139: Dan Bladen & Dave Cairns - The Rhythm and Flow of People, Work, Place, and Space

Dan Bladen, CEO and co-founder of Kadence, and Dave Cairns, Future of Work Strategist at Kadence, each discuss aspects of the evolving dynamics of modern workplaces and spaces. Dan shares insights from Kadence’s journey developing workplace technology and breaking down and rebuilding work to facilitate workflow and rhythm for distributed workers. Dave highlights the benefits of data-driven understanding of people flow and space utilization as well as intentional gatherings. They recognize flexible hybrid models’ acceptance and leaders’ increasingly purposeful coordination.  

 

 

TAKEAWAYS

 

Dan Bladen Interview

 

[01:22] Dan explains his background in theology, music, and technology.

 

[02:57] Growing up with engineers, hardware, and gaming encouraged Dan to build computers.

 

[05:04] Traveling around the world in 2012, connectivity and charging are basic needs.

 

[05:40] Dan co-founds Chargify to make wireless charging a game changer as WiFi did for connectivity.

 

[06:41] Dan notices offices were already half-empty as people start ‘agile working’ in the 2010s.

 

[07:25] The business of checking an employee into a hot desk while also charging their laptop.

 

[08:06] Strong growth stops with the pandemic, then a Fortune 50 company asks to use Chargify’s software to enable safe office-based work.

 

[09:36] The checking-in capability leads to a business pivot to workplace coordination software.

 

[11:02] Dan isn’t enthralled, but the market is large and 90% of companies are going hybrid.

 

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