Build a Better Workplace

By Tom Terez

Help! Sameness is taking over our workplaces!

Offices look the same. Cubicles look the same. Break rooms look the same.

Meetings are virtual reruns. So are those templated presentations. So are so many everyday interactions. So are the little walks we take from one place to another in our immediate work areas.

From grand boardrooms to gritty factories, from super-sized multinationals to sole proprietorships, it’s the same deal. It all boils down to one big ditto.

What about you? Are things pretty much the same for you workday after workday? If so, are you okay with this? Might you be letting it happen in a way? Are you wearing sameness like some old comfy cardigan?

I can ask because I’ve been there, wearing that same cardigan. Some days I’m there all over again. Sameness is easy. That’s why we call it the comfort zone.

But is sameness as fun as different? Does sameness inspire? Does it instruct? Does it energize? Does it hold our interest? Does it engage our curiosity? Does it spark our creativity? Does it fuel us to do our best? Does it transform our work into something more?

The truth is, different is easy too. Take one small step once a day as an antidote to sameness, and you’ll start feeling better immediately.

Walk over to a different work area and start a new conversation. Skip email and pick up the phone. Skip the phone and meet in person. Read a book or magazine on a topic you’ve never considered. Map out your part of the work process and make an improvement.

If you conduct meetings, change them up to get more people talking. If you tend to be a talker, conduct your own test day of forced listening. If you’re always holding back, marshal your courage and speak up.

And if you’re the kind of person who reads these posts without acting on them, well…you know what to do.

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