The Third Wave Of Coworking

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

– Buckminster Fuller

First, Coworking was an experiment. Then it was an industry. Now it's a movement.

Those who chronicle coworking categorize its evolution in waves. And it’s very much worth looking at the history of these waves to help understand where a little cluster of happy coworking spaces like Commonplace fits into the movement.

All that remains for the first coworking spaces are fond memory and grainy internet photos…

The First Wave of Coworking

The initial, "first wave" was pioneered by the idealists and the avant-garde. The hippies and the hip. The hopeful. They envisioned a more communal and collaborative style of work and place. One unrestricted by walls and unencumbered by the myopic norms of  convention and conformity.

But an unready market and a lack of business acumen led to the downfall of the first wave. Many of the early spaces burnt out and faded away. Gone are Spiral Muse and The Hat Factory in San Fransisco. So to Hub Islington in London. And dozens of others, their names only remembered by their now dispersed members. (Interestingly, Schraubenfabrik in Vienna--the "mother of coworking"--still thrives.)

A WeWork in Houston. Big. Beautiful. Empty. (Savy real estate purchase though…)

The Second Wave of Coworking

On the heels of these early spaces came the second wave. The industrial age of coworking. A new pantheon of commercial giants vying for supremacy. WeWork, Regus, Knotel, Venture X. They grew coworking from a fringe and fragile thing to a robust, open, and accessible product for the mainstream. "Real estate" rather than "collaborate" became the watchword of their wave. They swallowed smaller spaces and expanded at an exponential rate. But they were always smart enough to maintain a welcoming visage. Ping-pong tables and cappuccino machines up front distracted from the real machine in back.

Then multiple crises hit. Scandal threatened to topple WeWork. Covid shook the world. Consumer preferences shifted with each new variant. Failings of the second wave and its voracious growth became evident.

Photos from Cahoots, a groovy little third-wave coworking space in Ann Arbor, MI.

The Third Wave of Coworking

Which has led us to the third and current wave of coworking. Members of this wave--and the spaces they're creating--are marked by a return to the communal values and collaborative vision of earlier days. But they've also learned from the naivety and under equipped nature of their first-wave colleges. They have also internalized the dangers of the second wave's instability, and are instead opting for measured and intentional growth.

But the third wave of coworking is more than just the incorporation of lessons learned from predecessors. It's a whole new animal. Third-wave spaces understand where they are. And not just at a surface level-- local-chic decor which nods at the surrounding area. But in real and meaningful ways which reach beyond the immediate built environment they occupy. They are permeable places of community and impact. Steady ground for intersectionality and origination.

In their recent European Journal of Cultural Studies piece, Alessandro Gandini and Alberto Cossu sum up the third wave's changing tide:

"We show that resilient coworking spaces are organisational actors that interact with the surrounding context much more than their counterparts, blending entrepreneurial logics with forms of political and social activism. We argue their emergence might be the harbinger of a new phase in the evolution of the coworking phenomenon."

So what comes next?

#nailedit

Future Waves?

So what will subsequent waves of the coworking movement look like? Not shockingly, as an industry, coworking is struggling to adapt to consumer preferences post-covid. Many professionals who were lucky enough to have the sufficient resources or employer support quickly created comfortable home offices. This has decreased overall interest in using coworking spaces as a primary workplace; fewer people want private office in coworking spaces or even full-time coworking membership.

However, though a plush and familiar home office covers the functional basics, it also doesn’t address the deeper human needs for productivity, namely in-person connection and collaboration. The need to see and be seen.

“We show that resilient coworking spaces are organisational actors that interact with the surrounding context much more than their counterparts, blending entrepreneurial logics with forms of political and social activism. We argue their emergence might be the harbinger of a new phase in the evolution of the coworking phenomenon.”

- European Journal of Cultural Studies

Most coworking spaces generate the majority of their revenue from their office renters. Which creates a logical bias toward serving this limited group of members. But increased volatility in office rentals may lead space owners and operators to develop more flexible membership options. Some spaces are already starting to refer to themselves as a “work and social club” rather than a coworking space.

