Churn Friendly

In space planning and design, having a churn friendly environment is often a high priority design parameter.  Meaning, the space needs accommodate reconfigurations based on changes in business and or personnel with minimal disruptions to the space or personnel and minimal dollars to the company.  Churn friendly space starts with some baseline design criteria that would work for most anyone occupying the space. I have seen projects where the space was built out in a rigid arrangement only to have the floor demo’ed a few months later to be fitted out for a new group with a new boss.  Building things from scratch the second time can get quite pricey.

I work to keep my environment/life churn friendly.  When I was at Chevron, I moved maybe 12 times and had it down to fitting everything I had in two crates. My desk at the current office has only limited items and no clutter, which allows me to relocate at a moment’s notice.  My house is mostly the same.  I could be out of here in reasonably short order if needed. 

To me, churn friendly is the ability to keep things simple and uncluttered yet functional enough to allow you the flexibility to change as things in life change.  With or without our participation, life does and will change.  It is up to us to determine if we stay hard lined and rigid thus requiring a total rebuild with each change, or do we design a churn friendly environment that allows us to flow with the changes with minimal disruption.  To churn or not to churn, it is a choice.