Today, office work is knowledge work, and knowledge work is core to organizations around the world. Yet the nature and location of knowledge work have changed to such a degree that many current offices and the furniture in them no longer adequately support the work, the people, or the technology involved. Work has become more computer-driven, more collaborative, more multi-faceted. Knowledge workers function both remotely and in offices; they work in teams; and they work on multiple projects. Ultimately, the performance of their organizations depends on their judgment.
Add to these developments increasing pressure on businesses to cut real estate costs and to maximize the performance of their office space, and the challenge facing Herman Miller was cleardevelop a new office solution that satisfies the needs of organizations and individuals not well-served by existing office furniture systems. Herman Millers Resolve work system is a new conception of office furniture and how it should function. Resolve is the next breakthrough in office systems from the company that invented modern panel systems with Action Office, and then took that model to its highest level with Ethospace. Now, in the same way that Herman Millers Aeron chair recently redefined work seating, Resolve redefines systems furniture.
Resolve has been designed to meet the needs of individual workers and the performance of knowledge work; to accommodate groups and their interactions; to support organizational information and the communication of identity; and to provision the power and data required by knowledge work. Resolve is a work system constructed of poles and beams (the infrastructure) which support surfaces, technology, storage and display elements (accessories), and wiring. This system also is designed to allow easy changes in configuration and technology.
Resolve is designed to create work environments that are open, flexible, economical, and sustainable. It is designed to help people and organizations become connected, inspired, and uniquely themselves. It is designed to simplify work.
One unique aspect of Resolve that underlies these aims is its method of defining space. Resolve has no 90-degree corners. It is built around a more open and organic 120-degree corner and thus large installations do not become the grid-like complex of cubicles so characteristic of many open-plan offices. The resulting configurations of office space are more open, inviting, and encourage collaboration and communication.
Offices are not about furniture. They are about people and performance. Resolve exists not to make a statement about design or office furniture but to heighten human performance. Resolve is designed to reflect the character and identity of people and organizations. It exposes work and allows it to be examined and improved.
Offices are about resolving tensions between people and technology, between high-performance and affordability, between simple solutions and complex problems, between the richness of possibilities and an economy of means, between spirit and intellect, and between individuals and the organizations they work for.
Finally, just as work in offices is constantly in process, Resolve (to be previewed at NEOCON in June, 1999, with open-order entry in early 2000) is designed to be deliberately open-ended and evolving. Resolve will continue to evolve even as businesses identify new means to remain competitive globally, to attract and retain talented employees, and to take full advantage of technology as it becomes lighter, more sophisticated, and more efficient.
With Resolve, Herman Miller has established a new benchmark in open plan environments to support knowledge work, and the office will never be the same.
Herman Miller, Inc., is an international firm engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture systems, products, and related services for offices, health-care facilities and other uses. The company is based in Zeeland, Michigan.
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