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Innovative workplace solutions have been known as “workplace of the future”or “alternative fficing.” Today these concepts are being adopted by a cadre of forward‐thinking companies of all sizes, across industries. These companies have begun to tailor their workplace to meet their particular needs. They are seeking ways to use their investments in space and technology to enable rather than inhibit progress toward their objectives. While still far from being universally embraced, these changes in workplace conceptualization and implementation are worth a closer look. This paper identifies key trends, discusses the forces driving them, debunks some myths that have arisen, outlines the potential benefits of these approaches, and discusses the need for an integrated approach to achieve successful implementation. Several examples are provided to demonstrate the appeal of workplace strategy across industries and suggest lessons that can be applied by the reader to their own unique situations. Primary workplace research conducted by the author as well as her corporate and consulting experience informs the points made throughout this article.

If an oracle could predict the next forty years with perfect accuracy, what would you do with the information? As the pace of change in the business environment continues to accelerate, confidence in our ability to forecast the future in which we will be operating seems to have gone the way of the fintailed cars and poodle skirts of the '50s.

One of the sessions at the 1995 International Conference featured a panel of scenario experts: Bill Ralston, SRI International (SRI), Robert Wilson, Northeast Consulting Resources (NCRI), and Gerald Harris, Global Business Network (GBN). Audrey E. Schriefer, Strategic Management Associates, moderated the session. In the September/October issue of Planning Review, Ms. Schriefer summarized the opening remarks from this session. Here she presents the highlights of the question and answer portion of the discussion.

Tools for real estate planning, acquisition, disposition and portfolio management have improved dramatically over the past several years, creating new potential for corporate real estate executives to deliver workplace solutions in a more timely, cost‐effective manner throughout the occupancy life cycle. As large ‘customers’ in the real estate industry, corporate real estate (CRE) executives can impact the development and application of the next generation of information tools. In addition, widely expanded access to market information puts them in a more powerful position relative to other industry players. These factors uniquely position CRE executives to take advantage of new possibilities.

This conference session was an in‐depth discussion of how practitioners can get the most value from scenario planning. Participants were Bill Ralston, SRI International; Robert Wilson, Northeast Consulting Resources; and Gerald Harris, Global Business Network. Audrey Schriefer, Strategic Management Associates, moderated the session and has prepared this brief summary.

The authors illustrate how the Dynamic Scenario Learning Process works in practice.

A case showing how “Forward Bank” used the DSLP to discover crucial inter‐relationships that were not intuitively obvious.

Forward's scenarios provided a year's head start on understanding how to manage the dotcom collapse and the 9/11 attacks. Because managers had considered how to implement the robust strategies and apply contingent strategies as unfolding events merited, they were better prepared.

The DSLP is not just a strategic planning tool; it is also an instrument of leadership.

The DSLP process creates bonds within the organization as everyone from senior leaders to front line employees across business lines and functions share a common language to communicate their insights into future possibilities. Narratives based on a DSG are easy to grasp and can be widely disseminated throughout the organization.

The case demonstrates how to use a scenario tool to achieve widespread learning so that an organization is well prepared to rapidly adapt to discontinuity.