transfor mation tuesday:
WORK FROM HOME EDITION Finding the Silver Linings
These are
STRANGE TIMES. Nobody who is experiencing the spring of 2020 is likely to forget it. It started with a dangerous virus which for weeks had felt far away becoming, suddenly, very local. The early stages of denial that something like this could ever happen here in the Southeast abruptly gave way to an uncomfortable, mercifully brief transition period with relentless handwashing, dwindling supplies of hand sanitizer, and the realization that we touch our faces much more often than necessary, and it’s hard to stop. For a week, maybe ten days, after cases of the virus started appearing in our own cities in early March, people were still eating at restaurants and having cocktail parties, albeit nervously. The standard greeting was an elbow bump, and most conversations were founded upon some version of, “So, I’m wondering, are we overreacting? Or are we not nearly worried enough?”
By the middle of March, it became clear that we were experiencing something unprecedented, a word that was used so many times that its meaning was blurred. The cancellations started snowballing: birthday parties, then conferences and travel, then the NCAA Tournament, and then everything else. The Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization started issuing guidelines that evolved almost daily along with the crisis. Local and state governments, closely monitoring the risks to their own communities, began to mandate stay-at-home orders to enforce social distancing and slow the transmission of the virus. “Flatten the Curve� became a rallying cry. Thus, LS3P went from eight offices to 345. That this transition was so successful is a huge testament to the strength of our firm. Our Leadership Team met early and often to match strategies with the best available information as they worked to keep our people safe and our business running.Our Business Team worked ceaselessly to oversee a rapid deployment of resources; this included massive efforts on the part of our Technology staff to boost bandwidth and mobility to connect all 345 employees remotely and simultaneously. Each team member navigated the responsibilities and deadlines of project work while securing households, safeguarding family members, and anxiously watching the news. We remained fully operational at every step.
In the days (and weeks) that followed, the resilience that has made us a strong, cohesive, successful team for decades has emerged as a salient characteristic. We are managing the emotions that accompany uncertain times—fear, anxiety, grief, and frustration—and are leaning into gratitude, creativity, patience, and connection. We are finding humor in our new everyday routines, taking care of each other from a safe and appropriate distance, doing our jobs, and looking for ways to help our communities in the process. As we worry and wait together, small things take on outsized importance. We anchor ourselves in routines, in everyday comforts, in phone calls to our loved ones, and stashes of the things which make us feel normal and optimistic like seeds and craft supplies and string lights for the patio. We might cry when we watch the news, but we also make playlists and revisit our favorite shows, read books and bake bread. We take care of ourselves, our families, and each other.
WE HAVE QUICKLY ADAPTED TO VIDEO CONFERENCING AS OUR GOTO MEETING FORMAT.
OUR HOME OFFICES ARE AS INDIVIDUAL AS OUR TEAM MEMBERS
Tyler Cole (CLT)
Kristie Nicoloff (GSP)
Jaime Infelise (CLT)
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WE ARE GRACEFULLY HANDLING (ADORABLE) DISTRACTIONS IN OUR WORKSPACES.
1. Mai family (SAV) science experiments 2. Lee O’Shield’s (GSP) apprentices participating in a Zoom meeting 3. Melanie Rose’s (RDU) new assistant Björn
WE ARE STAYING ACTIVE.
Katherine Schuff (SAV)
Tyra Keene’s (ILM) daughter Ellie
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WE ARE KEEPING OUR HANDS BUSY, OR AT LEAST WORKING THROUGH OUR NET FLIX WATCH LISTS. 1. David Bellamy (CLT) finally got around to using all of those $1 coins from the LS3P holiday gift a few years ago. Check out the family Easter Egg hunt, and two teenagers who are significantly wealthier. 2. Sarah Mandell (GSP) and her husband built a ping-pong table and are having fierce tournaments at home. 3. Kevin Bryant (CLT) and his sons are working hard on a treehouse they will enjoy for years to come. 4. Lisa Pinyan’s (SAV) preferred stress management method is cleaning. You can see your face in her doorknobs now. 5. Katherine Ball (RDU) started lockdown with a partially complete renovation project and learned to patch drywall, cut trim boards, and install a light fixture. Willy Schlein is writing the occasional pandemic haiku, and John Hughes (SAV) is enjoying the cardinals outside his office window. Christine Webb is collecting stories and photos from her extended family in Brooklyn.
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WE ARE EATING WELL. 2
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1. Dan Scheaffer (CHS) 2. Jonathan Navarro (GSP) 3. Kirsten Schoettelkotte (GSP) 4. Burgess Metcalf (GSP) 5. Christy Zeidler (RDU) 6. Kelly Jones (GSP) 7. Dean Oang (GSP)
Kristie Nicoloff’s Girl Scout troop (GSP) donated cookies to local healthcare providers.
