My buddy Jonathan Finnegan (a.k.a. Finn, or that guy who Karaoke’d “The Humpty Dance” and “Just a Friend” with a broken arm at Cogaoke in years past) asked me,

…in a traditional company, are people that work together getting paid by the same boss working to better said company still co-workers and not coworkers like we know of in regards to coworking spaces? It was a good question and helps illustrate part of the language I’ve been working to focus surrounding Indy Hall and coworking in general.

My general philosophy is that coworking is the future of working.

Tony Bacigalupo has mused that the future of “coworking” is that it just becomes “working”, and that everyone will have the opportunity to work from somewhere like Indy Hall or New Work City.

I’ve begun to posit things a bit differently.

I think that instead of more people working from coworking spaces, what we’re working to achieve is the ethos and social learnings of coworking spaces, which I think will lead to a better way of working in every work environment.

So – if I had to draw a line somewhere – I’d say that the difference between a co-worker and a coworker is more about their relationships with each other and the other people on their team, not so much where they work or for whom.

As examples, I’d consider the team at P’unk Ave and Wildbit coworkers. Tight, lots of mutual respect, dedicated to a higher purpose, and working to raise the tide rather than climb the ladder.

So the goal of getting more people to work from coworking spaces like Indy Hall TODAY is with the relationships of co-workers becoming the relationships of coworkers.

My hope is that the future leaders of business have worked from coworking spaces like Indy Hall at some point in their career, and that the experience has an impact on how they choose form relationships between them and their employees within their companies.