ Planting

The results of

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◆ Farbgebung

50%

◆

60%

70%

%

the Office-Power-Check graphed in this wasy identify which factors people deem to be important and how well satisfied they are with

◆ Customisable workstations

their provision. Those in the red zone are most in need of attention, those below are seen as of only marginal importance. The factors in the green zone score highly on both counts so need to be maintained and the yellow zone marks

AV E R AGE SAT IS FACT ION

80%

90%

factors that need to be worked on.

100%

Your options:

CONTACTS:

Sedus’s partner for the programme is Hagstotz ITM – Research & Consulting.

Questionnaires and consultations are available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.

Germany: Frank Willmann FrankWillmann@sedus.de Tel. +49 77 51 84-3 25

1. Office-Quick-Check − simple Free online survey with a detailed analysis in response to a specific question.

2. Office-Quick-Check − complete Online survey with detailed online responses to all questions. The questions should be answered by a senior manager with the knowledge to answer the questions in full.

Registration is required and the fee is 95 € plus VAT 3. Office-Power-Check If you are interested in a fully detailed consultation, the Office-Power-Check offers an ideal opportunity for a full analysis of the conditions in your workplace based on an analysis of the survey results from employees. Please contact us to arrange a meeting through our agents on the right.

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Other countries Tatjana Kalt TatjanaKalt@sedus.de Tel. +49 77 51 84-2 89

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

The balancing act between desire and ability An interview with the pioneering Reinhold Messner This is straight from the horse’s mouth. From a man who knows more than most about how to get from your vision, to the development of a plan, and ultimately to the goal. The expeditions of an extreme mountaineer and adventurer have a number of parallels with the operations of a business, its routes, obstacles, dead ends and all the other challenges it presents to the business person behind it. And when it comes to drawing those parallels there is nobody better than Reinhold Messner, who can boast experiences unmatched by anybody else on the planet. For the past fifteen years, since he gave up his extraordinary career as a mountaineer, author, hill farmer, politician and conservationist, he has become a successful businessman in his own right and has even opened his own museum. Renowned as the first man to climb all 14 of the world’s mountains of over 8000 metres, he refers to the museum as the 15th. He greets us in Sigmundskron Castle, the place calls home, near the town of Bolzano in the Italian Tyrol to share with us his thoughts and experience.

In t e r v i e w b y D o ro th e a S c h e i d l-Ne n n e m a n n

» VISION

Reinhold Messner, as the most famous mountain climber in the world you were always setting new goals and shaping your own life and destiny.

But how did you go about establishing your goals?

Everything starts with a daydream.

I come across of an opportunity and then begin to play with my thoughts.

Then suddenly the idea will come.

The adventure begins in the mind.

We make possible those things that people consider impossible.

Nothing is impossible, that just an assumption people make. A thousand years ago nobody could have envisioned Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. That was the end result of many, many steps.

And adventures work in exactly the same way. If you have the right mindset, it can be very easy to set new goals. You have the vision, work out what you need to achieve it, then

seek out and engage the team you need to make it happen.

» THE MOUNTAIN AS A SYMBOL

What symbolic value does a mountain have for you? Is it the ultimate goal.

First and foremost, the mountain is a purely geological formation. When a man ascribes that some sort of value, that is purely from within the man. This is the root of creativity. It can soon become a cliché, like the idea of the eightthousanders . Why do we talk about them as we do? Because we can count them. We can’t count the seven-thousanders so they have not become the same sort of useful cliché.

The values that I take from the mountain are not based on my experiences of Nature, but those associated with human nature.

We are a subset of Nature and what you find when you set yourself against the mountains how laughably small and

36

fearful we truly are. It’s another cliché that people go into the mountains to appreciate the beauty or to seek out moments of unbridled happiness at their peaks. On the contrary, if somebody tells you that they were happy on an eight-thousander then they are either lying to you or lying to themselves. Up in those places it is narrow, it is cold, an unbroken road – you want to get down again as soon as possible. The challenge is something different. The active mountaineer expresses himself through the routes he chooses. That is why I think climbing is more of an art than a sport.

» PLANNING AND MOTIVATION

Are there, or were there, certain patterns or set routines that you had when planning your expeditions that are common to all explorers?

Very interesting question! Whenever I found myself doing something I considered banal, when I knew exactly ▸▸

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

how I would succeed, then I lost interest.

I wanted to do those things which offered me something unexpected.

I may be the first adventurer who has not done everything in parallel. The reason is that I was never the classic all rounder like many who had gone before me. I have completed four or five events

one after another, often because of accidents or particular circumstances.

The model I have applied to every phase of my life are determined by three or four specific conditions. Firstly, I only ever do one thing at a time, but I do it with complete focus. It’s like climbing. If you are not totally clear about what you

In our lives, it is more important that we overcome the mountains in our minds than to plant a tree or leave a trace of ourselves behind.

are doing, you will not get very far.

If you philosophise, then either you will fail to reach the top or fall down. The rock and your fingertip must be as one.

You must be in the zone. You see and hear nothing else but the immediate task in hand.

Secondly, I always take time at the outset to formulate my vision in detail. I spend a long time pondering specific questions: ‘what would happen if ...?’ ‘how should I respond to this ...?’ Years of this kind of preparation give you the motivation to meet your goals. I can’t buy motivation and nor can anybody give it to me.

Whenever I want to do something that is commonly accepted as impossible, I’ve heard people tell me a thousand times that ‘you simply can’t do that!’ But whenever I’ve then concluded that it is in fact possible, then I simply say ‘that’s what you think.’ And that is what gives me the motivation to actively take something on and it’s what drives me on through the difficulties.

So that means you are driven by the pioneering spirit, always seeking to do something in a new way.

Yes, but then there’s the next point. In the early days I had to work without a great deal of resource because I simply did not have millions to spend on expeditions.

» SIMPLICITY

A view of the castle grounds at Firmiaa with its museum, adminstration building and distinctive white tower. In 1957, the ’Los von Trient’ was ratified here which gave the region of South Tyrol its autonomy

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Your approach to expeditions is to adopt alpine methods, which means working with small teams and as little equipment as possible.

Yes. I invented a minimalist form of mountain climbing for high altitudes.

Alpinism of course originates in this part of the world and has a distinct form.

Whenever you went up a mountain you would find a hut. For hundreds of years the alpine people had built these communal shelters and that is what you make your base. When a trip lasts several days, you bivouac in these places or find some other place to sleep and then come back down.

In the great mountains that approach cannot work because of the lack of oxygen

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

and you need to take so much equipment with you. When you climb Everest each person needs to take 50 kg of oxygen with them. If you have that weight, plus tent, plus food, plus fuel and a sleeping bag and you want to take it to an extreme height, you need good logistics. But when I don’t need oxygen, I don’t need that level of help and that’s where the alpine style comes in to play.

Recently the sherpas have created oxygen depots on the mountain. So around 99.9 percent of all attempts are now made in the parasitic style. To cross the ice crevasse on Everest you even pay a sort of motorway toll, only more expensive. None of that has anything to do with the alpine style.

» PARTNERS

How do you choose your partners and how do you assign their roles?

They were people who had skills I hadn’t yet mastered. What I lacked in knowhow I could always bring in. As a young climber I was often with older, more experienced guys and I was always learning. I am particularly grateful that in those early years I learned not to mess about, that could easily have ended up with a fatality.

Later I looked for young partners who I knew then could climb more quickly and smartly than I was by then able to. At the next level, for example when I crossed the Antarctic, I needed a polar explorer and found Arved Fuchs.

Back then GPS was still in its infancy so I needed someone who could navigate almost as if they were at sea. That is not very easy at all but Arved could do it and that is why we teamed up. None of my then colleagues from the mountains were willing to come with us on this adventure and learn how to navigate.

