The Pilgrim's Guide to the Workplace

ISBN-13: 9789811947582 / Angielski / Miękka / 2022

Agustin Chevez

Opis

This is an Open Access book.Hoping to incubate a unique idea about workplace design, Dr. Agustin Chevez walked in isolation for 42 days from Melbourne to Sydney. His pilgrimage delivered 34 Signposts, a collection of insights which hold the promise to guide us to a better place to work.    While firmly positioned within the shifting context of work, the Signposts point away from reactive solutions with a short shelf life. Instead, these markers are infused with a diversity of thought instilled by Agustin’s pilgrimage and reclaim the forgotten qualities of solitude, boredom, adversity, and absurdity as mechanisms to deliver innovation and create improved working environments.   On his way to Sydney Agustin relied on maps and people with local knowledge of the lands he traversed. Similarly, in this book, he consults people with local knowledge in various design disciplines, management, and technology as he navigates the many regions of the workplace and work practices covered by the Signposts. When he reaches the end of the known trails, he starts laying paths that take us closer to where the Signposts converge.  Agustin writes from the perspective of a pilgrim, architect, workplace consultant, and researcher and invites you to join him as a fellow pilgrim. You will be rewarded with a journey that revisits our assumptions about the way we use space to host the ever-evolving notion of work – an expedition leading not only to better versions of the workplace, but a better version of ourselves.  “This book takes about three hours to read, and it could take a lifetime to fully extract all the benefits that it contains. This does not suggest that there are not immediate benefits available from reflecting on and applying the Signposts that are core to the book's intellectual contribution.”
                                                                       - Peer Review extract

Spis treści

Forewords

Prologue. ix

Part 1                    The road less travelled. 1

Chapter 1          Iguanas, isolation, and ideas. 2

Chapter 2          About this book. 4

Chapter 3          Spoiler alert 5

Chapter 4          A note on COVID-19. 6

Part 2                    The making of a pilgrimage. 9

Chapter 5          Anatomy of a pilgrimage. 10

Chapter 6          No pain, no gain. 13

Chapter 7          My two rules. 15

Chapter 8          The Herzog enigma. 17

Chapter 9          The idea. 20

Chapter 10       Why, and for which charity?. 22

Chapter 11       Having fun. 23

Part 3                    Sisyphus goes to Sydney. 25

Chapter 12       Step one. 26

Chapter 13       Life at 4.6 km/hr. 27

Chapter 14       My backpack. 30

Chapter 15       Award winning scones. 33

Chapter 16       The good, the bad, and the ugly. 35

Chapter 17       Rubbish snakes. 38

Chapter 18       Where are the idiots?. 40

Chapter 19       Winds. 43

Chapter 20       The perfect day. 44

Chapter 21       The very last step. 48

Chapter 22       Mind lag. 52

Part 4                      Real steps,  virtual pilgrimage. 55

Chapter 23           Virtual pilgrimage, real pain  56

O autorze

As an Architect and academic, Dr Agustin Chevez has dedicated his career to understanding the notion of work and uncovering environments that best support our working lives. His interest in the relationship between people, space and technology saw him pursue a PhD on the evolution of workplace architecture as a consequence of technology development. Agustin has worked at leading design firms in Australia delivering workplace strategies and research insights around the world. His work has been presented at various international forums, including TEDx, and a variety of industry and academic publications. 
Agustin is a workplace consultant, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Centre for Design Innovation at Swinburne University and an Honorary Fellow at the School of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne.