For nearly two decades, the leadership team of Steelcase, the office furniture manufacturer, was located on one of the top floors of the global corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, overlooking the prairie surrounding its campus. In 2014, after Jim Keane was promoted from COO to CEO, he decided to move the leadership team across campus to what the company calls the Learning and Innovation Center, the main crossroads through which employees frequently pass. The new office space on the ground floor is now buzzing with interactions between leaders, employee teams and customers throughout the day.
"I loved my old office and old space. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it," says Keane, "[But] the way my team [now] flanks the core aisle, the majority of office activity funnels down that aisle, and we get to witness it all. I’m not going to learn anything if I just keep working with something that is very comfortable for me."