Dear coworking,
You continue to impress, inspire, and lead the way into the future of work. The evolution of our industry from scrappy space operators with a big vision, pop-up coworking at pubs and coffee shops, and folding tables doubling as desks wherever there was wifi is truly remarkable.
I believe we’ll look back on those early days as the beginning of a sea change in how people worked, and thought about work.
The do-it-together coworking model proved the need for workspaces that centered on humans rather than the space. And, if I may indulge my music nerd for a moment, in the same way that The Ramones and The Clash paved the way for Green Day, the coworking pioneers paved the way for coworking as we know it today, with big buildings, big design, big money, and big growth.
And just as there are punk purists who would never consider Green Day a true punk band, there are coworking purists who don’t want anything to do with the current iteration of coworking.
I’m not one of them.
I believe the growth and evolution of coworking is good for humanity. My purpose at CJ Co is to create a world of activated and connected people doing work we love. And coworking is the perfect vehicle to do that.
But I’m concerned that the word “coworking” is being misused. The prefix “co” means with, together, or jointly. But there are a lot of spaces focused more on the space and the hospitality than on the co.
But the co is what changed the game.
Office rental has been around a long time. But coworking came in and created something entirely different. It created spaces that helped members level-up their work and life … in community. Some of these communities are loose-knit, and some of them are tight, but the common characteristic is that they’re human-first spaces.
As we see incredible tech and software innovations in the industry, more and more dollars being invested into spaces and brands, and a new coworking market that includes a lot of corporates and remote workers, I have one request for us all:
Don’t fumble this moment.
Don’t take the easy way out. Don’t forgo the hard, essential work of building community one person at a time for a transactional space where churn is high, members are strangers, and closed office doors are the norm.
Because that isn’t coworking.
I don’t want to see the word coworking become synonymous with flexible office and meeting room rental. There are space operators and community managers around the world working too hard for this to happen; people who are pouring their heart and soul into their members, space, and business.
Coworking has a growing opportunity to continue to be truly remarkable—to be something that changes lives, neighborhoods, regions, and our world. To be something extraordinary, and not just the latest commercial real estate office trend.
So double-down on your people, double-down on your vision, and be the person working to create something extraordinary. The moment is ours to embrace. Let’s rise to the occasion and continue to be the people that changed everything.
Further together,
Cat
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