But as our community manager Becky likes to say, “More shall be revealed.”

So where does all this leave a humble little space Commonplace?

Well, we could all go get third-wave tattoos... but there are likely more productive ways to celebrate the time and place we're privileged to occupy in the history of coworking.

How can we challenge ourselves--as individuals and as a coworking space--to be not just in the community, but to be of the community; full participants in the good, the bad, and the ugly of our little town?

In what new ways can we marry our unique physical space,our individual efforts, and the strength of our collective network for the good of on another and for our broader community? (Every coworking outfit advertises "networking" as an amenity, but that just ain't good enough.)

We are one among many in an important series of increasingly viable and impactful experiments. Our individual actions in our space and are collective actions as a space directly contribute to a critical new wave of welcome work connection and contribution. What we do (or fail to do), even in our small space, helps influence the direction of the coworking movement. And the larger story of how we work as a culture and as a species.

Kinda grandious, huh?

But in the words of 19th century philosopher and psychologist William James "Belief creates the actual fact."

If we think our actions, how we show up, and how we treat one another matter to the big picture, then they do.

So together, let's push a global wave with just a few tiny, freshwater ripples.

Our Decade of Joyful Debt

January heralds the annual transition from the year-end season of reflection to the new year norms of goal-setting and plan making. So it seems fitting to both look back at our recent history and to gaze forward at the near future of Commonplace. And maybe the most succinct way to sum it all up is that we are now firmly in a decade of joyful debt.

As 2020 began, Commonplace was still growing, slowly and peacefully. The previous year we had expanded from our original Lake Street location to a new space in The Box. Our offices were inhabited by interesting organizations. Our conference rooms were popular meeting places for changemakers. Our coworking areas were a hive of community activity and collaboration. And while we were never as full as we'd have liked, we were listening to what our community needed and were learning how to ever better meet those needs. We looked excitedly southward to the shores of the Boardman and the Commongrounds building, where we had already committed to opening our next location.

Could we throw a party in those early days, or what!?

There's no need to chronicle what came next. You already know the story, because so many of our nonprofits and businesses shared the same experience. As reality set in, the plan for 2020 and beyond quickly switched. Survival was the new goal; weather out the pandemic and do what was necessary to ensure we were there for our Commonplacers when they were ready to return.

2021 wore on. We let struggling folks out of their leases, even as we struggled to make our own rent. Offices stood empty. Coworking was almost nonexistent. Our space was eerily quite. (Even some of the motion-activated ceiling lights stopped showing up to work...) Supply chain delays and the emerging complexity of the Commongrounds project seem to continually move our new home just beyond our reach. Another year until opening? Yeah, sure, why not. Your guess is as good as ours if we'll be able to honor our purchase agreement.

At a certain point, even the crickets quit coming in…

Despite the uncertainty, several organizations— among them SEEDS, Taste the Local Difference, Golden Circle Advisors, the CHIR and a handful of others—continued to pay rent and utilize our space for their essential workers. Without them, we could not have remained in operation.

We also had several members who, while they were upfront about not intending to come in during the pandemic, continued to pay for their memberships. As one Commonplacer from Crosshatch put it "I want to do my part to make sure you're still there when we're ready to come back." So the lights stayed on and we continued to brew our morning coffee. Waiting.

Heading into 2022, Commonplace was on the ropes. But the light was also starting to show. Familiar faces slowly started to re-appear. We took on an SBA emergency loan to stay afloat, and, come hell or high water, we'd be moving in to the Commongrounds building at some point during the year.

Of course that was after we came up with the additional funds to cover the dramatically higher-than-expected build out cost for the new space we had committed to.

So basically, we were a couple hundred grand short at a time when we were already pinching pennies tight enough to give Lincoln's ghost a migraine.

Cautiously, folks started to filter back in.

Though Commonplace is a nonprofit, we had always elected to operate as a lean business, rather than a philanthropic engine. So we began working closely with some amazing local financial institutions like Venture North, Northern Initiatives, and Opportunity Resource Fund to secure additional construction loans. But nonprofit finance is tricky, and as our payment deadlines loomed, numerous obstacles still stood in the way of use securing the vital funds.

It was at the eleventh hour, that a couple of Commonplacers came to our aid. One family offered us a generous private loan and the other, Building Bridges with Music, agreed to prepay for their office for ten years. Both this incredible family and this great organization made their critical commitments at a time when the building was far more steel than real. They placed their trust in us, a fact which we will never take lightly.

Summer finally came, and with it so much of the warmth and energy which we had long been missing. Offices began to fill back up with new and interesting members. For the first time we started offering day passes and were excited to welcome folks from across the country who shared our values into our space. More than once we heard, " I didn't expect to find a place like this in Northern Michigan." We thanked them and smiled, recognizing quietly to ourselves that if not for a handful of dedicated Commonplacers, they very likely wouldn't have found it.

Today Commonplace at Commongrounds is open. And while we're still installing the last few pieces of furniture, hanging some excellent art, and putting in the plants, the place is really filling up. Our offices are packed, we only have one dedicated desks left, and interest for coworking is again increasing. We're almost done crunching the numbers for the year and what we're seeing is staggering. For example, overall meeting room rentals increased 318% from 2021.

Always nice when you can keep a high shorts to masks ratio.

Now begins the invigorating process of paying back those who have for so long invested in us. Yes with their dollars but also with their energy and their faith. Before us is the privilege of proving that their trust has been well placed.

Debt gets a bad rap. Viewed narrowly, it's generally seen as a negative thing; something to be avoided and abhorred. Something which crushes and inhibits. But, as the Romans used to say, "Only the dose makes the poison." (dosis sola facit venenum).

Viewed in another, less fear-based way, debt can be a tool of growth and optimism. It can be wonderful thing to take on the right kind of debt from the right kinds of people. People who share your values and your vision of a better community or even a better world. The repayment of debt is merely a mechanism to repay the trust which has been placed in you. It is the opportunity to prove your commitments.

For us, every payment made is a conscious decision, a step toward becoming the kind of organization we want to be.

And this is not a new or uncomfortable position for Commonplace. We were in debt from day one.

Hearkening back to our early days, Kate Redman held numerous listening sessions at the inception of our organization. Even this simple act created a willing sense of indebtedness to our community. Once we heard and understood what was needed from those around us who were in search of a collaborative work space, we were then under an important obligation to help bring that about. Our debt started the minute we raised our hands to ask what we could do to improve the place we call home.

Actually we were in debt even before that. In debt to a community which has done so much for us as individuals. And in debt to one another for what can still be done to make things better for those valuable members of our community who are often overlooked and under-supported.

We can always do more to repay the debt we owe our neighbors and our amazing community!

Though it doesn't all technically appear on our balance sheet as debt, it is true that because of decision made in the last few years, were are committed to paying more than $1 million dollars over the next thirty to our loans and mortgages. (So okay, we’re looking at more than a decade of debt, but you try alliterating“thirty years"…”)

And while this may at times feel daunting, it was the right call. For us, this is a manageable number. We have a strong business plan, a dedicated board of directors, and the support of an incredible group of intelligent and compassionate humans.

We are so grateful for our new home in the Commongrounds building, and for the amazing interconnected community of entrepreneurs and changemakers which is already emerging there. We wouldn’t trade our debt for the world.

We recently held our first All-Commonplacer Breakfast to listen to and learn from our members!

So we’re not going anywhere. We can't. Because not only are we deeply committed to our mission of  "uplifting and enlivening healthy, collaborative, and creative organizations to evolve better work and places," but we’re also chosen to shoulder a whole lot of debt, and we need to repay those who have chosen to stand boldly by Commonplace.

