1. MOBILITY & THE
FUTURE OF WORK
Unwork. Your Way
This paper is part of the “One City Think Series”
How Smart Global
Workspheres Are
Transforming The
Traditional Office
by Trevor J. O’Hara
Founder, One City

2. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The workplace has always
been a place where we
become inspired, make friends
with colleagues, create and
innovate. It’s where we leave
our mark on societies and on
our communities.
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3. Mobility & The Future Workplace
But Profound Change Is Underway, And
The Equation Of Work Has Changed
Radically.
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4. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The Traditional Office”
Used To Be An Essential
Part of The Business
Productivity Equation.
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5. Mobility & The Future Workplace
All the clever little me’s would commute to a central
location, in the belief that we would be more efficient if we
were all in one place.
We would be centrally managed by a hierarchy of managers,
directors, senior vice presidents and presidents, and we
would spend our entire working lives aspiring to climbing
that ladder….thus becoming loyal devoted workers…..
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6. Mobility & The Future Workplace
In other words…
…work was a place I went to.!
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7. Mobility & The Future Workplace
But today,
we can now work...
...anytime
...anyplace
…...anywhere.
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8. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Our newfound mobility means the way we
are working is changing.
Which means the traditional office is
undergoing a transformation.
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9. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Many regard the use of offices as inefficient, costly and
environmentally unfriendly, and companies are starting to
reduce their office space in a bid to encourage “locationindependent” working.
The best bit is she can do it without ever being in
an office.
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10. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Global clusters of individuals are slowly replacing companies as
a way of getting work done – project by project, in the new gig
economy.
And major innovations are no longer the realm of corporate
R&D departments. Today, a 16 year-old armed with a laptop and
a summer break can churn out the next major innovation. The
best bit is she can do it without being in an office.
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11. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Going Out Of Fashion...
... is traditional office space, which seems to be
getting emptier all the time.
And the once highly sought after private members
clubs and serviced offices as a traditional way of
meeting and doing business is suddenly considered
stuffy and outdated.
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12. Mobility & The Future Workplace
And Coming Into Fashion...
...is the increasing use of co-sharing spaces and
popular third places like Starbucks…..
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13. Mobility & The Future Workplace
?
Educational Series.
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But what is causing this radical shift in
the way we are working, and what will our
working environment start to look like over
the next decade?
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14. Mobility & The Future Workplace
This is the story of how 5 profound forces are
reshaping the traditional office as we know it
and shows how a new working environment,
the global worksphere, will start to emerge.
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15. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The 5 forces shaping our future
work environment
CHANGING
DEMOGRAPHICS
CHANGING
AITITUDES
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GLOBALIZATION
3.0
TECHNOLOGY
IDLE CAPACITY
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16. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The First Factor
CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
“From All-Out Competition to Collaboration””
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17. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
For the two decades, workplace culture was driven by the
The more “stuff” you possessed, the more status you had.
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18. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
The mantra in the Age of Stuff was:
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19. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
And our working life was structured around this
command and control culture….
We drove to a central location (office), were centrally
managed (boss), sat in a silo (cubicle), and received
orders from above (management).
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20. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
Not surprisingly, this was the age of the Cold War
We worked in silos (cubicles)
Commuted in silos (cars and trains)
And waged war in almost arms-race style
against the competition….
Success was all about competition – at all costs.
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21. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
But the future workplace
will be designed around
“we”,
and no longer around
“me”.
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22. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
By 2020, there will be 5 generations in the
workplace.
And 50% of the workforce will be made up of the
Millenials, (born between the early 80s and
2000s), otherwise known as
Generation “We”
The Global Generation
The Net Generation
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23. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
This is a generation weaned on technology, global thinking,
collaboration and sharing.
The Millenials are the first truly globally connected
generation.
For the Millenials, careers are a series of short-term
“gigs”, and work is mobile….
They have no intention of spending their entire working life
travelling to the same office……or doing business in stuffy
old private members clubs.
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24. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
Woman Power Is On The Rise
Women not only make up more than half the
working population. More & more women
are getting to the top of organizations.
This is having an increasing impact on
workplace values as mens dominance in
the workforce begins to wane…
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25. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Demographics
And cities are getting clogged up...
By 2050, the world’s population will rise to 9 billion.
6.5 billion will be urban dwellers.
Energy costs will rise and the traditional commute and
physical meetings will be unsustainable.
Sustainability, environmental advocacy and corporate
responsibility will become more serious issues.
So people are commuting less.
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26. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The Second Factor
TECHNOLOGY
“From Central Workspaces to Global Mobility"
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27. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Technology
In the days of “stuff” – offices were crammed with stuff
(computers, filing cabinets, printers, servers..).
Now, cloud computing and mobile technology has made
all that stuff disappear.
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28. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Technology
Remove all that “stuff” from the office
and the only real purpose of the office is
for people to meet….
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29. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Technology
But technology and the cloud has
reduced the world to a size XXS,
where 5 billion people on the planet
are connected, and where we can
compete and collaborate virtually.
People simply don't need
to be in the office to meet!
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30. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Technology
This level of connectivity and
collective intelligence
is creating wise crowds, bringing the best ideas in the world together...
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31. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Technology
So now we can work and
collaborate virtually
anytime, anyplace, anywhere
without ever needing to be in the same office!
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32. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The Third Factor
GLOBALIZATION
From Hierarchy to Gig!
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33. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
In the days before globalization, countries competed against each other.