So they were purely functional relationships?

Yes. I have no time at all for the whole idea of noble comradeship. The whole idea comes from the way war literature and mountain climbing was abused for political ends. Almost every expedition starts with a group of people brought together for mutually expedient ends.

Lifelong friendships can form on expeditions but they are not necessary.

When you’re climbing a mountain you want people with more useful values than some wartime camaraderie. Of course you need harmony but that comes naturally when you have the same passion and the same goal. If somebody doesn’t possess those qualities, you can’t create them. Nor can you pay somebody to have them.

» PROCESS AND LEADERSHIP

How do you work out the abstract aspects of the process – the accountability, degree of predictability and levels of innovation - from the time you have your vision to the project’s completion? How do you ensure you stick to your plans? How can you change the make-up of teams when circumstances change and problems arise?

What sort of problems? When you are the sixth, fourth or second explorer to enter an ancient, uncivilised world, there is no civil code, no laws. Men behave as they would 100,000 years ago.

The laws we have were developed by men to allow him to live with other men in large numbers. When we leave the civilised world, we discover the true meaning of the word anarchy which derives from the Greek ‘Anarchos’ which means ‘no power for anybody’. There is

At the beginning of any demanding journey as well as any difficult task there is always something we can refer to as “the crux”.

This has to be overcome because when we pass it we have got over the biggest hurdle and can proceed with confidence. This pitch pictured is an art installation. It awaits the visitor on the rock wall beside the door to the castle grounds.

person who first understood the true nature of the undertaking, who has internalised this and is able to convey it to others. He is also the spokesman and the strongest person in the group. Once he is accepted by the rest of the group, the following visibly happens: the others

I must climb high in order to see deep within myself.

no power to be had on the side of a mountain.

A group tends to choose its own leader instinctively based on physical strength and mental acuity. The same person is equally likely to take control. The instigator of an expedition who has the approval for the expedition on paper, shouldn’t be the leader. A leader is the

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give him strength. Leaderships draws power and creativity from them, making them weaker as the leader grows stronger. But if the leader then shows weakness or has an accident, as often happens, he must relinquish the leadership immediately and another takes over and the others give the new leader his strength. The ex-leader must ▸▸

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

also give the new leader his power and he becomes the weakest link in the chain. It’s very interesting how this works, and I’m especially interested in such phenomena these days.

» FEAR

Have you ever been fearful before finding a reserve of courage, as you are beginning an expedition or arriving at base camp?

Fear is often at the front of your mind.

Everybody who takes part in such extreme activities knows what might happen in them. So you need the training, capacity and know how to overcome your fears and doubts. There’s nobody who has no fear before such great tasks. The heroic climber only exists in the imaginations of those at the foot of the mountain or in the stories of once heroic times.

Has it never occurred to you in moments like that, that you’re life would be so much easier doing an easy job in an office somewhere?

That thought always recedes very quickly.

Never in my entire life have I wanted such a corporate job. I would perhaps enjoy being an architect, because I have learned a lot from architects during the museum project. And if I tackled a building project, then I would be on sight and we would develop it as a team.

However I am eternally grateful that I had the courage early in my life to pursue my dreams and lead the wild life of a fully independent man.

Does it give you an extra rush of adrenaline?

No, the adrenaline rush really only comes when you are caught by surprise by something. Generally, the level of adrenaline increases over time during the course of the expedition. That’s a good thing because the body’s own drugs can help us to achieve our goals.

» HOPELESSNESS

Have you ever experienced a paralysis or a sense of hopelessness during a familiar part of a task?

That exists. The return journey is often more difficult than the road to a particular place. If you have failed because the weather was bad, because the terrain wasn’t what you’d expected, because a member of the team is hurt, because the situation had become hopeless. Getting out from that position is very difficult.

But once the survival instinct kicks in, there is no possibility whatsoever of being apathetic. While there is still the thread of hope, we cling to it for dear life.

That’s a great thing because the strongest instinct we have is the survival instinct.

» CURRENT CHALLENGES

What are your current projects and challenges?

In recent years, my focus has been on my museum which trades as the Messner Mountain Museum MMM. Here on Firmian you will find its headquarters, from which the various museums are operated like satellites. I have planned this set-up exactly as I would have an expedition – against some advice. At the beginning I even went against the advice of experts. When we were discussing the overall idea, I was told that the location in the Tyrol was

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wrong because ‘the catchment area was too small’.

I have now been living in this environment for 15 years. When the project concludes in 2014, I’ll relinquish its leadership. For now I have the role of museum director. The management is straightforward to deal with and efficient. The exhibits consist solely of my personal collection and I have loaned them to the MMM organisation. The five parts of the museum receive no subsidies and must continue to support themselves.

In my museum I do nothing but tell stories. I tell the sorts of tales you would normally hear in lectures or read in books except in a different format. For each of the museums, I have chosen a different talented architect so there is no duplication. I’ve had a great deal of enjoyment form the architecture.

Eventually, I even began to learn a little about the trade.

How did you acquire your good taste?

It’s evident that you have a great eye for detail.

Well, that is also a kind of process. The space here is particularly delightful. The state of South Tyrol wanted there to be a VIP room for ceremonies as part of the lease conditions. Initially we considered the white tower but the narrow spiral staircase makes it inaccessible for guests.

The room we are in is near to the kitchens.

That is why I chose these chairs made from antlers to be deliberately ambiguous.

The table consists of a large amethyst geode with a glass top. The idea was to make everything bespoke from natural materials.

My office in the tower is decorated differently. I love the classics of the 1930s such as furniture by Le Corbusier or Rietveldt. Down here, everything must work in harmony with the red porphyry rocks outside.

» FAILURE

What does the idea of failure mean to you?

The first thing to say is that I have often met with failure. At the beginning, even

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

options were limited. with the museums. The idea of the five of others. It’s no different for mountain It meant that around half of the things part museum was not the one envisaged. climbers as it is for anybody else that I wanted to achieve were no longer I had enough artefacts to fill a museum feasible. In the second phase of my and many contacts. mountaineering – climbing at altitude - I I saw the potential of Sigmundskron SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITIONS failed to achieve around a third of my goals Castle, also known as Firmian, as a Another question on the theme of and another third of my dreams to cross location for the museum more than 15 exploration. The idea of exploration is a deserts and ice went unfulfilled. But I’m years ago. It had fallen into disrepair but relative one, because the boundaries we OK with that. Real failure on a mountain was an important site for South Tyrol. It push are different for everybody means that you die. was here that the governor proclaimed That’s true, but as an adventurer what we autonomy for South Tyrol – mean by exploration is absolute. the famous ‘Los von Trient’. At Everybody has different first they didn’t want to give boundaries. So we can all have me the castle, because I had similar experiences at different been a political agitator for levels. A clumsy person might REINHOLD MESSNER some time and a local view what I would consider an newspaper had campaigned easy rock face or a Sunday trip against my vision of a up a mountain in the same way Reinhold Messner was born in 1944 in the South Tyrol in Italy. Soon mountain museum. I felt it as I would a trip up K2. That is after completing his technical education he became mountaineer, would never go ahead. what is important. Why should beginning a life on the frontiers of human experience. He has an Then I said to myself, if I mountains be left free of any outstanding track record of firsts. He was the first man to scale the could break down my sort of tourist infrastructure so 14 eight-thousanders as well as the Seven Summits – the highest collection into categories I that only the few get the chance mountain in each of the seven continents. would be able to establish one to enjoy them? museum here and another In the language of explorers He has carried out more than a hundred trips to the mountains and there. At the last moment, and mountaineers we deserts of the world including a crossing of the Antarctic, the Gobi however, I won the European understand that exploration is a Desert and Takla Makan as well as a lengthwise traverse of Greenland. wide rights to Firmian. So I matter of pushing the Unlike some modern adventurers, Messner is less concerned with managed to secure Firmian boundaries that exist now. I setting records than with encountering nature in as raw a form as and create the idea of a would have no chance today of possible and with as little equipment as is necessary. categorised collection at a achieving what is currently stroke. The result is aperfect possible in rock climbing.