Which is just fine with us. In the ever-cheeky words of Oscar Wilde, "Those who pays their bills on time are soon forgotten."

And so begins, in earnest our decade of joyful debt.

Techstars Startup Weekend Northern Michigan 2023

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Due to below-than-expected registration, we've decided to condense this great weekend-long event down into a more manageable one-day clinic on Sunday, May 7. We'll still have mentors, meals, and a mini-pitch competition, just over the course of eight hours instead of 48.

We are also currently working to reschedule the full, weekend-long event for mid-late September. In the meantime, we'll promote the event more widely to get an even larger group of great humans to participate.

If you'd still like to join us (and we hope you will!), your ticket will cover both the May 7, day-long event and your registration for the upcoming full-weekend event in September.

Thank you for your flexibility and understanding!

Come collaborate with like-minded
peers and build a brand new startup
from scratch over 54 exciting hours.

What Will Happen And When?

Starting Friday afternoon, May 05 participants will have a little over two days to form teams, develop brand new startup ideas, work with mentors and subject matter experts, craft a pitch, and then present to a group of judges Sunday afternoon, May 07.

And to keep things from being too laborious, we’ll occasionally break for some specially organized dining, art, music, and nature-based experiences celebrating the best Northern Michigan is known for.

This event is part of Northern Michigan Startup Week!

So, Who Is This For?

Are you an entrepreneur, changemaker, dreamer, doer, problems solve… you get the idea, then Techstars Startup Weekend Northern Michigan is for you! We welcome seasoned professionals, students, enthusiasts, and well, pretty much everyone.

Where Is It?

This year’s Techstars Startup Weekend Northern Michigan is being hosted by the community coworking space Commonplace in the brand new Comongrounds cooperative building. Participants are encouraged to stay at the Bayshore Resort, on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay, where we’ve reserved a block of rooms.

And Remind Me Why I Should Get Involved, Again?

This event is a great opportunity to stretch your creative and entrepreneurial muscles with like-minded peers. Plus you can get great real-world startup practice without the real-world stakes. (And common, let’s be honest, even serial-entrepreneurs can use practice to stay sharp.) And again, who doesn’t want to come experience the majesty of Northern Michigan!

Okay, How Do I Get Involved?

Who's At Commonplace?

We're so lucky to have an amazing group of nonprofits and community-focused businesses which use our two spaces. Some have a full office, some just pop in when they need a space to feel productive, connected, and welcomed. And we have new and interesting folks dropping by every day to make use of our conference rooms and day pass coworking!

Sign up for our monthly community newsletter to hear more about what’s happening with our members!

Below is a list of most of our Commonplacers. (Note: We update this monthly.)

The Box

• Commongrounds

• Frost Family Partnership

• Lean Focus

• Life Integrated Coaching

• MCM Staffing

• Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

• Render & Rise

• Ryan Scott

• Square Roots

• The Nature Conservancy

• Note: We currently have several office and dedicated desks available at this location.

Commongrounds

• Anavery Fine Foods

• Attain

• Building Bridges w/ Music

• Commongrounds

• Crosshatch

• Goodwill Street Outreach

• Habitat for Humanity

• Mission North

• Northern Initiatives

• Nobo Market

• NWMI Arts & Culture Network

• Parallel Solutions

• Riley’s Candles

• Statecraft

• Taste The Local Difference

• The Alluvion

• The Boardman Review

• The Ticker

• Tusen Takk Foundation

• Venture North

Anavery Fine Foods

Anavery Fine Foods raises heritage breed animals in a healthy setting to provide your family with the best tasting meat, poultry and eggs. We practice ethical animal husbandry and regenerative agriculture so you can feel good about what you buy.  Anavery is brought to you by The Weinrich Farm in Traverse City, Michigan.

Attain

Attain is a leading management, technology, and strategy consulting firm comprised of innovative problem solvers. We are more than just consultants—we’re trusted advisors and partners dedicated to helping you execute your vision and mission with purpose to achieve remarkable results.