Simply being “French”, “British” or “Spanish” carried status.
Back then, the world was a SIZE L.
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34. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
Then companies started to compete with
each other around the world.
Working for a large corporate such as an
“IBM”, a “Shell”, or a “GE” carried status.
And the world shrank a little to
become a SIZE M.
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35. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
But today…
In the hyperconnected global gig economy, competition for jobs is
global.
It is our status as individuals that counts.
For now we are living in a world
that is super size small XXS.
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36. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
Global work is being re-configured, and distributed to
lower cost centers across multiple time zones, and even
across different organizations.
Individual vendors and contractors are suddenly available
for work across the planet, and online.
That means business must
be flatter, leaner, and more
virtual, in order to survive.
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37. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
Companies are becoming virtual,
employing contractors, entrepreneurs
and free-agents, for the life of a project.
Each project resembles a movie-production team.
Individuals come together for the life of the project,
then disband on completion.
We can now order people online in the same way we
can order books.
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38. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
Gigs are virtual, and on-demand.
This gig economy means long-term jobs
are a thing of the past.
Careers are now boundaryless – and the
virtual professional is responsible for her
own career.
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39. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
In this gig work world,
each of us is competing,
as individuals with a
more global, mobile and
entrepreneurial mindset.
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40. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Globalization
And globally, individuals are being drawn to industry
clusters that are sometimes even replacing companies.
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41. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The Fourth Factor
CHANGING ATTITUDES
From Silos to Collaboration
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42. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Attitudes
Increasing job insecurity
As the demographic balance shifts,
workers question why they have
been sacrificing so much with long
hours and unbalanced lives.
And many employees are
disillusioned with one corporate
scandal after another.
Disappearance of life
savings
Work-life imbalance
A 24-hour news cycle
that illustrates how it
is everywhere else
Long commutes
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43. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Attitudes
The growing scarcity of strategic resources such as water, minerals and fossil fuels
as well as political instability in the Arab region is causing the cost of energy and
fuel to rise.
Spurred on by the rise of women and the Millenial generation in the workforce,
there is an increasing focus on sustainable, ethical and transparent business
practices.
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44. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Attitudes
This has led to a desire for greater
leadership transparency and ethics
...as well as a commitment to social and
environmental responsibility
...a healthier work/life balance
...and a return to the trust economy.
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45. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Changing Attitudes
As the old command-and-control system fades…
... a new, rapid, transparent, collaborative decisionmaking style emerges.
One that practices a coordination-andcommunication leadership style.
And includes values that center on community,
connection and belonging.
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46. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The Fifth Factor
IDLING CAPACITY
From Waste to Collaborative Consumption
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47. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Collaborative Consumption
Almost half of US households own a power drill.
Yet, it is estimated that each power drill is used somewhere between 6 and 13
minutes in its entire lifetime…..
So the un-used potential of all those power drills is called idling capacity…..
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48. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Collaborative Consumption
In similar fashion, idling capacity is everywhere
in the world of work.
Changing attitudes brought about by the entry
of the Millenial generation into the workforce
means waste is slowly becoming a thing of the
past.
Not only are we working
collaboratively, but we're
also working to consume
collaboratively.
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49. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Collaborative Consumption
And here are just some of the companies that excel at the new model of collaborative consumption
PEER TO PEER
RENTAL
The Hire Hub
Ecomodo
Erento
PEER TO PEER
MARKETPLACES
Tradepal
Fiverr
FILM RENTAL
Netflix
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CAR SHARING
ZipCar
Car2Go
Modo
MARKETPLACES
Craig’s List
Ebay
PEER TO PEER
TRAVEL
Couchsurfing
AirBnB
Onefinestay
SOCIAL LENDING
Zopa
PEER TO PEER
EXPERIENCES
GuideHop
CROWDFUNDING
Kickstarter
Quora
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50. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Collaborative Consumption
Hub Culture
The Hub
This explains the trend towards outsourcing
office space and encouraging the use of
shared workplaces…...
Plug & Play Network
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au
Le Bure
Regus
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51. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Collaborative Consumption
The future of work is about inevitable change, requiring new practices in the way
companies and individuals are operating.
We are all embracing this new world of work. However, workplace environments
are still slow to respond to the new challenges.
Co-sharing spaces have passed the early adopter phase, but there is still a long
way to go before we create a genuine global working environment that embraces
this brave new world of work.
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52. Mobility & The Future Workplace
?
Educational Series.
This paper is part of the “One City Think Series”
What Will be
The Impact of The 5 Forces??
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53. Mobility & The Future Workplace
The traditional is “office” is certainly not dead, as many predict.
However, the 5 forces will have a major impact on
how the office is used in the years to come, and we
will witness a radical transformation of our physical
working environment towards something far
more global, temporary, inclusive, accessible and
community-driven.
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54. Mobility & The Future Workplace
In today’s hyperconnected gig economy, we no longer work in
one office all the time, but in many different locations,
and then only occasionally.
Local co-sharing spaces have already passed the early adopter
phase, and a new working environment will soon emerge – the
modern global worksphere.
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55. Mobility & The Future Workplace
Get in touch
Trevor J. O’Hara, Founder, One City
trevor@one-city.com
+44 7714 766065 (UK)
+1 778 874 3249 (North America)
Unwork. Your Way
www.one-city.com
Facebook.com/onecityglobal
Twitter @onecityglobal
THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT!
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