He is a father of four children. When he is not travelling, he and his mosaic with the four satellites But for ten years, I was the man family live between Merano and Juval Castle in South Tyrol. During Juval, Ortles, Ripa and who set the standard in high and after his stint as an MEP (1999 to 2004) Messner has dedicated Dolomites positioned on the altitude climbing for others to 15 years of his life to the setting up of the Messner Mountain Museum periphery. Those who opposed follow because I was the (MMM) and its Foundation (MMF), that helps to support mountain me had delivered me the idea recognised as being at the dwellers around the world. He describes his museum as his 15th eightand the MMM is now a forefront of that. To begin with I thousander. perfectly complete story, the failed to recognise that until I ideal mix. learned that others were not confident of following in my And failures on the footsteps. Of course, just a few mountains? You have years later that had all changed. made a grand total of 31 IN terms of rock climbing, I was What we mean by failure is that we expeditions to conquer 14 eightonly ahead of the game for two years – very haven’t reached our goal. thousanders so have a success rate briefly.

But then I’ve had the experience and that of about 60 percent. Is that typical of is actually more important than success. your expeditions?

So is it a calculated risk that we are When it came to the museum there was Not when I’m climbing in the Alps. I talking about? always the chance it would fail as a started with moderately difficult but Yes, it is calculated risk. Because we are business even though that was the last achievable tours, but even in the Alps human and imperfect, you can never rule thing I wanted. about a quarter of my expeditions have not out mistakes. The perfect human doesn’t Unfortunately the issue of envy also creeps been successful. After I had frostbitten exist. And Nature offers us something new into this. For those who make it to the toes after the Nanga Parbat Expedition in and chaotic every day. So we have to adjust. summit always have to deal with the envy 1970, and some had to be amputated, my All it takes is one single wet grip which ▸▸

»

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MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

During high altitude mountaineering, you encounter storms and you have to make a decision. Do I put the tent up?

Do I go back? Or do I hide in the snow?

If I have time I can bury myself in it.

But I need time. Once you’re in the hard snow you are totally safe. You can stay for a week.

A sculpture in the Messner Mountain Museum: one slip and you’re dead.

slips from my hand and I am all alone in the void. Dead.

» RISK MANAGEMENT

So is there a particular approach to risk management?

Climbing is continuous risk management. You have at your disposal two hands and two toeholds. To make progress you must move one of them. It’s rare that you leap. If I am making slow

The objective dangers are always there of course ...

That is the untamed side of Nature! But Nature is different every day.

Theoretically, it would be possible to minimise the risks associated with mountains but I think that is sacrilegious. We have no right to convert the mountains into something else. You could simply make no more expeditions to the mountains rather than turn them into a scenic facsimile of the real thing. In my museum, I explain why the Alps should not become like Disneyland.

» THE UNDERLYING FEELING

Your life choices are uncompromising and unique. You are nothing if not a survivor. Is there a fundamental idea that guide you through life?

I feel fortunate to be able to express my passions. And I’ve learned that by and

every expedition has a commercial aspect. For example, if I am unable to sell the various by-products of my adventures - lectures and books – I must either finance them myself or go cap in hand to somebody – something that I find unbearable.

In the past many expeditions were financed by nations or the great Alpine Societies, but they always wanted to determine the nature of each as a result.

The Third Reich instigated many such expeditions as a propaganda exercise.

Similarly, the British Navy backed to the hilt the Antarctic exploits of Captain Scott. The Italian attempt on the summit of K2 cost something like 20million Euros at today’s prices. For that sum, I have managed to finance all of my expeditions AND the museum.

There are always those people who point the finger at me and accused me of making money through my mountaineering. To them I say: ‘And what have you done? First you have taken money from the State and then you’ve gone for the big one with the sole aim of reflecting glory onto whatever politicians are in office.’ On the other hand, I have always been free to do as I please. I’ve sold book and lectured, and on the way learned how those things work.

What we are here to explore is not the mountain, but the man. progress with three points in contact with the rock why would I try a giant leap?

During this process, you shift your position by trial and error and work out what gets you back to equilibrium and where you want to go. If it works you move to the next step. Again, trial and error. You repeat the process ten thousand times in a row. A third or a half of the time, it doesn’t work. Each movement is basically a form of risk management.

large, any good idea with a strong vision is ultimately self-financing.

If anybody pursues his ideals with passion then he will make ends meet.

More than that is not really necessary.

I just need enough money to realise my dreams.

Each expedition costs money. That’s why I’m against the whole idea of something called a ‘commercial expedition’. What people mean by that is tourism. It’s about people paying money to achieve a specific goal. But

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The Yogi Milarepa on the summit of Mount Kailash.

MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

Sponsorship is just part of the game.

I bestow my credibility for a short time and in return I am given the wherewithal to climb mountains. But I’ve never let sponsors dictate to me and I allowed all my sponsorships to lapse when I became a politician in the European Parliament.

» THE CREATIVE PATH

And what does the future hold? As well as your time as an explorer, you’ve developed other strands to your life. Alongside life as a mountaineer, you’ve been a miner, yak farmer, commercialised the vineyards on your castle’s slopes and built a museum in five parts! What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

When you learn the mythology of the mountain, you learn that the Yogi Milarepa is to be found at its summit and nobody has climbed it since.

Milarepa has lived a solitary life on the peak, meditating on the sun beams that

drew him there in the first place. This is the most important tale associated with the mountain – that a thousand years ago somebody scaled to the summit through the power of meditation. My museum devotes a whole room to the ▸▸

An empowered person who does what he does because it’s his best idea, will always give his best to it.

I have a few ideas but they certainly do not entail anything like climbing Everest or building another museum.

» THE ETERNAL ENIGMA

Speaking of things you don’t want, there was one particular special mountain that you turned down an opportunity to climb; the holy Mount Kailash. Why was that?

I did have that option. A friend of mine, a doctor in Zurich had treated a Chinese Government minister in 1984 – and bear in mind at that time China was still a totalitarian communist regime – restored him to health and cared for him for a month. The Chinese minister said to my friend: ‘Sir, you have one wish’.

So my friend called me and asked me the name of the mountain that I wanted to climb at that time. I told him not to bother asking as there was no way it would be sanctioned. But the Chinese worked it all out very quickly and in 1985 we received our permit to scout the holy mountain of Kailash with a view to climbing it in 1986.

When I went on site and saw the native pilgrims there, I got the distinct impression that should anybody start to climb the mountain in full gear, they would be stopped from doing so immediately.

Risk management on the roackface means always having three points in contact with the rock. Balance means constantly shifting from one point of equilibrium to another.

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MINDS Reinhold Messner No 7/12

tale. Milarepa was a Tibetan poet and in his writing he described how the mountain should never be harmed, by which he meant conquered.

In essence this is an unintentional criticism of what has happened to the Alps and also the way that the eightthousanders have been blighted by

What does consciousness consist of?

I may never know but it interests me now and so I seek an answer. Even my most recent book are part of this quest. I am now trying to understand ancient history. To see mankind from an entirely new perspective and to tell its tales anew. ◆

INFORMATION: Reinhold Messner speaks at corporate seminars, and to employees and managers on a range of topics including: risk, motivation, leadership, risk management. The castles of Firmian and Juval are available to hire for corporate events.

We don’t always have to enjoy success in all we do. The essence of life is having experiences.

