Network of networks!

Did anyone think about the way in which the flu/cold season is taking speed? Yes one could say that the passing between the seasons is weakening our immune system and so, we are becoming susceptible to common diseases. Can we stop for a moment and think about the meaning of quarantine from the perspective of remote working as a norm not as an exception? Regarding the waste of energy and the contradiction between the centralised offices and the common-sense health considerations, below are two aspects: ·          natural light ·          fresh air One thing that hit me today was the amount of “window space” for each employee working on a centralised office. This mean that in a sea of working stations (desktops = furniture) only a few benefit of the sun while the rest remain dependant to the artificial light. As this isn’t enough another aspect of big offices is the centralised climatization that is in opposition with the so called obsolete “open a window for fresh air”. So

"Hell is the absence of reason", somebody said. I relocated to an office in another country, just to spend >90% of time at a desk, rarely seeing what I designed. I am open to travel but, let’s face it, 90% of the delivery process is done at a desk in front of a monitor and those could be anywhere in the world. The inclusion & diversity will truly work by allowing people to work and deliver their brain power from a familiar environment. In my case, I just changed one desk with another, 3200 km away from my life. As a result I'm struggling with depression. We are talking about unleash your creativity while the work pattern/policy demands people to be tied to an office and to slightly modified 9-5 pm work day. We are talking about reducing our carbon footprint while > 70 % of employees commute because they either cannot afford buy a property in the city – near the office or they want to have a garden and be closer to nature => they are forced to move f

I will start his with the link below: https://www.lifesavvy.com/6505/is-it-hard-to-stay-productive-when-you-work-from-home/ I am mentioning this as it seems that the status quo representing by the almost-mandatory presence of employees in the centralized office is not aligned with the innovation diversity & inclusion , reduced carbon footprint , energy efficient and so on - advertised. The other day somebody said something about unleashing the/your creativity … but it seems to me that many companies are stuck in a work pattern (factory like) from the 60’s. We are talking about 5G internet speed and autonomous electric vehicles, but we aren't willing to challenge the impracticability’s of the day to day life. As I commuted for several years, I end up seeing that there is problem that needs to be addressed at the core of how businesses are organised. Way too many people travel to work (centralised offices) in the era www. 8 hrs x 5 + 1.5hrs x 5= 40+7.5 => on

The first rule of survival and thrive is team. I am coming from Eastern Europe and I see how much the Western world empowered the self-reliance (single people and divorce) inside the society and how much people here are reliant on "the grid". Yes, there are some “partners” but there are also a lot of single parents or people that are not in a long-term relation. During my childhood, my grandparents didn't have electricity and we carry water from the well. Food was cooked on the stove (mud bricks stove) and the fire was with corn plant sticks - that, the year before, were fed to the cows - to eat the dried leaf. You could say that my grandparents (god rest their souls) lived off grid and their day to day (normal) life was planned a year in advance (taking care of the livestock and the crops). They were working as a team and the love and happiness came second. These days (I'm divorced) I see that the women empowerment is going much farther than the real means to cope

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secret-lasting-culture-margaret-keane/ “This is important because to unleash innovation and meaningful results, you need room to make bold decisions, test and learn from mistakes, and importantly have the support of your team. As technology moves faster and market conditions change, we’re fundamentally a stronger company because we care about each other and the work that we do. We care about getting it right for our partners our consumers and our employees.” Sadly, seems that it takes more courage (than initially thought) for a company to truly embrace the technological innovations. Most or them are overwhelmingly stuck in 9 to 5 pm (nu matter how flexible they advertised to be) & 5 days / week. People are still tied to one particular desk in a particular office. Even when you put the economic aspects in the equation, still the employers are reluctant to change. The costs implied by the work-related commute are growing in direct proportion wit

This is an old theme and it’s referring to the values promoted by the mainstream media. From buy that: Car: o    Fancy (that will attract look on the street), o    powerful off road or o    electrical (dishonest called green transportation vehicle), Home: o    luxurious villa, o    fancy apartment in a nice neighbourhood or o    even an off-grid home.        Clothes         Gadgets        Etc. To:          The best way to work is …,          The best way to be fit is …,        Etc.  World is a market where many are shouting their outputs and sadly, the ones that shout louder have more success. If you want, is similar with the saying “history is written by the conquerors”. Well, there were very few things in the human history, that were done without thinking outside the box . Also, the known history is teaching us that, along the years, there were many trends regarding fashion and life/societal behaviours. For a youngster it is hard

You could see advertised the new and “the best / cool” offices built. Yes, they could be the greatest but let’s face it, there are cracks in that shiny mirror. As long as the vast majority of employers demand full presence at the desk , they cool offices imply the overwhelming need of: a.        people to travel there (at the “cool office” location), b.        or people to live nearby (to avoid waste of resources on commute), c.        assume that at least 50% the people will use bicycles or some kind of electric vehicles suitable for short commute distances, d.        those electric vehicles for short commute , will imply storage / parking and charging ports / facilities, e.        those electric vehicles (suitable for small distance commute) are not that green as is advertised, f.         people nearby imply decent housing (to assume that people are happy there), g.        but decent housing imply decent developments nearby (houses and flats with a lot of gr