The Greenville office is partering with local restaurants to provide meals for first responders as a “thank you” for all they’re doing.
AND FEEDING OTHERS.
WE ARE FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO STAY IN TOUCH.
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1. Zoom happy hour (RDU) 2. Lisa Pinyan’s birthday (SAV) (note Lisa’s house in just about every background, and Neil photoshopped into the family photo) 3. Marissa DiLoreto’s (GSP) birthday cake (which arrived unassembled, IKEA-style, complete with singing candle) 4. Christine Romano’s (CHS) mother’s 96th ”happy birthday” compilation including her 9 siblings, grandchildren, and great grandchildren 5. Katie Robinson’s (CHS) brief escape to the country
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WE ARE LEARNING THE INS AND OUTS OF WORKING FROM HOME. if ven e e , ce ac spa ing sp k r v wo s, ur li ate o r uirk y a q p m wn a se ay fro ir o e a t e a w h t a re mer ’ e a C 5 v c a ; d only gs h ton an n i it’s t ee ut ay, b d m e e t th oom mu for t g ; Z luding n i l tha k a r c u o t i in ne w ate a r es. l o b d i re fo re r.” ou’ es or c y n ove e h s t ak i h lo . bre ay d h ; W nge c k c hile n or w a u l w h a c a r he s fo ake s “t t w y e o a t s ve en ber mo f th m f d e o an em turn ter u o ; R t p lps com n. t he m I e o ; p fr and th u k oo ule. ow L d n e h ; und y sc l i aro a ad ate e r ; C
Tyler Cole (CLT) gets creative
Vendor swag, pandemic style (CLT)
OUR SENSES OF HUMOR ARE (LARGELY) INTACT.
WE ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PORCH WEATHER AND ENJOYING THE SIGNS OF SPRING.
Becka MacCormack’s (CAE) tomato plants
Heather Pierce (CHS) porch.
Jennifer Dillon’s (CLT) veggie garden
Megan Bowles’ (RDU) greenway eagle’s nest
David Burt (CHS) is creating sidewalk chalk masterpieces for the neighborhood to enjoy.
WE ARE ENTERTAINING THE NEIGHBORS.
Wil Drennan (CLT) puts a stuffed bear into his window for the neighborhood “bear hunts.”
THE NEW INTERNS ARE WEIRD BUT WE LIKE THEM. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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Neighborhood Watch (John Kincheloe, CLT) Computer monitor (Jaime Infelise, CLT) Helping hand (paw?) (Natallie Santiago, SAV) Happy Hour (Heather Pierce, CHS) Close quarters (Jen Boyles, CHS)
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6. Zoom bombing (Emily Dawson, CHS) 7. Attention, please (Kellyn Messel, GSP) 8. Could I speak to the manager (Katherine Schuff, SAV) 9. Staying close (Marissa DiLoreto, GSP) 10. Peas in a pod (Becka MacCormack, CAE) 11. Puppy sitting (Jenn Smith, MYR)
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Helen Byce’s (GSP) family is learning Italian so that one day they can visit Italy together. They are also keeping a “bucket list” jar of things they’ve missed this spring, which allows them to acknowledge and mourn the small losses while looking forward to pulling items out of the jar to enjoy later.
WE ARE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE.
WE ARE DOING OUR JOBS.
The GSP team dons the appropriate PPE for a site visit to the Clemson University Business School while it’s under construction.
Cassian Marcus Shaw, b. 3/24/20
Josey Tanner Boyles, b. 4/1/20
Caleb William & Bennett Reid Schaffner, b. 4/9/20
Norah Grace Maddock, b. 3/23/20
Ellie Sims Magrath, b. 4/17/20
AND, LIFE GOES ON.
Above all, we may have quickly learned not to take anything, or anyone, for granted. In challenging times we lean on our families, our friends, our colleagues, and our communities. We are talking to the people we love more, checking on our neighbors, appreciating our parents and grandparents, and spending more time together (even when we’re in different households). In the days and weeks ahead, some things will return to normal, and some things will look very different. We are learning to live with uncertainty, but as designers we are uniquely qualified to help our clients and communities imagine new patterns and systems. Our teams are ready to assist with rapid facilities responses and innovative solutions to acknowledge that, in the future, every project in some form or another will be a healthcare project, and that each place we design will need to support public health and the greater good.
The ways in which we move through the world may look and feel different in the wake of COVID-19. How can we help? How will we respond? How will this change us, as designers and as people? We are preparing to help meet these challenges, even as we wait. In the meantime: we keep working, we keep in touch, and we keep cultivating hope.
THE BIG THINGS THAT BIND US TOGETHER ARE AS STRONG AS EVER, AND THE SMALL JOYS WE CREATE AND SHARE ALONG THE WAY WILL GET US THROUGH.
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