Building Bridges w/ Music

Building Bridges with Music is passionate about bringing live music and a powerful and engaging message promoting respect and understanding to people of all ages. Our dynamic musicians are very entertaining and represent a variety of cultures, generations and genders. We share very compelling personal stories about how bullying, disrespect and prejudice have affected our lives.

Commongrounds

Commongrounds is a real estate cooperative in Traverse City, with a goal to develop real estate that meets community needs and increases quality of life in the region. Our pilot project is 414 E. Eighth Street, a 4-story mixed-use building. More than a building project, Commongrounds will be a backbone support for space and activities integrating wellness, arts, family, and food to help people and organizations be healthy, connected, creative, and inclusive.

Crosshatch

Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology envisions communities that are grounded in place: where people connect through stories, music, art, shared work, and food, and where the economy and culture are rooted in restoration of the earth and its people. Crosshatch builds strong communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology and economy. (Formerly Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design; ISLAND)

Frost Family Partnership

The Frost Family Partnership (FFP) owns and manages 28 rental units in and around the area. They define their business as community-focused real estate development and property management and are committed to running it as such. Rather than renting out each unit at the highest price the market will bear, less than a quarter of our units are just short of higher-income wage earners. These help pay for the entire portfolio, which helps keep rents down on the majority of our properties.

Life Integrated Coaching

Life Integrated Coaching uses the psychometric tools of Emergenetics to put a scientific lens on how your genetic blueprint and life experiences influence your natural way of thinking and behaving. They offer consultations, workplace coaching, workshops, and ongoing support for those interested in discovering more about their own unique approaches to life and learning.

Lean Focus

When you look at the Lean Focus team, you won’t find career consultants. You’ll find former leaders of Fortune-500 companies. Veteran talent solutions professionals who know what true Lean talent looks like. Senior-level Lean practitioners who’ve led successful business transformations in just about every industry. You’ll find everything it takes to build a high-performance culture that delivers sustained, profitable growth.

Goodwill- Street Outreach Team

Street Outreach meets people experiencing unsheltered homelessness where they are, and offers resources that can help people end their homelessness. Along with our partners in the Coalition to End Homelessness, we’re working toward a community where everyone has a safe and secure home. Together, we can make homelessness a rare, brief, and one-time experience.

Learn More

Habitat for Humanity

The Habitat program is a hand-up to a permanent housing solution for people who want to help themselves. Habitat homeowners have a real sense of ownership for both their homes and their new neighborhoods. Our ReStore directly supports our work. In addition to reducing waste going into landfills, donations and purchases help build homes for working families in our community.

MCM Staffing

MCM Staffing is an award-winning recruiting firm that specializes in qualifying candidates for job placement by screening for more than skills, building candidate rapport and establishing a rich referral network within the community. We provide value to our customers by developing answers to their staffing needs; to our associates with accessibility and prompt payment; to our candidates with direct feedback to guide them in their career options; and to our internal staff members through a rewarding experience.

Mission North, LLC

Mission North began in 2003 offering planning and economic development services to municipalities and downtown organizations.  In late 2017, we set out to establish Mission North as a premier consultant for downtown organizations, cities, and those who develop in them.  With a focus on placemaking, mobility expertise, and sustainable economics, Mission North is driven by a passion for places of quality and value.

Northern Initiatives

Northern Initiatives provides loans to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in Michigan that might not qualify for a small business loan from traditional banks for various reasons. Northern Initiatives offers access to capital at reasonable rates to those who would never have the chance or who would have entered business undercapitalized.

Nobo Market

NoBo Mrkt is a collaborative cafe and beverage bar offering specialty coffee, local beer and wine, creative handcrafted cocktails and free-spirited beverages, and carefully curated local food items with a focus on providing an exemplary guest experience. We are located on the main floor of Commongrounds, a real estate cooperative on 8th Street in Traverse City, Michigan.