This morning, walking (as usual) to office, a thought hit me while feeling a certain discomfort on my spine. I do have a lumbar hernia as a result of more than 5 years of commuting by car – more than 2 hrs/day driving (+ the hours spent at the office). The though is linked to the employee wellbeing emails and /or pseudo-actions (mostly, let’s face it, to tick some boxes) that many employers / companies are taking. Yes, there are manufacturers where the “brain factor” is a smaller component (%) in the overall activity / production line. There, the wellbeing of the employees should be targeted mainly to the physical aspect of their activity. My subject is referring to the design offices for which, the tools are represented by the employees creativity (brain), computers and internet connection . I am sure that all the major players in this type of industries are take steps in considering their employee wellbeing. My observation is in the similarity between the cattle farming

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/airbus-takes-off-amid-boeing-woes-4702772/ What was happening with Boeing is just a symptom of these times. The ever-growing production fuelled by the fierce competition which is fuelled by the shareholders which are fuelled by the craving for fast high profits (putting dollar over piles of dollars) is depleting the natural and human resources while killing directly and indirectly thousands of people. Was pointed to the fact that the software was done by low paid workers somewhere in Asia (India I think) but was not said that those people (as low as they are paid) are worked almost like slaves. This is just the tip of the iceberg. While moving to the East, where the workforce is cheaper , the companies also increase pace – asking more in the same unit of time . What is at the core of this: ·          the competition between companies; ·          which is driven by the profits; ·          which is driven by the never-ending hunger for m

Recently, on a well-known professional network platform, I encountered a person that told me “ you don’t have anything of value unless others are decided that is worth it ”. Imagine that I was outraged until I saw that he was a CEO of an Investment Fund. I have replied to him that is sad he things one should wait the validation from outside while the real value come from within. I know that he was conditioned (by his profession) to think in this way but nevertheless he (a well over 50 years of age) is representative for the corporate max profit oriented. The shareholders interest used to justify measures that have poisoned countries and destroy human life is all over the globe . When I say human life I’m including the flora & fauna , as we are all linked with ties that, hopefully, will become more obvious for all. Some people must realise that there are no walls thick or high enough to shelter them from the global problems (either we are talking about socio-economical or env

Unable to pay for the commute  !?!? https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/londoners-skipping-work-because-they-are-cannot-afford-the-commuteers-have-skipped-work-because-they-a4194391.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1f0pGfi99e9cXc9937oaeT2ZkAm2xIBrul2VLQXKEPcPqGXmw5QRXEVQM#Echobox=1563693810 The above example is targeting London but let’s be honest and admit that the problem is world wide spread issue. The “brain branches” ( the ones using computers and internet to create value ) of our global economy could and should break apart from the mainstream policy. This is an economical aspect of the employee cost that no employer is taking seriously. Ask every employer that you could find, and you will see that no one is truly consider the commute as an expense (time & money) for the employee. If is to say the employers prefer the most efficient way to have people/employees “ living in dorm like buildings over the street from the office / work pl

This summer, as usual in the last 3 years, I have spent my time back home (Romania) with my family. Since I have relocated in UK (January 2016) I cannot say that I had more than 1 week (in total) of normal holiday – involving “seeing / visiting new places”. I have spent my leave with my family either back home or here in UK. This summer I did ride my motorcycle back to Romania where I plan to relocate until springtime. During this trip I had the opportunity to see how crowded are the motorways near big cities and, subsequently, how many resources are spent by people commuting to work (across Europe). This is an approach that must be stopped if is hope for cleaner air and more quality time with our families. In my opinion, remote working must be the first option “on the table”. Across organisation is published the “do I need to travel – to do the trip for that meeting”; “can be done remotely “via Skype, email, phone”? This is while, daily, thousands are commuting to office, “doi

All over the place people / organisations are talking about climate change , carbon footprint , diversity & inclusion , but sincerely I do not see a significant action plan. my type of inclusion and diversity = Inca wall that is very strong and earthquake resistant…. I am from a seismic area of the globe this is what I understand as diversity & inclusion as an overall implemented model. The weather is giving us warnings and the way in which we (the governments) are behaving is a indication of the system weaknesses. We see that does not take much to produce a serious imbalance of the society and we are still continuing to do, as whole, the same things that we did in the past half of century. We are talking about 5G and autonomous vehicles but in the same time we are sticking to squeeze people/brains/personalities in centralized (physical) offices. I’m not talking here about the small steps taken in the renewable energy, waste management and electric v

It all started due to the fact that my personal life is in a severe imbalance with the professional one. I have started to look closely on the current socio-economical pattern according to which our society works (in the Western World at least). The result is that I am in the middle of a struggle with the old established business model that, in my opinion, is no longer feasible. M8 motorway (Glasgow area) is a constant traffic jam during the critical hours of the day. I saw the same issue in other parts of Europe while travelling back home. In order to keep the momentum, a company should be truly open to a flexible work approach and remote working. Technicians / engineers should be allowed to work from abroad on UK (or worldwide) projects, there are few aspects that could be mentioned:           I know that there are Global Design Centers to do the bulk of the work, but I must bring into attention the idea of network of networks . We must acknowledge that we are applying