Reading: All 14 Eight-thousanders by Reinhold Messner Free Spirit: A Climber’s Life, by Reinhold Messner The Naked Mountain by Reinhold

tourism. Although, by definition, levitation is fine. Milarepa claimed that any ascent should take place in the moonlight. What’s that about? No technology, only the light from the moon to help you. Did he want to see how somebody would go about climbing at night? With nothing!

Up to date information about Reinhold Messner

All available on Amazon and at other stores w w w.r e i n h o l d- m e s s n e r. d e/d e/a k t u e l l e s/ v o r t ra e g e/ v o r t r a e g e. h t m l w w w.r e i n h o l d m e s s n e r.i t w w w.m e s s n e r- m o u n t a i n- m u s e u m .i t

» THE FINAL WORD

Is there a key to success in your opinion?

We do not need to have constant success. Life consists of making experiences for ourselves. Ultimately life is not about how much success we enjoy or the amount of personal stuff we accumulate. It is solely about the things we have seen and done. Of course, it is in our nature to seek out those experiences that most appeal to us, but what appeals to me most today is the interpersonal experience.

Messner and Tim Carruthers

w w w. u n t e r o r tl .i t w w w. s c h l o s s w i r t j u v a l .i t w w w. b a u e r n l a d e n .i t w w w.y a k u n d y e t i . c o m

Visitors to the exhibition site of MMM Firmian are encouraged repeatedly to stop and think.

The artefacts collected by Reinhold Messner Tibetica includes this guardian of a gate. From a purely symbolic point of view, they have a similar role as the base camp point on a climb.

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Contact: The Office of Reinhold Messner c/o MMM Firmian Sigmundskronerstr. 53 I-39100 Bozen info@reinholdmessner.it

KNOW-HOW Laser edgebanding No 7/12

A slick finish: Seamless aesthetics in the workplace Laser technology offers a new degree of precision

INNOVATION The new laser manufacturing facility of Sedus Sedus has invested some 8.2 million Euros in the equipment at its plant in Geseke in Northern Germany as part of Project Futura.

Thanks to the new laser manufacturing capability at the factory, Sedus customers are able to enjoy a truly seamless aesthetic when they buy furniture and further enhance their own environmental credentials at no

Is there anybody who really enjoys the sight of grubby marks on the edgebanding of tables and furniture? Well, they might well be consigned to the past thanks to a new laser technology that can help to make jointless furniture. And the results are not just perfect from an aesthetic point of view, they are also environmentally friendly. Laser manufactured furniture is both beautiful and ethical making it the perfect choice for companies who want to develop a positive and well-balanced approach to corporate social responsibility.

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or those who appreciate the unmistakeable beauty of something that is produced with fine eye for attention to detail, this new development marks a quantum leap on a par with the introduction of melamine facing and modern laminates and means that for the first time it is possible to create a seamless finish a s if the top and the edge are cut from the same piece of material.

additional cost.

A positive eco-balance: The new process consumes around a fifth less energy during manufacture and reduces the overall use of materials by around 5 per cent. The

The new finishing process creates an incredibly strong bond between the edge and the surface of furniture that is both heat and water resistant. It works on surfaces up to 25mm thick and can be used across a number of finishes and surface shapes.

products are clearly identifiable thanks to their Lasered by Sedus label.

It also means that thermoplastic glue is no longer needed so there is no sticky

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residue and so no dirty marks. The surface is heated by a laser beam which melts it at a precise temperature before it is bonded with the other surface.

As an additional benefit, the obsolescence of traditional adhesives means that the edgebanding is now more resilient, and offers vastly superior results in terms of water resistance, heat resistance and durability.

The technology itself is based on a fully automated material handling solution and ‘one-piece flow’ manufacturing principles. It offers a more precise cut so reduces waste, contributing to a significant overall consumption in materials and lower energy use in its production. The environmentally friendly edgebanding contributes significantly to the overall green credentials of each product to which it applies. ◆ See here a full demonstration of the features of the new technology.

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Surfaces and edges look as though they are moulded from a single sheet of material.

KNOW HOW Ergonomics at work No 7/12

Work on the go Part 1: Ergonomics is good for us all B y Jo a c h im G o e t z

Day to day activity is one of the most important things we can integrate into our busy working lives to keep ourselves healthy. By setting up a programme of exercise we can all take responsibility for our own wellbeing. What can be helpful is when our employer sets out to create an office environment that encourages us to practice good ergonomics and generally stay more healthy. And it pays off for them too. Employees spend less time off work sick, are more productive overall and have better ideas. It’s all about getting the balance right.

I

f you want to remain productive throughout the working day, it’s a great idea to sit dynamically, get up and move around and have the odd change of scenery. The reasons this works are immediately obvious. Firstly, a good and consistent supply of oxygen to the brain requires you to breath properly and have a fully functioning circulatory system. Unfortunately, both are operating at a far less than optimum level while you are sitting for long periods. Bad posture is invariably the result if you persist in working in a static position.

Unfortunately these are the precise

outcomes of current workstation designs. Keyboards and screens shape us into a specific posture, hands on the keys, eyes on the screen, and the chairs we sit in often do little more than fix us into that position.

It’s not enough that we follow the rules proscribed about how we should sit. It helps to know them, especially those regarding the loads and angles we should apply tour limbs when working in this way. Our arms should never bend more than 90 degrees or take up unnatural positions. Our head should look neither straight ahead or upwards but at a slight downward tilt of about

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five degrees. However there are other things we should do to avoid problems.

The incidence of postural issues has increased by around 3,000 per cent over the past ten years.

So we should ensure that the keyboard we use never is exceeds 3 cm in height.

Our wrists should be supported at all times and some people may need a footrest to ensure their thighs are always horizontal.

It goes without saying that a good chair with lumbar support is essential as is an ergonomic mouse. The first protects our lumbar vertebrae and discs, the

KNOW HOW Ergonomics at workz No 7/12

second takes care of our arms, shoulder and elbow joints.

Unwelcome consequences

Yet studies show that over a significantly longer period of time, even this apparently beneficial posture can have its own unwelcome consequences. The typical modern office worker spends more than 50,000 hours of their working life sitting in a task chair.

This kind of static posture leads to potentially painful tension in the muscles which can lead to fatigue and lower performance even if it doesn’t not always result in serious long term ailments. There has to be a better way.

The simple truth is that our body is not really designed to stay in one posture for up to 14 hours a day. That is more than the combined total of all our other activities 0ofr the day, including sleep.

Evolution has equipped us to be active,

EXERCISE 2: “The jackknife” Take a break in the lounge area to strengthen your stomach muscles.

Watch the video.

suited for the life of hunter and gatherer who ran everywhere in search of food, by giving us our upright posture and curved spine.

EXERCISE 1: “The decathlete” This isometric exercise to strengthen the shoulder, chest, abdominal area and the arms can be carried out anywhere in the workplace.

Watch the video

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the forces of nature to equip us for a sedentary life. For the time being we live life in the information age with a body shaped in the stone age, a body unprepared for processed food and the modern workplace. Fortunately, we can overcome this mismatch with a number of specific measures.

An ergonomic workstation is just as important as the overall design of an office and just as important in determining how people work. Health experts now recommend that nobody should sit in one position for more than half of their working day, should spend the majority of the remainder standing and moving around. They should change posture at least three times an hour, stand up intermittently, avoid standing in one position. It may sound

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complicated but it is sound advice and it is easy to get into the routine.

Rather than calling somebody who works nearby, why not walk over and talk to them in person? Make longer calls while standing or walking around. That will help you to think more clearly. Use breaks to get drinks for colleagues or to do a few simple exercises. When you stand in meetings they tend to be shorter and more focussed.

