Insights by re-search
Insights
Commentary on the workplace industry across Asia Pacific, from sales leadership and distribution to design, delivery and the markets themselves.
Asia is betting on the office, just not every office
London’s tallest new tower is a £1bn vote of confidence in the office. Across Asia the picture is more selective, with prime workspace in Tokyo and Singapore in short supply while Shanghai contends with record vacancy.
Analogue Heart in a Digital World: Designing the Workplace Like It’s 1965
If business is heading back to 1965 in spirit, what does designing a workplace for 1965 actually look like?
Rethinking the Sales & Marketing Manager
A couple of months ago, I shared some thoughts on Go-to-Market (GTM) and whether it has a place in Commercial…
Hire the Relationships, Teach the Design
Business development for an interior design studio is one of the more challenging searches I get asked to run. The…
If Gen Z won’t phone for a pizza, why teach them to cold call?
I was listening to a podcast this morning with a 55 year old VP at a heavily sales-driven organisation who…
Deliver First, Sell Second
A few years ago I took over responsibility for a market, a wholly owned sales organisation belonging to a major…
Sales Commission: The Underdog Advantage?
A lower base and higher upside gets pitched, too often, as a concession. The line goes something like, “we can’t…
McCafé Tested Coffee in Australia. We Tested the Death of the Cubicle.
In 1993, McDonald’s opened its first McCafé in Melbourne. It wasn’t a global launch, it was a trial. A bet…
Ship It, Stock It, or Build It?
My last piece looked at the direct-versus-dealer question for the big contract furniture brands. But underneath that decision sits a…
Direct or Dealer? Why the Furniture Giants Struggle With This
If you think Haworth, MillerKnoll or the newly-combined HNI/Steelcase have distribution figured out, look closer. Even at that scale, with…
The Missing Piece of Leadership
I read a Wall Street Journal article suggesting that Ted Lasso is a leadership masterclass, especially through his ability to…
We kept redesigning the Office but we forgot to redesign the Job.
I’ve been in commercial interiors since the mid 1990s, working for global office furniture brands through what I’d genuinely call…
The Rise of the Workplace Experience Manager. And Why Finding One Isn’t Easy
For years, workplace roles sat largely behind the scenes. The focus was operational. Managing facilities, coordinating vendors, solving problems quietly…
Asia’s Workplace Market Is Entering a More Strategic Era
Most leading workplace brands have spent years evolving beyond product-led conversations. Workplace strategy, employee experience and advisory capability are now…
Energy and AI are the New Architects of Workplace
The conversation around hybrid work has finally reached a plateau. After years of experimentation, we have settled into a recognisable…
The Year Workplace Design Grew Up
Looking back, 2025 was not a year of dramatic reinvention for CRE design in Asia Pacific. It was the year…
Exactly 100 years ago, a new tech was about to change the world. Sound familiar?
In January 1926, a small group of people gathered to watch a flickering image appear on a screen. It was…
Avoiding a ‘Jobpocalypse’ in Commercial Interiors
How employers can build mid-level bench strength by rethinking graduate roles The word “jobpocalypse” has become an increasingly common term…