Business has never had to work harder, faster, or smarter. Markets have gone global, deadlines have grown shorter, and margins are being squeezed.

But despite these new challenges, which have transformed business, the "modern office" hasn't changed all that much in the last few decades. (Put a computer on this gentleman's desk, spruce up that comb-over, and this employee from the 1940s might look right at home in many companies today.)

Today's business realities mean that everyone in the office has to contribute to the company's energy, its productivity, and its bottom-line - including the "office" itself. Sometimes it feels like the entire business landscape changes as often as the seasons.

Business is constantly reinventing itself, with new cognitions developing every day on how markets and competition work. These new mental models require new physical models as well. We can read Tom Peters and Fast Company and Secrets of Yet Another Silicon Valley Startup until the cows come home, but remember this: people do not change unless you place them in a new physical context.

WorkVirtual is about challenging employees to rethink and refine every process in their working life by placing them in an environment that doesn't just inspire reinvention, but demands it. This website is designed to be a source of information and inspiration for companies trying to create a more effective, a more stimulating, and, ultimately, a more human workspace.

Some people read about change. Others build it.

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All written material (c) 1999 by Stevan Alburty