Loading...

PODCAST

What The F* is Happening to The Office?

What the F* is Happening to the Office? The workplace is being reinvented—and we"re talking to the people leading the charge. From architects to real estate strategists, tech innovators to culture experts, this podcast dives into the seismic shifts reshaping where and how we work. If you’re building, designing, managing, or just trying to make sense of the new office landscape, this is your front-row seat to the ideas, experiments, and people redefining the future of work.

arts design

All Episodes

00:54:18

The Workplace Supply Chain: The Hidden Business...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/10/01

Everyone's fighting about where people work. Almost nobody's asking the question that actually matters: why would anyone want to come in at all?In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, Bob Fox sits down with Beth Goff-McMillan, CEO of SKG, one of the largest woman-owned businesses in Texas, and founder of FOLIO, to go past the return-to-office debate and into the business that actually supplies the modern workplace.Beth will tell you a five-day mandate can't fix

en

01:02:38

Engagement Does Not Drive Revenue - So What Does? |...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/09/21

Happy employees don't necessarily produce better business results.In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, Bob Fox talks with Dr. Yasmeem Coning, founder of Ember, about why engagement, the metric most companies lean on, may be too sentiment-driven to actually predict revenue, retention, or performance. The real driver, she argues, is something deeper: collective organizational identification, or how strongly people connect their work to their own self-concept.Yasmeem breaks

en

00:44:17

The Science Behind Thermostat Wars | Nicola Gerrett,...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/09/08

Every office has that one person who's freezing while everyone else is fine. In this episode, Bob Fox talks with Dr. Nicola Garrett, Ph. D. a thermophysiologist at Gentherm and one of roughly 300 people in the world who study this for a living. Nicola's background is in human performance, soldiers in extreme environments, elite athletes, drivers, and she's now bringing that science into the office. They dig into why office HVAC systems were built around a narrow, outdated user profile;

en

00:54:26

Why Open Offices Fail — and What Actually Works |...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/08/09

A consulting firm spent 18 months designing the perfect workspace. Six months after move-in, they tore it out. That one moment launched Adam Morgan on a mission to rethink everything about how offices get built — and why most of them are still getting it wrong.Adam is co-founder of Bureau, a company that designs and builds soundproof booths for modern workplaces. But his perspective goes far beyond the product. Coming from a finance background, Adam thinks about the office as a performance system —

en

00:42:59

It's a Time Problem: How AI Could Save Apprenticeship...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/07/28

Somewhere right now, a talented designer is copy-pasting details, finishes, and door schedules into a set of CDs — instead of designing the inspiring workplace needed to bring a fragmented team back to the office. That's not a people problem. That's a time problem.In this episode, Bob Fox sits down with Valerie Trent, a licensed designer (NCIDQ, LEED AP ID+C) who spent about a decade practicing before starting a technology company. She realized firms were burning most of their hours on documentation

en

00:56:28

Nature Inside: What the Best Workplaces Already Know...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/07/11

What if the single most powerful thing you could do to bring people back to the office had nothing to do with perks, mandates, or the latest collaboration tech and everything to do with trees, light, and the patterns found in nature?In this episode, Bill Browning and Catie Ryan of Terrapin Bright Green, authors of Nature Inside and 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, make the case that biophilic design and biophilia in the workplace are no longer optional extras but essential workplace strategy for

en

00:59:56

The Smart Office Revolution: What Buildings Know |...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/06/15

What if your office could tell you who to sit next to based on what you're working on? What if the building knew you were stressed before you did?In this episode, Bob Fox sits down with Melissa Marsh, founder and CEO of PLASTARC. With 25+ years in the field and clients like Microsoft, Google, Lululemon, and Logitech, Melissa is an expert on where the workplace is headed and why most organizations are still behind.They cover the shift from designing space to designing experience, the rise of

en

00:47:42

Your Office Is Obsolete Before You Move In — Here's...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/06/02

Are we designing offices that are already obsolete before anyone moves in? Workplace strategist and circular economy advocate Celeste Tell joins Bob Fox to challenge one of workplace design's most embedded assumptions — and make the case for a fundamentally different approach.Celeste Tell, co-founder of Epicycled, argues that in an era of constant organizational change, designing a workplace for a fixed outcome is designing for failure. Instead, she makes the case for treating the workplace like a

en

00:54:19

Your Office Was Built for the Wrong Work | Rebecca...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/05/14

What if the biggest threat to your organization's performance isn't your people — it's the space you put them in? Rebecca Swanner is workplace sector leader at HED, and she and her team have been not just asking how AI is changing how we work, but what that actually means for the physical spaces we design.Here's what their national research study found. Spaces for collaboration? Actually working fine. But focus and restoration are the two things that matter most as AI shifts humans

en

00:54:39

Who Actually Owns the Workplace? (No One—and That’s...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/05/03

The people deciding the future of your company… aren’t talking about the workplace.And it’s costing more than anyone realizes.Not in real estate—but in performance.In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, Phil Kirschner explains why the workplace has become one of the biggest blind spots in modern organizations—and what leaders are getting wrong.At major conferences, CFOs, CHROs, and CIOs shape strategy, but rarely discuss the workplace. Meanwhile, workplace and real estate

en

00:46:16

Why Employees are "Hacking" the Workplace | with Ken...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/04/20

