Back in May, Aimee asked me: "So do you know how the office came about in the first place?" We already were in the middle of the pandemic (or so we thought). Offices around the world were shutting down, companies were haphazardly making the switch to remote work, and everyone was trying to figure out what to do now — and how. We felt that the workplace as we knew it was changing in front of our eyes. And we wanted to understand — or try to understand, at least — what was going on, and what was going to happen next. So, we started asking questions, researching the history of the workplace, communication, collaboration, and so forth. And that's pretty much how Constant Change was born, more or less. We didn't want to make another newsletter that talked about "10 tips for organizing remote office" or "You won't believe what happened when this chicken sandwich joined our Zoom call." We wanted to dig deeper, say something that wasn't said before, and find connections between what's happening now to similar changes in the past. Over the past months, we've learned how the invention of factories paved way for the modern open space (and how it left women without work), how lighthouse keepers managed loneliness for decades, how people handled confusion over landline phone etiquette in the early 1900s, how World War II changed the job market, what Benjamin Franklin's to-do list looked like — and many other exciting things (that I likely won't shut up about at dinner parties for the next year). This series of eight essays spanning some 8,000 words provides an overview of what exactly shaped the modern workplace, and gives a (reasonably fresh) perspective on what exactly is wrong with modern tech, and how it can all be possibly improved. I/we hope that you're going to enjoy reading it as much as I/we enjoyed writing it. To balance out the seriousness of the whole thing, expect some terrible puns, too. Please read, share your thoughts (who doesn't love a good Twitter debate), and subscribe for more. Thank you and stay safe!

Work is getting shaped, and re-shaped, all around us. We're re-imagining communication. Re-thinking productivity. Re-visiting the basics of teamwork. We talk about today's changes and trends in "re" terms, using words that imply repetition and a return to what was. But how can we re-do anything if we don't return to the roots? We believe to get ahead, you need to first look back. After all, history repeats itself. Understanding what's happened in the past can prepare you to get ahead and ride the wave of future changes. Constant Change gets to the root of the themes, patterns, and trends defining how we work today. It's an email series for curious minds who like to stay one step ahead, produced and published by the people at Pitch.