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Suburban Revolutionaries
The NINE principles of the Home-Office Paradigm
7 From ‘Employee’ to ‘Partner’
What’s the primary difference between an employee and someone running their own business?
Essentially, an employee ‘has’ a boss and someone running a business ‘is’ the boss. That may be a case of the ‘blindingly obvious’ and it is important.
The push toward ‘outsourcing’ is an extension of the ‘consultant’ theme that acknowledges that a single business can’t do it alone. Sometimes it is easier, quicker and the results are better if someone outside the company does the work.
This is a crucial opening for home-based business. It is often the source of many people on the road to setting up a home-office. Many have lost their tenure of employment only to be re-employed to do the same work based at home.
On a grander scale, multinational companies are now forging alliances with other companies to take on major projects. In some cases these new partnerships are between companies that were previously bitter rivals. Microsoft and Apple Computers is one such example.
The common ground in all these situations is the need for information. A company seeking a partnership, an alliance or outsourcing a service is saying ‘I don’t know everything that is needed to know’. The scenario of a boss barking the orders to the workers on the production line has given way to co-operation and partnership in working with others.
In the context of the home-office this may dissolve the strict separation between the partner that ‘stays at home’ and the one that ‘works’. It may be an opening for the whole family to be involved in the business in some way. Partnership at home and work.
8 From ‘Commuting’ to ‘Community’
“Oh, how it used to be… one could walk down the street and talk to the neighbours over their front fence… there was such a wonderful community here then…”
One could pick a street at random, particularly any inner city street and count the number of high fences relative to those front doors that can be seen from the footpath. Where did all those fences come from?
One factor in this scenario is the absentee of the occupant during the working week. With most people off to work, who’s there to look after the place? Perhaps it’s better to put up a high fence to discourage intruders?
With more people working from home and spending more time in their local community the sense of neighbourhood changes.
The scenario of ‘work all week, home to bed and away for a weekend’ creates a certain feel to the local area. Typically, there is a feeling of emptiness, an emptiness of people. Alternatively, being at home most of the day creates a new stronger connection to your local community.
I’m not suggesting the local shopping strip will re-emerge from the shadow of the shopping mall and I am suggesting a new blend of community will develop.
This patterns also hints at changes in infrastructure requirements, particularly roads. Our road network is based upon the peak loadings of rush hour commuters. Dissolve peak hour and your transport needs for the entire community change dramatically.
It’s time to re-invent our notions of ‘community’.
9 From ‘Passive Attendance’ to ‘Active Ownership’
Do you own any power tools?
The electric saw may seem like a fairly innocuous invention yet its impact socially has been enormous. The ‘Do-It-Yourself’ market emerges out of technology making it easy and affordable for people to become their own handyman.
The humble electric saw opened the way for a total shift in retailing around building and craftwork - the humble hardware store has given way to mega-stores that offer a complete ‘fix it, make it and create it’ service for your house. Likewise, information technology promises a similar offering in terms of knowledge and expertise.
There are already a number of products falling out of the legal profession that fit the DIY context. These include conveyancing, wills and probate.
In the area of planning your home-office, a similar set of products are emerging. My book “A Home-Office You Love” is intended for people to create their own design briefs in mapping out their ideal home-office.
There are also a range of software modelling tools that promote the ‘Design-Your-Own’ trend. Currently they may merely be 3D drawing tools and soon they will offer advice, suggestions and the like to assist you in making the changes that has your work space work for you.
Further to this, in speaking with home-based business people there is a growing sense of ownership of their workspace. If you’re going to be spending your days at home AND you’re going to be inviting clients into your home AND you own your house, these are compelling reasons to be ‘own’ the responsibility for having it be great.
Rather than a passive attendance at a workplace, an active ownership of your living environment is emerging. I’d encourage you to ‘own’ your space.
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