NWMI Arts & Culture Network

The Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network is an arts and cultural services organization dedicated to connecting, promoting and supporting the individuals, organizations and creative projects that create and further arts and culture in Northern Lower Michigan. The Network serves as a convener, connector and advocate. Our goal is to help arts and culture thrive!

Parallel Solutions

Parallel Solutions is rooted in Traverse City, Michigan and primarily serves people and places in the Great Lakes region. We help guide strategic planning and action; provide professional and organizational development coaching, advice, and training; help clients plan for and manage changes in leadership, funding, programs, partnerships, and systems; and support collaborative efforts within teams and networks, including inter-jurisdictional and public-private partnerships

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship imagines a world of peace where all God’s creation can thrive. In local and global communities, we will use every nonviolent means to disrupt and transform the culture of domination that normalizes racism, ecocide, militarization, and war.  We build peace through the abolition of structural violence and by living into alternatives to violence with creativity, intelligence, imagination, and love.

Render & Rise

Render & Rise, the food-focused offshoot of Phase 4 Media, was founded in 2021 by award-winning filmmaker, Sarah Hesterman. Sarah has been producing content for brands, global creative agencies, production companies, foundations and non-profits for over 15 years. Our style of storytelling is rooted in documentary film, always in search of authenticity and ways to allow folks to tell their own story in their own words.  We pair that with beautiful images, elevated production value and a story arc that drives a call to action, to create original, quality, content that will engage, inform and inspire.

Riley’s Candles

We're not in the candle business. We're in the dog saving business. We're on a mission to save as many dogs' lives as possible. Riley is our founder, Chief Beagle Officer, and currently a 13-year-old rescue beagle. When Riley was 3, he was paralyzed and his newly married parents and couldn’t afford the surgery cost to save his life. In desperation, the charges were spread over every credit card they had available. Many animals are not so fortunate and must be put down. Riley decided he had to do whatever he could to change this, so in 2017 he founded Riley’s Candles! Per Riley’s instructions a portion of all proceeds raised by the sale of his candles and 100% of all donations will go directly to save pets in this situation.

Ryan Scott

For over 18 years I’ve helped brands build awareness and grow audiences by ideating, creating videos and executing creative strategies. My job purpose is to be a big picture creative thinker, video producer, strong writer, and presenter who adds value to teams by transforming data and insights into ideas that drive business results. I believe in a healthy work/life balance, spending my free time outdoors hiking and taking photos. I’m fueled by a passion for connecting brands with people to help them solve problems and live better lives.

Square Roots

Our mission: To responsibly bring our locally grown food to people in cities around the world, all year round. Greens should be good for all of us. Farmers, food lovers, and the planet itself. So instead of shipping fresh food halfway across the world (like most food is today), we bring farms closer to people. We’re guided by technology. We grow with love. And we want to make delicious, locally grown food a possibility for people everywhere.

Statecraft

Statecraft works with communities and/or organizations who have a plan but need consistent backbone support to make it happen. By “backbone” support, we mean working with you in an ongoing capacity as part of your team, assisting your board, organization, or collaborative with project management, meeting facilitation, budgeting, partnership and fund development, grant writing, and communication activities. This work requires a little bit of everything, never gets old, and we absolutely delight in it.

Taste The Local Difference

Taste the Local Difference® is Michigan’s local food consulting, media and marketing agency. Our work is diverse, but has one common goal – to sell more Michigan grown and produced food across the state. We are a woman-owned and woman-led business, specializing in communication strategy for purpose-driven food brands across the state of Michigan. We are passionate about education, building relationships and empowering entrepreneurs.

The Alluvion

The Alluvion is a 150-seat music venue and event space located on the second floor of The Common Grounds Cooperative building at the edge of The Boardman River near downtown Traverse City. This intimate, creative space is designed with optimal acoustics and world-class equipment. It is dedicated to producing high-quality, highly-accessible performances, community events, classes, workshops, and so much more. The Alluvion is co-owned by three partners: Commongrounds Cooperative, Jeff Haas, and Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology.

