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[Ros Crompton]

Dear Justus, Alan and List Friends,

Below is the note from Paul Everett about the 'pyramid building' which
Paul mentioned during OSonOSinOZ.  I looked at the Steelcase web site
just for interest too, and found an interesting congruence between the
ideas behind the building and the ethos of the company as it is on show.

Warmly, Ros.


Ros Crompton
Professional & Personal Coach, Speaker Trainer
When you're moving with strength of purpose, nothing can stop you.

Momentum Learning, Australia
Tel: +61 3 9808-4202
Cell/Mob: 0417-229-335
Email:  ros at momentum-learning.com



Dear Ros,

The speaker was me, Paul Everett, husband of Joelle Everett, who kindly
picked this off the OS listserv and sent it to me because I am not
reading the List right now, life being what it is, busy and filled with
various crises. We returned from OSonOsinOz to Chaos.

The building is Steelcase's Research and Development center in Michigan,
I think it was Grand Rapids (I was in four different Michigan cities on
that trip, so that may be in error). It has been 15 years ago that I was
there. The building is a four-sided pyramid about six or more stories
tall. Some of the designs to improve creativity and communications
included the following:

* Very few, very small elevators to move people or materials from floor
to floor. People don't talk on elevators. Instead, access is usually by
escalators going up the inside of the pyramid because people talk on
escalators.

* In the center of each wall of the pyramid on most floors' outside
edge, if not every floor, is a spontaneous gathering place complete with
coffee, tea, water, high stools and round tables, white boards, paper,
markers, etc., etc., for impromptu brainstorming, meetings,
problem-solving, etc. That means that there are four such centers on
each floor, maybe. I didn't actually see that on every floor, so I may
be wrong on how many but that they did exist on many floors is correct.

* There are no offices with walls, even for the director. Everyone is in
cubicles, padded, with hushers, and the walls are just over waist high,
so talk between people is fairly easy. There are glassed-in meeting
rooms where people can meet and talk in a private way, if needed. The
entire floor is very visible.

* There were some training rooms inside the building on the first floor
where seminars are held with both internal and external resource
persons. When I was there, a very prestigious quality expert was holding
forth (not Deming, but someone who was well known in quality). At the
time, Steelcase was moving vigorously to embrace the Lean paradigm of
production, customer service, quality, etc. (See Association for
Manufacturing Excellence--www.ame.org; Lean Enterprise Institute, etc.)

* In the center of the building, suspended from the top, was a huge ball
that oscillated back and forth and changed positions as the earth
turned. Not sure of its purpose other than as an art form. There was
also some conversation about the "energy" of the place because of the
pyramidal form, but that was anecdotal, at best.

That's what I can recall right off the top of my head. I'm sure there is
probably something in architectural archives about the design because it
was sure unusual for the times and the company themselves may have
something on it on their website. Such things as websites were nascent
in those days, if at all present, so I haven't any information about it.
I'm amused at myself about "those days" because, time wise, it wasn't so
long ago but technology-wise, it was just the beginning of the
technological renaissance we now almost take for granted and that
enables this message to you.

Hope you find this helpful and if you wish, it's OK to post on the
Listserv so others can have the information.

Yours truly,

Paul Everett, Consultant

Lean Systems Thinking

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