Recent research also shows how a few simple exercises can help you with your brain function and memory.

Physical exercise also strengthens your cerebral synapses. This has the effect of dramatically improving long term memory.

In the organisation’s own best interest

This means that it is in the employer’s own commercial and ethical interests ▸▸

KNOW HOW Ergonomics at work No 7/12

EXERCISE 3: “The ski jumper”

EXERCISE 4: “The climber”

Stretching your upper body is the perfect exercise following a long period at the computer.

Watch the video.

to promote good ergonomics and exercise at work. It pays to encourages and understand these simple measures if the employer would like to get the most out of its employees. The first and most fundamental aspect is the purchase of appropriate furniture which has the potential to transform the office.

Well designed chairs provide a perfect fit with the biomechanics of the human body and encourage dynamic sitting.

This requires that the backrest should respond to the user’s size and weight, preferably with a spring mechanism.

To protect the back including the intervertebral discs, the lumbar support of the chair should be height adjustable.

Any piece of furniture can be drafted in to help with this exercise which covers all the main muscle groups.

Watch the video.

The tilt of the seat cushion should be adjustable to set the perfect seated position. The thigh position should be optimised with a forward sliding seat. Fully adjustable armrests and an adjustable headrest complete a totally adjustable chair.

Desks too, can promote good posture and health. The best option is a desk that can be adjusted quickly by the user, possibly with an electric motor.

This empowers the employee to change their working position and continue to work, even while standing. For longer meetings, chairs are also available to encourage active sitting while

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comfortable soft seating is ideally suited to break out areas and informal meeting areas.

Training rooms and conference facilities are best served by modular and mobile furniture which can be reconfigured and rearranged to meet changing demands. Informal meetings for project teams can be facilitated in break out spaces with counters and stools or padded pedestals.

The role of the floorplan

Even the floor plan has a role to play in meeting the ergonomic needs of employees. A shared cellular office can

KNOW HOW Ergonomics at work No 7/12

solutions that emerge can be better than those formulated in a sterile cubicle.

Exercise is even possible at work without expensive equipment, as our pictures show. ◆ Order the Sedus advisory brochure.

»The person who is too busy to look after their health is like the handyman who has no time to maintain his tools.«

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Other suggestions for exercises can be found on the Sedus TV Channel on Youtube.

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▸

The second half of this feature will appear in the next issue of Place 2.5. It will focus on ergonomics from the perspective of the employer.

be specified to facilitate communication, fitted out with a meeting table, lounge seating and a counter it promotes different types of work and posture.

The best solutions are invariably those that take an integrated approach to ergonomics. Central zones are set aside for shared resources such as printers and copiers. Often this is also a good place for break out zones, kitchens, a team meeting area or a space for quiet and confidential working.

EXERCISE 5: “The artist” Using a sit-stand workstation to exercise the arms, upper body and shoulders with push-ups.

Watch the video.

The benefits of this to the company are obvious. The focus on communications and the variety of meeting rooms reduce the need for expensive team building.

Employees share knowledge organically and discuss problems informally, often finding new and creative solutions.

In addition, somewhat less conventional facilities such as a gym, treadmill, exercise equipment or even a dart board are not just good from an ergonomic point of view. Conversations often take place in such surroundings and the

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DID YOU KNOW? Genius in motion You can judge how successful working while standing can be by considering how Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was developed at a high desk. Goethe also worked at a lectern and sat on a saddle seat bar stool.

LIVES The simple life No 7/12

The simple life is anything but easy Adopting a new lifestyle to avoid a personality crisis

B y Mi c h a e l Ma y e r

Fitter, happier, more productive. If you believe the growing number of reports in the media, more and more senior executives and business leaders are taking this motto at face value and taking the decision to step down or hold back from their own careers. This covers a wide range of options from a mild degree of downshifting through to a complete withdrawal from the rat race. From a personal point of view, this movement has turned the basic idea that ‘less is more’ into a global phenomenon, whatever form it takes.

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ittle wonder that the subject of worklife balance maintains its fascination for both the trade media and professional counselling portals. Even heavyweights like the Financial Times find space for articles headlined ‘Work less, feel better’.

There are numerous reports of those who choose to drop out, change career or downshift including highly paid people with even better job prospects ahead of them who still don’t hesitate to drop it all to do something completely different.One of these people is the CFO of one of Switzerland’s leading construction firms who after 54 years in the position decided to drop down the pecking order and reduce his working hours by some 60 per cent so that he has more time to spend with friends, family and on his favoured pastimes and social activities. Another is

the head of communications of one of the world’s best known music broadcasters who one day questioned her life choices and decided to set up a youth hostel in Bavaria with her husband. Yet another is a former star of the digital economy who retired after burning out and now earns a living as a children’s photographer.

Stepping out of the rat race

Such career ennui can even lead to the creation of entirely new business models.

In 2009, two London based consultants developed Escape the City, a website aimed at frustrated bankers looking for exciting new activities and new adventures. Already the business has 70,000 registered subscribers including many from what may be considered primarily formal professions. ▸▸

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Burnout isn’t inevitable. Regular time out, spent on activities such as gardening or whatver you enjoy can help to regain balance before it is too late.

LIVES The simple life No 7/12

Who needs exclusive holidays at the best hotels? You choose the best way to get back in step with life. The important thing is that you take a break form the demands of office life.

Many people find that meditation and prayer can help. A recent survey showed that around two-thirds of managers see themselves as spritual beings.

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LIVES The simple life No 7/12

This is where the lawyer can find his true calling as an organiser of expeditions.

Where the consumer marketing executive can pursue his dream of setting up social projects in developing countries.

And where the former HR manager can make documentaries about sharks. Those who register with Escape the City have a wide range of options from which to choose whether they are looking for a full time paid position or as an unpaid volunteer.

The website features organisations such as Financial Republic who are looking for an expert to help them develop a strategy for the introduction of a microcredit scheme in Ghana; or Save the Children who are looking for a dedicated marketing manager.

The list goes on, fuelled by the seemingly endless desire of people in ostensibly affluent modern western societies to seek greater fulfilment and wellbeing in their lives.

The psychologist, author and editor-inchief of Psychology Today Heiko Ernst sees the phenomenon as an issue driven by people’s desire to rid their lives of the ephemeral and trivial to focus on what is important and makes them feel better.

‘Above all, those people for whom everything seems to be going well – at least in material terms - see this as an alternative to those things they perceive as stress inducing and decadent,’ he says.

They want to apply the brakes as the rest of the world accelerates.

‘How complex must our lives become’, asks Heiko Ernst, ‘for us to keep pace with the world, not miss the boat and seize every opportunity?’ It is a question that seemingly troubles many of our most senior managers, who strive daily to maintain a work-life balance. So we must conclude that the only possible way to see this is to accept that the global rat race never stops and there will always be someone ready to take on the top jobs.

And once we see things this way, what next?

A quick look at the state of the economy and its financial markets is enough to convince us that those who choose to drop out of the race to achieve greater security and regain control have very

»Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication« L e o n a rd o d a V in c i

good reasons for doing so. This is what underlies the great global downshifting movements such as ‘Simplify’, ‘The Slow Movement’, ‘International Downshifting Week’ and ‘Slow City’. And these movements are not going away any time soon.

‘Slow City’ was founded as long ago as 1999 by a group of people keen to promote the idea that our cities should acknowledge the need for people to slow down, enjoy the changing of the seasons, real products, spontaneity and tradition, focus on taste and health. The movement has influenced a number of cities around the world, improving and enriching the lives of many of their inhabitants.

could afford to be and so his writing on the matter invariably carries a whiff of hypocrisy.

