{"id":3582,"date":"2019-02-22T14:22:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T19:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/?p=3582"},"modified":"2019-02-22T14:22:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T19:22:22","slug":"the-value-added-of-adding-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/2019\/02\/22\/the-value-added-of-adding-values\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cValue-Added\u201d of Adding Values"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/p>\n

In a New York Times Magazine article, \u201cThe Rise of the WeWorking Class,<\/a>\u201d Gideon Lewis-Kraus extols the virtues of the relatively young company WeWork, arguing that it is the company\u2019s culture that has driven its success. WeWork (as far as I understand it) functions as a commercial subleaser, providing office-share space for \u2013\u2013 you guessed it \u2013\u2013 entrepreneurs, as well as small startups and (at least some) traditional companies looking to save costs on renting office space.<\/p>\n

Most recently, corporations such Liberty Mutual, IBM, and Sprint have even begun to take up shop within WeWork-owned space. As Lewis-Kraus paints a picture of what a work-day in the life is like for those who make one of WeWork\u2019s 425 locations their office home, it\u2019s not hard to see why. Perks such as top-shelf coffee, modern furnishings, and kombucha are part of the appeal but these amenities are not WeWork\u2019s true value-added. That particular distinction belongs to its ability to (literally) bring people together.<\/p>\n

WeWork designs its spaces to force more human interaction. Not only are there multiple common spaces and centralized water coolers, but even the hallways are constructed to generate conversation through their sheer narrowness. Together with WeWork\u2019s intentional weekly social activities (Taco Tuesdays, yoga classes, happy hours, etc.), there is a cultivated sense of belonging among a group of individual workers that would otherwise be isolated. Sole practitioner CPAs mingle with novelists and wedding planners in WeWork\u2019s shared space, and as consequence their work takes on new meaning.<\/p>\n

Miguel McKelvey, WeWork\u2019s founder, explains to his team, \u201cYou\u2019re not building work space. You\u2019re here building a new infrastructure to rebuild social fabric and rebuild up the potential for human connection.\u201d In a world where isolating work continues to drive job dissatisfaction<\/a> perhaps WeWork provides a solution.<\/p>\n

Questions to Consider:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. WeWork can be understood both as the work of entrepreneurship (a disrupter to the modern commercial leasing market) as well as a facilitator of new entrepreneurs. Can it really provide “Values” (as Christensen would understand them) to a company if that is what is supposed to be the most ingrained?<\/li>\n
  2. Duhigg’s article on job dissatisfaction suggests that taking a stable<\/em> job may lead to misery because the individual doesn’t get an opportunity to learn from many setbacks. Does this fit logically within one’s own idea of what one should look for in the job market? Should we seek hardship that we might garner “meaningful work” along the way?<\/li>\n
  3. Taken together, the two articles suggests that finding meaning in one’s work may be facilitated (perhaps most) by working with people that one enjoys and respects. If this is true, has WeWork just gotten lucky or is there something about a group of individual entrepreneurs working in the same place that inevitably leads to higher rates of social positivity?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Links to Articles and Images:<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe Rise of the WeWorking Class,\u201d by Gideon Lewis-Kraus. Published by\u00a0The New York Times Magazine.<\/a><\/p>\n

    “America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable,” by Charles Duhigg. Published by\u00a0The New York Times Magazine.<\/a><\/p>\n

    https:\/\/www.wework.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a New York Times Magazine article, \u201cThe Rise of the WeWorking Class,\u201d Gideon Lewis-Kraus extols the virtues of the relatively young company WeWork, arguing that it is the company\u2019s culture that has driven its success. WeWork (as far as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3280,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3583,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582\/revisions\/3583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/entrepreneurlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}