What if the office isn’t underperforming… it’s just never been aligned with how people actually work?In this conversation, I sit down with Ken Baker, Regional Managing Principal at Gensler, to unpack what’s really changing in the workplace, and what most organizations are still getting wrong. Ken brings a unique perspective, not just as a designer, but as someone leading a global firm while navigating the same pressures his clients are facing.We discuss the real issues shaping the next generation of

en

00:56:04

How Collaboration Drives Organizational Performance |...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/03/24

Bringing people back to the office does not automatically create collaboration. In this episode, Ben Waber breaks down why the design and use of the physical workplace can have a major impact on communication, innovation, and organizational success.In this conversation, Bob Fox talks with MIT Media Lab lecturer and researcher Ben Waber about what collaboration really is and why most organizations misunderstand it. Ben explains that collaboration is not just what happens in meetings or teamwork, but

en

00:50:50

Combating Loneliness in the Workplace | Dr. Tracy...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/03/09

What if the biggest challenge facing the workplace today isn’t mandates, hybrid policy, or productivity… but loneliness?In this episode of *What the F is Happening to the Office?**, I sit down with sociologist and Steelcase VP of Workplace Insights Dr. Tracy Brower, Phd to explore how convenience, technology, and even AI may be quietly reducing real human connection.Her research is compelling:• Proximity measurably improves performance.• Gathering spaces increase wellbeing.• 77% of Gen Z actually

en

01:00:32

Preparing for the Future Workplace | What the F* is...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/02/18

What if we could look into a crystal ball and design the future workplace today?Are we preparing for what’s next, or redesigning yesterday’s office?In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, Bob Fox sits down with Mark Bryan, Chief Research & Strategy Officer at IIDA, to explore why most “future of work” conversations are stuck debating layouts, policies, and attendance - instead of how work itself is fundamentally changing.Mark introduces strategic foresight, a data-driven

en

00:53:28

Work is Broken - Gen Z Can Fix It | WTF is Happening...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/01/31

Hybrid work broke the old playbook—but leaders never agreed on a new one. In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, Bob Fox, Founder of Work Design, sits down with Amanda Schneider, Founder and President of ThinkLab (Sandow Design Group), to explore why workplace culture is failing—and how Gen Z may hold the key to fixing it.Drawing on years of research, focus groups, and real-world experience, Amanda explains why today’s workplace is stuck in “hybrid purgatory,” where policies

en

00:56:38

The Fourth Place | Where AI and Human Wisdom Converge...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2026/01/02

What if the next evolution of work isn’t an office — but a marketplace of hidden genius?We’re applying old thinking to new technology — and wondering why work still feels stuck.In this episode of What the F* is Happening to the Office?, futurist and executive coach Rex Miller introduces The Fourth Place — a bold new model for how work, learning, and human connection come together in an AI-driven world.The Fourth Place is a hybrid environment — part café, part makerspace, part internal Genius Bar —

en

00:55:22

Why Offices Still Matter - Culture, flexibility &...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2025/12/02

The modern workplace is in radical flux, driven by hybrid work, AI, and shifting talent strategy. In this essential episode, host Bob Fox sits down with Brian Elliott—CEO of WorkForward, BCG Senior Advisor, and publisher of the authoritative Flex Index—to cut through the noise. Drawing on his experience at Slack and Google, and leading one of the most influential workplace research programs, Brian brings real data and grounded insight to the most pressing questions.This conversation goes far beyond

en

00:53:07

4 Generations, One Office | What the F* is Happening...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2025/11/27

What happens when Gen Z starts reshaping the rules of work—while the Boomers are still playing by the old ones? In this essential episode, host Bob Fox sits down with generational researcher and leadership expert Warren Wright, CEO of Second Wave Learning (formerly of Gallup), to explore how the newest generation is changing the workplace culture from the inside out.Warren brings decades of insight to unpack the forces driving this generational shift. Gen Z is challenging traditional norms with a

en

00:47:32

Who is designing AI Workplaces? | What the F* is...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2025/11/27

What happens when AI meets the office? Host Bob Fox sits down with Jeremy Reding, Global Workplace Leader & Senior Principal at DLR Group, architect, and workplace futurist, to explore the cutting edge of workplace design. Tracing his roots from hands-on design communities to leading global workplace strategy for top tech companies, Jeremy offers an inspiring look at how organizations can navigate the future without losing the human experience.This essential episode dives into how AI is

en

00:56:21

Leadership: The Real Magnet - What the F* is...

What The F* is Happening to The Office? ·

2025/11/27

Is the real workplace problem space—or is it leadership? Host Bob Fox sits down with Ray Milora, Senior Director of Workplace Design & Construction at Cisco, to unpack the critical elements that actually drive people back to the office. Ray shares an inspiring, candid blueprint: it’s not excessive amenities, but leadership presence, clear purpose, and friction-free hybrid tech that truly matter.This episode reveals how Cisco is using a single, unified tech stack to eliminate common meeting

en

32 results

Similar Podcasts

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Eliana Benavides

The Moth

The Moth

About Art

Heidi Zuckerman

Stage Whisper

Andrew Cortes and Hope Bird

Podcast Patapoe

0d0a