So it pays to judge those who promote the lifestyle against such factors. According to Heiko Ernst, the development of a simplified approach to life offers us not only reduced levels of stress but also a more sustainable lifestyle. ‘What our own experiences and the research tells us over and over again is that what helps us make sense of the world can be found when we focus on selfless social and cultural activities that are about far more than our individual goals.’ So, be nice to yourself before you think about dropping out. ◆

Leading the simple life

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Such initiatives may generate more and more headlines, but there is nothing fundamentally new in the ideas they espouse. Quite a number of the world’s most religions have long seen the simple life as something to be actively pursued in its own right as a means to achieving peace and fulfilment. Before them, the Ancient Romans prized the principle of ‘Simplicitas’, which saw modest living as one of the most prized virtues, although the history of that civilization often told a different tale.

The first great modern advocate of the simple life was arguably David Thoreau.

Even so, as the son of a factory owner with a number of wealthy friends, he

55

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LIVES Wine in balance No 7/12

Well grounded: And well rounded Balance in Wine – Wine in Balance

B y E r i k D e k e e rs m a e ck e r

If you ask me what makes a truly great wine, I’d refer you to either a book or the website of the wine expert Robert Parker which, if nothing else, offer plenty of materials to start a heated debate on the subject amongst wine lovers. And whenever I am asked what it takes to create a great wine, then my answer is invariably that it is all about balance.

A

part from any other consideration, the tasting of wine is a very technical process. With our tongue, we distinguish the characteristics of sweetness, sourness and bitterness (saltiness too, but that is rarely the case with wine) and these flavours must be in perfect balance. A sweet white wine with insufficient acidity becomes sickly and tasteless, a dry white wine with too much acidity is undrinkable. A wine with too much tannin to give bitter notes and too little sugar from the fruit can sear the palate. While a red wine with too much sugar without a balancing hit of acid becomes heavy.

We expect a certain intensity in the nose of a good wine, but mostly we look for a degree of complexity and a great deal of balance. A wine whose aroma is dominated by one scent is considered boring.

So the flavour of a good wine is characterised by combination of factors and the best wines are those which achieve the perfect harmony of them.

The end result should always be greater than the sum of its parts.

For some wines this can be achieved in a comparatively short time but often it is a matter of great patience waiting for the wine to achieve what connoisseurs understand as maturity.

The challenges for each vineyard invariably follow a similar pattern.

Without human intervention, grape juice quickly turns to vinegar or - at best – a flat, indifferent wine to be sold cheaply. The production of a good wine relies on a blend of science and intuition.

The process can be compared to the development of a human resources policy in a large organisation in which hundreds of different people of different character, with all the potential for conflict that entails, are brought together to form a cohesive whole. Of course that doesn’t happen without some external influence on events and the same is true for wine making.

56

The big difference is that winemakers usually raise their own, in many cases from seed. A good estate depends on two key people – the person who raises and nurtures the vines and the person who turn their raw material into the wine.

When the produce from the vineyards is sub-par that makes the job of the winemaker doubly hard who must make allowances for the poor quality of the grapes he is given. This is likely to be achieved nowadays by one or other method of mass production but it has been going on for a long time in one way or another.

Two periods during the past century and a half have seen the major challenge for vineyards switch from the norm of producing grapes of high enough quality to one of producing enough grapes at all.

The first was the phylloxera epidemic of 1870 and the second came with the displacement of people from the countryside in the wake of the Second World War. In the former case, the ▸▸

The most important preconditions for making fine wine are the location of the vineyard and the state of the soil. The actual making of the wine in the cellar can only correct certain problems.

REINHOLD MESSNER’S WINE One of the most interesting current theories doing the rounds in wine taster’s circles, is that you can recognise the character of a winemaker or owner in their wines. The mountaineer Reinhold Messner has a vineyard in northern Italy, in Unterortl and his Pinot Noir, the Castel Juval, is a well balanced wine but one that is also very intense and with a very long finish. It’s an extraordinary wine, produced by an extraordinary man. www.unterortl.it

FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE WINE OF BORDEAUX

EXTREME WINES

The Bordeaux region boasts as many as 10,000

Grape vines can be real masochists. They often have

distinct Châteaux but if you ignore the more

to withstand poor soil, extremes of heat and drought

illustrious and pricey names, then you will find that

and often wildly fluctuating temperatures between

there are very many good wines which are available

the night and day time. Asa aresult of this generic

from them at reasonable prices. The question is

hardiness, some of the best wines in the world

this – in amongst this plethora of choice, where do

come from some of the most extreme conditions.

you find the real deal? One of the better approaches

The Abondonado vineyard in the Douro region is a

is to look at the person behind the label. In many of

perfect example because it is so mountainous that

the wineries, it is the character of the winemaker

it has not been possible to cultivate commercially

that has the largest influence on the end product

until recently. The planting of young vines is all but

and this simple fact can become very evident in the

DISCOVER NEW TALENT

wine itslef. So it pays to find out who has similar

impossible because in order to find nutrients and moisture the roots of plants have to bypass the

tastes to your own. Michael Rolland is perhaps one

One of the nicest things any wine lover can do is spot

barren topsoil and dig down through a deep layer of

of the best known winemakers in the region and

talent before it becomes widely known and so harder

shale. The yield from 90 year old vines is markedly

makes wine maturely and with great attention to

to get access to. Some recent examples include the

low and the conditions to produce a vintage all but

detail so the wines are often ready to drink while

Rieslings of Eva Fricke on the Mosel, the Pinot Noirs

absent and yet what results is one of the best wines

still young. A recent, exciting talent to look out for

of the Ziereisens from Markgräflerland near Basel,

of Portugal. Menahile, on the slopes of Etna the vines

is Stéphane Derenoncourt whose wines are more

the Sauvignon Blanc from Jonathan Didier Pabiot in

of Carricante und Nerello Mascalese grapes grow at

edgy in style in their youth, fresher, with higher

Pouilly-Fumé, the whites of Filipa Pato in Portugal

high altitude in what is essentially volcanic rock and

mineral content. Meanwhile, Denis Dubourdieu

and so on. Wise wine merchants are always on the

in an environment so hostile that even the virulent

is the champion of white wine. In Italy, look out

lookout for these hidden gems so they can enjoy

and infamous phylloxera fly cannot survive. The white

for names like Ricardo Cotarella and Salvo Foti. In

their lower prices and exceptional quality before they

wine that results Pietramarina takes ten years to

Portugal Anslemo Mende is a name to look out for.

become too exclusive and expensive.

mature but is one of the greatest in the world.

58

LIVES Wine in balance No 7/12

High in the mountains stands Juval castle. This gem is is not just the summer residence of Reinhold Messner and his family. It is also part of Messner’s mountain museum. Its slopes are used to grow fruit and grapes.

focus shifted to producing new varieties which were productive but bland. During the second period, there was widespread use of herbicides, artificial fertilisers and pesticides which disturbed the balance of the soil.

The first great quality revolution in wine production came about during the 1960s when Emile Peynaud began to apply his theories to transform the quality of wine produced in Bordeaux by introducing new varieties with lower yields, different harvesting techniques and a greater focus on how the taste and quality of a wine is determined by creating a balance: the practice referred to as ‘faire pisser les vignes’ produces lots of indifferent wine, but controlling yields and harvesting at the right time gives grapes that elevate the wine to another level.

His most famous disciple is Michel Rolland who was made famous by the wine critic Robert Parker and who established a true renaissance of quality wine based on his legendary philosophy that there was no need to resort to tricks during the winemaking process to improve the quality of the product, if you were working with well balanced raw materials.

The second great revolution happened not so long ago and takes this thinking to the next degree. It focuses on the balance of the soil that feeds the vine.

The pioneers of this approach apply the theories of Rudolph Steiner to create biodynamic viticulture.

