The culture of any organization is about habits, but it’s also about habitats.

With global competition and disruption coming from all sides, it’s clear the world is changing, and quickly. It’s also clear organizations need to embrace a growth mindset to fuel innovation by becoming more agile, encourage constant and continuous learning and rapidly adapt to new possibilities.

But change is always difficult, and organizations need ways to inspire this shift. There are many choices leaders can make to accelerate the transition. The places where people work shape their behaviors, and this can ultimately lead to a change in organizational culture. Workplace design can jumpstart innovation by creating spaces that help people experiment, take risks and learn as much from what doesn’t work as what does. The newest Steelcase Learning and Innovation Center (LINC), recently opened in Munich, is a node on the company’s global network and is part of a geographically distributed approach to innovation. An inspiring and high-performing space, the LINC is designed with an understanding of how learning, creativity and innovation interconnect and demonstrates how the habitats where people work can activate a culture shift by fostering a new set of habits.

“For an organization to scale innovation and growth, its employees need to be continuously sharing ideas and learning from each other—in real time, face-to-face and across locations,” explains Jim Keane, former Steelcase president and CEO. “This often requires making some fundamental changes in how they connect and interact, so that ideas and information can flow more freely. By bringing people together and supporting them in more collaborative and creative ways of working, the workplace can help an organization achieve a stronger sense of community and higher levels of agility and alignment. This fuels innovation and drives value.”

NEXT CHAPTER – Changing Mindsets