How Design Can Positively Impact Civic Engagement
In Washington DC where I live, civic engagement is part of the DNA of the city. My …
Workplace Design
Being an Outsider at Work
Being an Outsider at Work If you’ve bought anything from LL Bean recently you might…
Co-Working Is Not What You Think
Several weeks ago a women-only co-working / social club space opened up in Georgetow…
The Nesting Instinct: Why we “need” our own stuff and our own space at work
If you have ever been pregnant or known someone who is pregnant, you are aware of th…
How to Design an Emotionally Safe Workplace
How can we design an emotionally safe workplace in this era of exposed sexual harass…
Measuring Health and Human Performance
How do we measure human performance? It's fair to say that measuring human performa…
Aetna’s Chief Mindfulness Officer: An Interview with Andy Lee
There are a number of stories out there of individuals who have benefitted from the …
Stress Management in the Workplace
When it comes to work and workplace health, one of the biggest challenges is stress …
Nature Fixes Everything: An Interview with Florence Williams
What does being in nature have to do with our happiness, health or productivity? Ap…
Is the Office Obsolete?
I was recently asked, "Why do people need to go into the office?" It wasn't a naïve…
A Healthy Environment Can Nudge Behavior
Consider the many ways a healthy environment impacts our decision-making. What we s…
Healthy Workplace Book Recommendations for 2017
Here are my top 8 "healthy workplace" book recommendations and why you will benefit from reading them. Some might surprise you!
10 Easy Ways to Create a Healthy Workplace
Studies show that people who feel more “in control” of their work and work environment are less likely to suffer from stress and illness and see increases in productivity.
FITWEL and the Center for Active Design, an Interview with Joanna Frank
Joanna Frank is the Executive Director of the Center for Active Design (CfAD) in New…
Brave Endurance Podcast #63 – “We All Like a Little Cheetah” Episode
I recently got the chance to speak with Dr. James Kelley from the Brave Endurance Po…
The *Real* Reason Open Offices Bother Us So Much: An Interview with Ethan Bernstein, Professor at Harvard Business School
You might have read a recent article in the Harvard Business Review called The Trans…
Creating a Wellness Movement: Interview with Laura Putnam, Author of Workplace Wellness that Works
Laura Putnam, author of Workplace Wellness that Works: 10 Steps to Infuse Well-Bei…
What Can Casinos Teach Us about Designing Healthy Workplaces?
I’m reading the book Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas by Natasha D…
Unlocking Creativity at Work: An Interview with Teresa Amabile, Professor and Director of Research at Harvard Business School
Last year I got the chance to see and meet Teresa Amabile at a conference in Boston …
Making Space for Tranquility at Work, Advice from Sharon Salzberg
If you live in the Western Hemisphere and study mindfulness, meditation and its conn…
Healthy Buildings and Beyond: An Interview with Paul Scialla, Founder of Delos and the International WELL Building Institute
In case you haven’t heard it yet, there is a new well-being standard in town. It’s t…
How Space Influences Your Attitudes, Behaviors and Biases: An Interview with Sally Augustin, PhD
The “most worn” book by my desk is a book called Place Advantage: Applied Psychology…
A Vegan Workplace, and Other Needs
Recently I had dinner with a two friends who are both workplace strategy directors f…
The Benefits of Circadian Lighting
If your workplace does not have windows, or even if it does, consider installing circadian lighting that provides light waves to trigger wakefulness.
The Power of “Choice Architecture” at Work
You know how you walk into a grocery store and find yourself buying food at the end …
The Importance of Choice on Worker Health
Robert Karasek, an industrial engineer and sociologist, and Tores Theorell, a specia…
The Conflict between Work and the Workforce
This disconcerting image (above) is a drawing from Lennart Levi, who has given 4,000…
Interview with Executive Medical Director of Mercy Virtual, Dr. Thomas Hale
I recently got the opportunity to meet Tom Hale, MD, PhD, the Executive Medical Dire…
Individual and Group “Flow” in the Workplace
I've been obsessing lately on human performance, specifically, what makes us produc…
The Value of Urban Friction
I recently read Jonah Lehrer's book Imagine: How Creativity Works. There are severa…
Fuji Kindergarten: Lessons in Movement by Design
I recently saw a great TED talk by Takaharu Tezuka, describing his design of a kinde…
Is Coffee the New Gin?
I recently heard Seth Godin, one of my favorite "thought leaders," discuss a major s…
How Can Space Promote Creativity?
There have been dramatic shifts over the last several hundred years that have profou…
We Shape Our Buildings
I have often borrowed Winston Churchill's quote, "We shape our buildings; thereafter…
How do you make room for “mindfulness” in the workplace?
Check out the latest Work Design Magazine article for how! http://workdesign.com/…
Love It or Hate It: Why the “Open Office” is Under Fire
Over the years, environmental psychologists have interviewed people of all ages and …