During the 1980s a growing number of winemakers came to realise the limitations and problems associated with their prior methods of production.

In particular, they discovered that many forms of organic life had been completely eradicated from the mountains and vineyards they worked.

This had depleted the soil so they had to add more and more chemical fertilizers to the water, plants became less resistant to disease over time, increasing the use of other chemicals, further impoverishing the soil and driving the development of grape varieties that produced a yield under these increasingly poor conditions.

Then, as these new varieties fell victim to the same problems of their earlier generations, so the vicious circle continued. The legacy of this approach can still be seen in parts of France where vineyards exist in fields where nothing else can grow, not even grass, ▸▸

59

THE AUTHOR: ERIK DE KEERSMAECKER Winelover par excellence Erik De Keersmaecker is the director of the Belgian subsidiary of Sedus and a noted Place 2.5 specialist.

During the 1990s he wrote travel guides to the counties of Kent and Sussex. In his spare time he loves to travel and write about wine for wesbites and his own blog, which is now the most popular of its type in the Flemish part of Belgium.

His Vinopedia is the largest wine encyclopedia in the Dutch language.

He especially loves to meet the people and hear the stories that lie behind each bottle of wine that he enjoys.

LIVES Wine in balance No 7/12

because the earth is sterile.

The very first organic pioneers soon discovered that it is possible to develop a vineyard that works in harmony with nature and which defends itself against disease and pests naturally. Biodynamic viticulture with all its associated jargon and its various alternative approaches to cultivation (such as paying attention to the phases of the moon, the enrichment of the soil with cow horn preparations, the spraying of highly dilute natural preparations) was initially seen as a nebulous approach but is now used by some of the world’s most prestigious vineyards.

André Ostertag is a well known producer from Epfig in Alsace. He puts it like this: ‘I don’t really believe in that but I can taste the difference. That’s why I use those methods.’

One of the biggest breakthroughs came in the legendary vineyards of Domaine

using traditional methods. It was this that prompted Anne Leflaive to switch all her future production to biodynamic processes. Madame Lefalive is also convinced that it is possible to discern those wines that have been made with care and in a harmonious way.

Just assume for a second that the harvest has been very successful, the quality of the grapes is very good and all the conditions are perfect. The selection of grapes is complete and you are ready for the next phase of production: brining all of these elements together in w well-balanced whole.

It has been a long held view that wine is really made in the cellar. Modern purification techniques such as pasteurisation, filtration, chaptalisation (adding sugar to unfermented grapes) and acidification all exist to protect the wine from

intentions of those who want to protect their wines from the threat of these problems make changes that render the wine effectively inert so that its flavour never changes. These are the zombies of wine.

The best winemakers now spend as little time as possible tinkering with wine in their cellars. After they’ve dealt with the least desirable and most pathogenic intrusions such as dirt, bacteria and mould, they trust the wine to do its own thing. They are noninterventionists.

The most common comparison that is made is with the raising of a child: if you raise him in a way that is against his nature, starved of care, constrained and mistrusted, you will breed a failure.

However if you get the balance right, trust in his innate nature, educate him well and raise him in the right surroundings, you will have a well-

Good wine always tastes better in good company

Lefalive in Puligny-Montrachet, where some of the world’s finest and most expensive white wines are produced.

IN 1997, twelve out of thirteen of the buyers from the eminent British wine merchant Corney & Barrow preferred biodynamic wines to those produced

hostile treatment, such as non-airconditioned storage.

But wine is a living material that interacts with its surroundings so exposure to extreme temperatures and light can render it undrinkable.

And sometimes the admittedly good

60

balanced child.

The same is true for wine. Just as a parent seeks out a nurturing environment in which their child can grow, so too does a winemaker when he chooses the conditions for his produce.

This comes down to things like whether

LIVES Wine in balance No 7/12

Many fine wines take years to develop. The experienced winemaker keeps a close eye on their development until he is convinced they are ready to be presented to the outside world.

to choose a barrel of oak or an artificial container. That in itself determines how the wine will turn out. Whatever choice is made, the objective is invariably to develop the right balance for the interplay of all the flavours that develop as the wine develops.

Above all, one of the most important decisions comes at the end of the winemaking process when the wine is blended. Many classic wines are a blend of different grape varieties. Sometimes winemakers describe this as a form of cookery.

In certain parts of Bordeaux, small amounts of Petit Verdot and Malbec are used in blends, a orcess described to me by one winemaker of my acquaintance as like adding salt and pepper. Good winemakers even blend grapes on the vine within each vineyard to produce specific types of wine and take advantage of differences in the soil and the orientation of the sun. They understand the art of creating a balanced end result, not least because of the huge potential differences that can result from specific changes in growing conditions. Some winemakers let those changes emerge in their cellars (for example in Bordeaux), others manage

the process (Rioja is a good example) until they convinced the product is ready.

I recall a conversation I had once with Tiago Alves de Sousa at his eponymous winery in Douro as we tried first an Abandonado and then a Quinta da Gaivosa from 2005. The Abandonado, one of the cult wines of the region, is an excellent but extreme wine, which went uncultivated for some time because of a number of specific problems with its production and yield.

It’s a rock and roll wine. Very rebellious.

On the other hand the Quinta da Gaivosa consists of a blend of different grape varieties from the estate, a perfect summation of what the winery stands for and the character of the region. It is one of the finest, best balanced wines I have ever tasted. It is only produced in years when all the right conditions are in place and only comes to the market when it is ready.

The production of wine is an endlessly complex and fascinating process which depends on a large number of intertwined factors. The idea of achieving balance is easier than the reality. That is why there is such a compelling comparison to be made

61

with the development of a human resources strategy. So if you ever want to thank your HR manager for anything, the most appropriate way is probably with a bottle of good wine. â—† The personal recommendations of the author

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IDEAS Workplace trends No 7/12

The desire for change New Work Order – the shift to a new world of work

During Orgatec 2012, Europe’s leading international trade fair for the office, the world will have the first chance to see the results of a groundbreaking new study from the Hamburg based consultancy Trendbßro, which will explore the challenges and opportunities associated with new and emerging work cultures. It will seek to answer the most fundamental question of all: What are the characteristics of successful organisations? The research team at international architects Gensler claims to have found at least one. Those companies who perform above average commercially tend to put more emphasis on the degree of social interaction between their employees, encourage professional development and facilitate communication and cooperation both internally and externally.

62

IDEAS Workplace trends No 7/12

Generation Y will transform organisations

Generation Y will change business forever. Companies from around the world will need to consider carefully how to meet the changes this new generation will demand from the world of work.

Changing demographics and the impending dearth of top talent will lead firms into competition to appeal to the desires and lifestyle wishes of young people.

Christoph Fellinger, head of Employer Branding and Talent Attraction at Beiersdorf AG summarises it as follows: ‘The new generation of employees is not necessarily one that will come into a company and look to change its culture from within. Instead they want to work for a company that already has a culture that suits them.’

This is not just about the workplace, but every aspect of working culture. Just how important this is can be gauged from the results of two research projects from Johnson Controls and Damovo of Germany which found that 79 per cent of Generation Y individuals prefer to work flexibly rather than at a single workstation. Around 71 per cent of students expect to be able to use the same technology at work as they do at home.

This has led directly to the phenomenon of Bring Your Own device, which firms have adopted a proactive stance towards as a way of resolving the issue.

Social media leaves its mark

Social media - typically in the form of media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is becoming increasingly useful as a way of managing projects. These virtual platforms mean that it is no longer necessary to send an endless stream of emails on a loop to the members of teams. Rather each member of the team has real time access to current discussions. The added flexibility reduces the time and cost needed to complete projects.

