Changing the World One Workstation at a Time

“Let’s change the world we work in, not just the way we work.” – Frank Cottle

Frank Cottle, Founder and Chairman of the Alliance Business Centers Network, took the stage this morning to present a project that is seeking to change the world one workstation at a time.

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Before he presented his idea and his project, Mr. Cottle took some time to address some of the key issues affecting our industry — mainly the lack of awareness both from those within the industry as those outside of it.

One of the reasons this issue exists, according to Mr. Cottle, is due to the fact that the industry doesn’t have a clear cut mission defined.

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“New way to work, social workplaces, a better way to work, a work lifestyle change. All of these are slogans. They are not a mission statement of who we are as an industry.”

Mr. Cottle continued by providing and enlightening us with an industry mission statement: “Our industry’s (the flexible workspace industry) mission is to create value which helps our clients to grow their business through flexibility, community, and unparalleled services.”

“We accomplish this by delivering a combination of people, place, and technology in a highly flexible service that provides a significant higher value than those things provided separately.”

This last part brought him to address another issue the industry is facing; the need to realize that we are all – coworking, business centers, virtual offices, accelerators, makers, logistics centers – part of one and the same industry.

He explains it quite simply. “Think about it, we all provide people, place, and technology. We just do it in different ratios.”

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So all, as one industry, need to work together to continue on the path of growth, success, and recognition.

Flexible workspace operators take people, place, and technology and combine it to create a strong social purpose. Mr. Cottle, alongside Tony Bacigalupo and Nate Heasley, have developed a project to help create a higher social purpose that will involve all sectors of the industry.

The project, called, All Good Work will consist of a website that functions as a directory that includes all types of workspaces and will connect them with non-profit and charity organizations that are in the need of a space to work.

It’s a way to maximize the use of workspace while at the same time contributing to a greater good, one that’s outside of us and is completely aligned with the strong sense of community that flexible workspaces offer.