The Boardman Review

The Boardman Review is Northern Michiagn’s quarterly creative culture and outdoor lifestyle journal, and is co-produced by the Loud Brothers. Nick is a filmmaker and photographer who has spent several years in Los Angeles producing, shooting, and editing multiple short and feature documentaries. Chris has several years experience as a writer and producer for TV and digital series.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive. Our mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science and equity, we find paths to solve climate change and biodiversity loss. We’re determined to make a major difference by 2030.

The Ticker

The Ticker is Traverse City’s go-to digital source for local news and insider information. A multimedia news and events service, we deliver a free daily news email to more than 40,000 subscribers, and maintain a website that features up-to-the-minute news, events, community information, homes for sale, classifieds, movie times, and much more. The Ticker was launched in 2009 and is owned by Eyes Only Media, which also produces the Traverse City Business News, the Northern Express and other publications.

Tusen Takk Foundation

Named for an expression of thankfulness, the Tusen Takk Foundation nourishes artists by giving them a place to work, engagement opportunities to enrich the culture of Northwest Michigan, and a platform to share their work internationally. To share the beauty of Tusen Takk with artists, in the form of a time and a place to create, and to connect them with audiences worldwide, sharing their efforts to make the intangible tangible.

Venture North

Venture North has helped more than 1,500 small businesses in northwest Michigan through affordable loans and small business consulting. The measure of Venture North is reflected by the success of our clients and the willingness of agencies and philanthropy to support our work.  Our history is their story. Let’s work together to create even more great stories in northwest Michigan!

On The Importance Of Waffles

[Editor’s Note: Our very capable communications consultant told us we should start blogging. It will no doubt gall her, and perhaps rightfully so, that this post will rank better in search results for breakfast than for coworking. Sorry, Erin.]

[Editors’s Other Note: This nucleus for this blog was a recent email to a trusted colleague. We zhuzhed it up a little for your enjoyment and perhaps edification. Thanks for reading.]

Morning XXXX,

I'm sorry you couldn't join us for our first All-Commonplacer Breakfast on Tuesday. It was really something and you were missed! I've been reflecting on the event and I'm still struggling to fully convey my feelings on it. Relief, gratitude, excitement, motivation, obligation. You know, probably far better than I, what a simple thing it is to give people food, and what a hard thing it is to feed them.

Lauren and I spent the night before excitedly preparing. (Well I was excited, she was graciously willing, but tired. Being very pregnant will do that, I'm told.) I mistakenly made a cardinal sin and bought a bottle of low-fat milk. So I tried to think extra heavy thoughts during the mixing. We made (too much) waffle batter and filled our largest mason jar. Then we cooked down blueberries into compote, a new experience for me.  Our small kitchen smelled sweetly of simmering fruit and zested lemons. We may have also added some permanent berry juice stains to our lightly finished counter.

Here's what little was communicated to people ahead of time about the morning: 

Tuesday, Nov 29, from 830-1030am, we're hosting an all-Commonplacer orientation and planning breakfast at our new space in the Commongrounds building. We'll introduce and orient everyone to the new building and then facilitator extraordinaire Megan Motil will lead us in some group activities to help us (re)co-create the norms for our Commonplace culture in both spaces.

The exact nature of the aforementioned breakfast was also hinted at in our member newsletter, but as one Commonplacer later told me, "Oh, I thought you were just kidding about the waffles."

You never know if anyone will actually show up. And then of course the success of a thing is largely dependent on who shows up. It's what's in the attending heads--and their accompanying hearts--that matters more than the actual headcount.

“Movements are born of critical connections not critical mass.” - Grace Lee Boggs

Around 8:37, people started to trickle in (not that I was counting or anything). I saw the uncertainty on folk's faces. Would they be the only ones? Would this be a sad, awkward affair where they had to make small talk with four other people, while trying not to check their phones for an excuse to escape early? Internally, I echoed their concerns.

