Office Shock: Creating Better Futures for Working and Living

“A thoughtful, practical read about the future of the flexible office.”—Adam Grant

“Office shock” is an abrupt, unsettling change in where, when, how, and even why we work. In this visionary book, three prominent futurists argue that the office is both a place and a process—offices and officing—with a new range of choices, including what they call the emerging officeverse.

To see the possibilities with fresh eyes, we must use future-back thinking to ask, What is the purpose of your officing? What are the outcomes—especially regarding climate—you want to achieve? With whom do you want to office? How will you augment your intelligence? Where and when will you office? How will you create an agile office?

Traditional offices were often unfair, uncomfortable, uncreative, and unproductive. This book explores how to seize this great opportunity to transform office work.

Bob Johansen is a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley. He is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including Full-Spectrum Thinking.

Joseph Press is a former workplace designer, transformation expert, and futures architect. He is the coauthor of IDeaLs (Innovation and Design as Leadership) and cofounder of the consulting cooperative MakeOurFuture.

Christine Bullen is an information systems professor who codeveloped the critical success factors methodology when she was at MIT.