The Starting XI: Lessons from the Pitch and The Workline

This past Memorial Day weekend, I spent two days at my son's soccer (football) tournament, watching 11 players work together toward a shared goal. Between matches, I caught highlights from some of the global leagues rushing towards their respective finishes.

It struck me that workplace transformation is a lot like soccer: success requires every position working in harmony, clear communication across the field, and a shared understanding of the game plan. You can't win with just a great striker.

After eleven articles exploring workplace transformation on The Workline, here are my "Starting XI" insights that every organization needs to master the future of work.

1. Stop Measuring Square Feet, Start Measuring Human Visits

Atlassian cracked the code on office value with one simple metric: cost-per-visit. When you divide fully-loaded office costs by actual employee visits, suddenly every real estate decision becomes a human-centered conversation.

2. Your Change Needs A "North Star" Vision

Most change programs fail because they stop at aspiration and principles. Winners add workstreams (what we'll do this year) and performance measures (how we'll know we're winning). Without all four levels, you're not leading change—you're just drifting.

3. Finance Policies Kill More Workplace Innovation Than Bad Design

The most brilliant office redesign can't overcome misaligned chargebacks. When business units don't feel the pain of unused space or the benefit of efficiency gains, your transformation hits an invisible wall called "below the line" accounting.

4. Digital Workplaces Need Addresses, Not Just Apps

Remote-first companies don't just use Slack, they create consistent "places" where work lives. Email for formal communications, Notion for project collaboration, specific channels for specific buildings. "Doing the work where the work is" requires intentional digital geography.

5. Your Company's Heartbeat Determines Everything Else

Hybrid work fails when employees don't understand the rhythm of the business. Board presentations, budget cycles, strategic planning are all organizational pulses that should be visible to everyone, not just executives. Transparency about "when" matters as much as clarity about "where."

6. Innovation Dies Above the 67th Floor (Literally)

When Accenture's team couldn't get their drones to work, it wasn't a technical problem. It was an altitude restriction. The lesson: always ask "Where are you?" before offering solutions. Context determines capability.

7. Vibe Officing Beats Office Mandates Every Time

The future isn't about forcing presence, it's about creating magnetic environments people choose based on their mood, tasks, and energy needs. When work feels like "following the strongest WiFi and sunlight," you've unlocked true autonomy.

8. Four Forces Shape Every Change

Push of the present, pull of the future, anxieties of the new, and habits of the old. Change happens based on a balance of predictable forces. Most "resistance" is actually unaddressed anxiety—fix that first.

9. We Write Nothing Down (And Wonder Why Remote Work Is Hard)

The #1 blind spot in modern work: poor documentation. Companies with office-based cultures never learned to create "search-first" cultures because you could always ask the person next to you. Now that person is in another timezone.

10. Cross Conference Boundaries to Cross Organizational Silos

The best workplace insights come from crashing someone else's professional party. HR conferences teach real estate leaders about frontline experience. Tech conferences show HR teams what's possible with sensors and AI. Your next breakthrough is hiding in an adjacent industry's event.

11. Experience Has an Org Chart Problem

The future belongs to companies that collapse the distance between people who shape culture (HR) and those who shape infrastructure (IT + Real Estate). Call it Chief of Work, Chief of Experience, or whatever, but someone needs to own the whole employee journey.

Just like the best soccer teams, successful workplace transformation requires every position to understand their role, communicate constantly, and work toward the same goal. Please share these articles with your colleagues to help you work as a top-performing team.

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The Workline is published by Phil Kirschner, Founder of PK Consulting LLC, and distributed every Thursday. It provides inspiring stories and quick wins you can implement tomorrow, helping you tackle cross-functional resistance and workplace challenges.