But I should have had faith. In short order, the room filled out. Almost to bursting in fact. I had to run around and grab extra chairs from across the street and wheel in an extra table. The aroma of baking waffles wafted from the room. You could smell it as soon as you stepped onto the third floor. You could also hear the sounds of conversation and frivolity. People greeting one another. Old friends and curious new colleagues.

You could tell it wasn't just breakfast folks were hungry for. Carbs only get you so far. They wanted connection. They wanted belonging. To see others and, in kind, to be seen.

In retrospect I should have brought a bell. Initially it was tough for Megan to cut through the animated conversations and laughter. Which of course is exactly the kind of problem you hope to have. But eventually, we got down to it.

Megan led the room though a series of contemplative exercises around the values they expect to see made manifest in Commonplace. She did this through a values paring exercise which built from individual contemplation, to one-on-one discussions, to table wide conversation, and finally to a room-wide dialogue.

Most Commonplacers appeared (not shockingly). aligned on a few core concepts:

• Cooperative decision-making about space, uses, and design rather than topdown or directive decision-making about space, uses, and design.

• Openness and tolerance for change rather than rigidity or intolerance to change.

• Inclusive membership rather than selective membership, with a desired shared for mission-alignment to be considered.

• Feeling of connection rather than separateness.

• Welcoming rather than exclusive.

• Community or systems-focused mission rather than an inwardly, organizationally, or building/space-focused mission.
  

And they also wrestled with seemingly opposing values. Becky ran around busing plates and I refilled coffee as our Commonplacers worked to articulate a balance between:

• Informal management system with flexible/fluid roles and responsibilities and an organized management system with defined roles and responsibilities. A desire for a defined decision-making process with clear roles was shared.

• Collaborative work and solitary work.

• Design that nurtures individual focus and productivity and informal actions and flexibility.

• Affordable and upscale member amenities, with a recognition that this is interconnected with a desire for community inclusivity.

Even allowing space for individual preference, the group sentiment was clear: Commonplacers want a space which is welcoming and which promotes collaboration while reinforcing healthy boundaries and norms around individual efforts. 

Now, you and I both know that giving voice to things and effectively operationalizing them are two totally different jars of jam. So begins (again) the really hard work.

How we continue to better operate in the fullness of this expectation remains to be seen. But it will be the subject of many hours of meditation and discussion for my self and those who support Commonplace. More on that soon.

(It was also clear that not everyone who made it into the room was at the table. I could certainly use your guidance on how to incorporate even more of our members into helping shape our culture and guide the development of our organization.)

I want to go back to waffles. Because they feature prominently, perhaps the most prominently, in the success of our recent event. Great credit is due to Megan for her facilitation skills, and even more credit to everyone who showed up and shared selflessly.

But the waffles, man, the waffles. And they weren't even that good of waffles. But they were our waffles, which we made by hand for our members. And that matters.

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
– Harriet Van Horne

A bag of expertly prepared Bubbies Bagles is calorically similar to a box of mass-produced Dunkin Donuts. But everyone would agree they are very different. And I think there's as much of a chasm between those two foods as there is between a well-catered event breakfast and our homemade waffles.

A fresh meal prepared by hand is a sign of generosity, respect and love. And it’s a commitment. Not necessarily a commitment to quality of result (as we clearly demonstrated with our well-intentioned, wrong-milk waffles) but a commitment of effort and intention. It’s the old adage “show me, don’t tell me” made manifest with butter, syrup and a little blueberry compote.

And I don't say any of this to be self aggrandizing. But it is crazy to me how easy it is for anyone to do this. It costs less and takes roughly the same amount of time as ordering a spread and laying it all out.

It's a really big, small thing. I hope If we continue to cook for our members then others will in time follow suit.

Because after all, what’s a day without waffles?

Thanks for reading through this whole damn thing. See you soon!

-n