In the publishing arena, the world is moving so fast that reality often overtakes even digital print. Such is the case with our choice of articles for this issue that include Steve Jobs’ vision for a new, consolidated Apple workplace.

What his passing on October 5, 2011 means to the future of technology has been commented on at length in the past few weeks. But his vision for bringing all Apple workers together under one roof is his answer to questions that we all should be asking.

On a similar note but without the same fanfare, we recently lost a giant in the floor covering industry. Ray C. Anderson, the founder and chairman of Interface and a visionary who implemented radically new processes for the manufacture of carpet to be more sustainable and healthful, died of cancer on Monday, August 8, 2011.

Anderson said, in a quote on the Interface Website, “In 1994, at age sixty and in my company’s twenty-second year, I steered Interface on a new course—one designed to reduce our environmental footprint while increasing our profits. I wanted Interface, a company so oil-intensive you could think of it as an extension of the petrochemical industry, to be the first enterprise in history to become truly sustainable—to shut down the smokestacks, close off its effluent pipes, to do no harm to the environment and take nothing not easily renewed by the earth. Believe me when I say the goal is one enormous challenge.”

He has come closer than anyone might have believed to meeting this challenge.

Upcycling is like recycling with an upscale twist. You take an old piece of furniture (or a completely unrelated item that has reached the end of its lifespan) and turn it into something that is completely different than the original. It doesn’t just look like new again, it’s got an entirely new look.

Alternative Work Schedules or AWS refers to a flexible work schedule, which is an alternative to the traditional 9 to 5, 40-hour workweek. More and more employees prefer the flexibility of working how, when and where it suits them. This means either outfitting a full time home office, or telecommuting, or using mobile tools like laptops, phones, video conferencing and other exciting products to get their work done. On the other hand, corporations save big bucks on real estate space and overhead expenses. So, AWS saves money for companies, creates happy workers and productivity is higher. A win-win situation all around!

A work design element, a magnet center is used to draw co-workers together for the purpose of facilitating informal interaction. These spaces, according to studies, are ideal as it allows more people to have engage in conversation and so build more inherent trust, which then leads to enhanced true collaboration. Magnet centers can be a draw to employees because of their location by a view or at an intersection of traffic patterns. At times they are intentionally placed between 2 groups who are adjacent but do not interact as much as hoped for (think Engineering and Purchasing).

An area can also be a magnet center because there are food or refreshments placed there. OR it exists simply because it’s just a cool space.