This is not just theory. In practice, social media also helps people to communicate more efficiently and helps with the informal day to day transfer of

knowledge. It makes sense to use it extensively when team members work across different locations or as way of facilitating flexible working. Assuming, of course, they everybody is functioning on the same platform.

This is perhaps the greatest challenge because any medium can only work well when it is used as a way of sharing information and knowledge. According to researchers only around ten per cent of users currently engage with this process under their own initiative.

Nevertheless, companies should not be deterred from thinking about all of the benefits that such an approach offers them and their employees.

They need to be proactive in managing this because if they try to ignore them, their own employees will adopt their use as part of their own networking routines.

There’s nothing wrong with that in principle but it can lead to a disjointed approach with different lines of communication.

According to the researcher Dr Alexander Richter, there already exists a parallel approach consisting of an individual’s own communications network that works alongside the organisation’s own hierarchy.

Physical space with new tasks

So why exactly don’t firms forget about trying to work with new technology and instead focus on the places they work?

The answer is simply that what we now demand of the office is very different to what went before.

‘The office is developing a new role as a social space for valuable human interaction,’ explains Dr Josephine Hoffman, director of the Competence Center of Business Performance Management at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart. ‘The new role of the workplace is to offer a holistic experience and a place to interact, something that will not be possible with technology for some time. People want to work in an engaging building and feel proud of where they work.’

The links between the places we work and the means with which we communicate

63

The Report “New Work Order”

were studied as part of the three stage project by Trendbüro. The results of the study will be presented by Sedus for the first time at Orgatec in October 2012 along with case studies, advice on change management processes and ideas for implementation. ◆ You can order a copy of the New Work Order report here

w w w. b u e r o - fo r u m . d e w w w.t r e n d b u e r o. d e

OVERVIEW No 7/12

IDEAS

seating design for over 140 years, and this latest development will set a new standard in seating ergonomics worldwide.

Overview A desire for change News, Tips & Trends

Email flowchart

New Work Order – The advent of a new worklace culture

A colourful mix of inspiring ideas based on this issue’s theme

To send or not to send?

Page 62

Page 18

Organisations with above average performance

Page 28

Unwanted and .unnecessary emails can waste

levels across the board share certain important

Some great ideas to explore in the office and

around a quarter of our working day. This is a

characteristics. Not only do they place greater

your freetime based on this month’s theme of

particular problem with internal emails that are

emphasis on better internal communications

balance, including the balance board, Wandkick

purely personal and which do not convey any

and relationships, they invest more in career

football game, balancing stones and the joy of a

meaningful information. So to help you deal with

development and have a strong focus on

personal trainer.

this surplus of emails, we’ve developed this

cooperation. These are the findings of a report

flowchart to guide you through your decision

’New Work Order’ which lays out the ways in

making and free up more of your time. To send or

whcih the new generation of employees is shaping

not to send, that is the question.

the workplace and creating working practices that bridge the gap betwen office and home.

CASE STUDIES Historical view

Federdreh Page 30

Could it be that the ideas behind Place 2.5 were first established in 1925? Not only did the Federdreh chair set a new standard in chair design, it marked the begining of the principle of dynamic sitting.

90%

100% Smells like team spirit

Office Power Check

The new headquarters of Kaffee Partner Holding

Office quality is measurable

The world class Sedus swing up

Page 34

A task chair with the groundbreaking Similar-Swing mechanism

Page 08

Take the test! In partnership with researchers at Hagstotz ITM, Sedus has created a new

Page 32

a corporate HQ. The partnership between the

tool that allows you to analyse the quality of

A great deal of time, effort and money needs to

occupiers, .architects and interior designers and

your organisation’s offices based on a range

be invested in a new ergonomic seating product

their clear focus on wellbeing and corporate

of options and identify key areas for their

before it is ready to make its bow on the global

identity is evident to employees, visitors and

improvement.

stage. Sedus has been pushing the boundaries of

passers-by the moment they see the building.

64

A Place 2.5 par excellence. This is far more than

OVERVIEW No 7/12

LEBEN

Work on the go Pilot project: the future of urban manufacturing

Ergonomics is good for all of us

The new home of Wittenstein bastian

It’s essential that physical activity becomes an

Page 20

integral part of everybody’s day to day life. The fit-

A unique development in the heart of the city,

out, design and culture of an office play an impor-

Simplicity isn’t always easy

with the firm’s administrative and manufacturing

tant role in encouraging us to move. But each of

facilities housed under one roof. The principles

us can also do more, by varying where and nhow

Avoiding a personality crisis by adopting a new lifestyle

of Place 2.5 and a pervasive commitment to

we work, spening less time in one position and

Page 52

transparency make this a truly inspiring working

taking part in a number of simple, office based

Whether we mean to or not, when we are

environment.

exercises. This feature shows how just a few sim-

completely overloaded, sometimes the brakes

ple adjustments to your work routines can have

come on. Some of us drop out, some change

significant benefits for your wellbeing.

careers, others just downshift. More and more

KNOW-HOW

Page 48

senior executives are concluding they’ve had

MINDS

enough and the economy may well be suffering as a result. So too may be companies. By offering a more holistic approach to the wellbeing of their employees, however, many organisations may benefit not only from retaining their best employees but also by helping them be happier and more productive.

A breath of fresh air

Humidification in open plan offices Page 16

An optimum working environment means that exceptional air quality is essential. Room humidifiers can play an important role in ensuring that employees are stimulated by a revitalising and productive approach to their surroundings.

The balance between desire and ability

An interview with the explorer Reinhold Messner Page 36

Down to earth: A multi-faceted character

An exclsuive conversation with Reinhold

Balance in wine – wine in balance

A seamless aesthetic in the design of office furniture

Messner. He offers us a comparison between

Page 56

his llife climbing teh world’s most challenging

The author,Erik De keersmaeker is a well

The precision of new laser technology

mountains, exploring hitherto unmapped routes

respected historian as well as the chief executive

Page 46

and the challenges of running a business. His

of Sedus’s Belgian subsidiary. He is also a

A new application based on laser technology me-

vocabulary if full of talk of visions, plans, fears,

noted wine lover. In this feature he explores the

ans that the finish of office furniture products can

failures and goals. He has recently become a

importance of balance in the development of fine

be flawless. The results are not purely aesthetic

businessman himself as well as the curator of his

wines, offering tips and suggestions for those

but also envirnmentally friendly.

own museum. He concludes that success is not

wishing to extend their knowledge.

as important as the experience.

65

IMPRESSUM & KONTAKT No 7/12

No 7/12 Balance

If you’d like to subscribe, see a digital version of this magazine, want further information about the subjects covered or explore back issues and our archive, please follow this link.

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Editor-in-Chief:

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Contributors:

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NL-2718 SZ Zoetermeer, Tel. +31 79 363159-0 sedus.nl@sedus.com, www.sedus.nl

Spain

E-28050 Madrid, Tel. +34 91 59701-76 sedus.es@sedus.com, www.sedus.es

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The opinions expressed in this magazine may not reflect those of the publisher.

Switzerland

Publication:

CH-4613 Rickenbach, Tel. +41 62 21641-14 sedus.ch@sedus.ch, www.sedus.ch

The magazinePlace 2.5 appears twice yearly and is distributed to 70,000 people in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch language versions.

Other markets

Print:

D-79761 Waldshut, Tel. +49 7751 84-290 export@sedus.com, www.sedus.com

Druckhaus Waiblingen Remstal-Bote GmbH

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Place 2.5 Productive wellbeing www.sedus.com

Sedus mobile is the new free app from Sedus that offers you a wealth of information direct to your

The free app is available to download here!

iPad or iPhone. The app is available in German, English, Spanish, Italian, French and Dutch. Keep up to date with regular news from Sedus as well as the latest information about Place 2.5, product news, images and video and even a product specifier.

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