Great Examples

Who knew that the New York Jets knew so much about being authentic?

The New York Jets moved into their new training facility in Florham Park, NJ, just last week. Stories about the new building (designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP) describe it as huge, high-tech, state of the art, and light filled. Take a look at the photos on the Jet’s website and the New York Times .

The Jets demonstrate in their new facility ways that your organization can use its physical environment — the space where you put yourselves– to help it be more authentic.

Here’s what the New York Jets know:

1. If your organization requires people to punt, build ceilings that are 96 feet high.

Sometimes, to get the job done, the New York Jets have to kick the ball pretty high, and pretty far. In their former practice space, the Jets had to worry about balls bouncing off the ceiling! And, once a ball hit the ceiling, there was no way for the kicker to confirm his aim and improve his kicks with correct feedback.

Now, in a fieldhouse with 96 ft ceilings, Jets who are practicing their kicks can actually see where the ball goes when it is unimpeded, just like in a real game. Players get to practice and refine the skills that they need to get their job done– without making any physical compromises.

=> To help your organization be authentic, create a physical space that has room for ‘who you are’ and ‘what you do’.

2. If your organization requires focus, mark your territory in ways that frame how you want to think.

At the New York Jets ‘ training center, the design of the physical space helps the entire organization focus its attention on the game of football. Two features are particularly clever. First, the view from every window emphasizes what the organization is there to do: play football. All that members can see when they look outside are football fields. Not highways, not billboards, not parking lots. Just football fields.

Second, there are yard-line markers not only outside on the football fields, but also inside the building, on the floors, the walls — yes, even the ceilings. You read that right– there are yard-line markers everywhere you look. What do these yard-line markers do for the organization, you ask? They teach everyone in the organization — from accountants to word processors — just how far you need to go to get a first down.

The yard-line markers also reinforce the idea that everyone in the organization plays an important position on the field. And, the yard-line markers remind the entire organization that what matters most is what happens on the football field .

=> To help your organization be authentic, use physical space to shape the ways people think and focus everyone’s attention on what’s most important.

3. If your organization requires professionalism and a winning spirit, create a space that is uplifting and inspiring.

The New York Jets training center is beautifully, thoughtfully designed to be completely professional and ’state of the art’. The bright, airy entryway looks right out onto the practice field. The materials, fittings and finishes are the highest quality. The classrooms, media booths, and weight room showcase the latest in technology. Everything is designed so that the players, the coaching staff, and the office staff feel proud and professional.

The emotional effect of this design attention? Energy and enthusiasm.

Altogether, as Randy Lange writes on the New York Jets’ website:

The essence of the new complex can be captured in a phrase: competitive advantage.

=> To help your organization be authentic, use physical space to uplift, inspire and energize everyone.

So what can the New York Jets teach you about authenticity?

A physical space

– that has room for ‘who you are’ and ‘what you do’,

– that helps to focus and shape the organization’s attention, and

– that generates enthusiasm and energy throughout the organization

can make it easier for your organization to be authentic.

Does your organization have the kind of physical space that lets you collectively be who you want to be?

Technorati Tags: New York Jets ,football ,training facility ,Florham Park ,Brett Favre ,authentic ,organizations ,leadership ,office design ,inspiring architecture ,sports psychology

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