Moving ahead

A lot of thought was put into how people move when Karl Schwanzer designed the iconic BMW building in Munich (Olympic Tower). Shaping the outside of the building like a four cylinder engine only reflected the internal intent of the organisation working like a well oiled machine. The workflows, connections between departments and culture determined where people sat, and ultimately how they interacted.

We can only begin to conceive the long term impact this has had on the independent car maker. In the words of the company, the building represents "Prosperity, Autonomy and technical perfection". The incarnation of essence, supported by a flow of information and energy which all aligns with the intent of the organisation. Very few companies begin to understand this fundamental resonance between form and content, between sign and intent. Why is it that most workshops take place in stuffy rooms, with crap coffee (if any) using pieces of paper and random thoughts that happen to enter the mind of the participants on that day. The context, flow and intent of the assembled energy is hardly ever considered. How can one not but develop explosive ideas when you are sitting in a combustion engine? And how can one but repeat history if the process is repetitive and purely intellectual?

Years ago a friend observed that we are all doing the same work in essence these days. If an alien had to come down and look at humans at work they would see little difference between a doctor, an engineer, and bank clerk. We all assume a position in front of a terminal (lovely word that) and push buttons arranged into neat rows.
Brian Eno said ages ago, the problem with computers is that there is not enough Africa in them. The kineasthetic nature of human learning has been surgically removed from our productive output.

An interesting thing happened to P&G a few years ago when A G Lafley took over the reigns. The organisation quickly adopted an open plan policy. Meetings took place in little huddle rooms. The interface was complete. You could not hide from the people working with you. This emphasis on the human interaction seems to have come at the same time when P&G managed to move ahead of Unilever, and open a commanding lead.
How do we track the impact of coffee breaks and photo copier runs. The random interactions that happen when the corporate corpus is in motion. When the individuals are forced to meet each other and interact, by the very shape of their workspace. P&G managers also spend a lot more time than anyone I know listing to consumers. They travel intensely, spending time in people's houses and research groups. This is the movement of an open system, an organisation open to assimilating learning and information from it's context.

So back to the original question, how do we bring more movement, the whole body, into corporate behavior which ultimately leads to potent brands?