Good morning. Your workspaces (at home or at the office) don’t need to be stark and minimalist, but rather as alive and dynamic as the people who use them. Today, we are challenging offices, ideas and clothing that redefine the rules of work. That’s in focus today, along with the American Eagle stock that is flying high.
Up first
In the news
Exclusive: An internal government document lists 32 potential national projects for fast-track approvals, including an Alberta-B.C. pipeline
Trade: Canadian exports rise for the third consecutive month in July, helping to narrow international trade deficit
Resources: Northern Graphite’s CEO is confident in the future of North America’s only operational graphite mine after a financing deal with Ottawa
On our radar
- Watching: Sources say that Tom Pitfield, a top adviser to Mark Carney and Liberal Party strategist, has ties to Big Tobacco.
- This weekend: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe will be joined by Carney’s parliamentary secretary on his trade mission to China in a joint push to have Beijing end its tariffs on Canadian canola seed.
- Today: We are watching for Canadian employment data for August.
When you love your job, it shouldn’t take over your life.Illustration by Romain Lasser
In focus
Where life and work overlap
Good morning. I’m Haley Steinberg and I recently joined The Globe and Mail as senior style editor. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to tell you a bit about a recent Pursuits package that was all about anti-productivity.
My favourite stories are ones that seek to make sense of cultural trends by examining them, sometimes relentlessly, through the lenses of literature, art, film, philosophy, criticism and, yes, even business.
I’m excited to help improve and expand the Style section here at The Globe. We’ve already dipped our toes into the business world, including many stories that have already been shared in this newsletter.
Our coverage touches on a variety of subjects: a deeper look at a rare retail success during tough times, a survey of the style legacy of fashion magnate Hilary Weston and a look at how Canadians are dressing against economic uncertainty. You may also recall our gift guides for all sorts of occasions, as well as our reader poll on the most stylish person at your office.
Will Sorrell is photographed in front of his garden office located in his backyard in Victoria, B.C.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
In today’s newsletter, as we hover at the edge of summer, we question the concept of productivity: Who or what does it serve? Who are we without it? What are the rules of the game? And why are we still so obsessed with it?
Matthew Hague’s cover story on the anti-office features three professionals – a design show director, the CEO of a performance coaching firm and the owner of an interior design business – whose home offices break all the so-called “productivity rules.”
Quebec City apartment/office of Interior designer Nathalie Perron.Paul Dussault/Supplied
Instead of favouring white walls, decluttered desks and a sole focus on output, these spaces are drenched in bold colours and packed with personal memorabilia. They even make space for hobbies. (A bubblegum-pink office? Yes, you can, and it’s inspired.)
These are spaces that recognize that life and work, for so long viewed as firmly separate spheres, inevitably overlap – and that doesn’t need to be a bad thing. In fact, as these three will tell you, it can even make both spheres immeasurably better.
The homeowners also share the office design rules worth breaking, as well as the items they can’t work without (mine? To quote Twin Peaks’s Agent Cooper: a damn fine cup of coffee). If you’ve ever silently pleaded with your colleagues not to judge you for your lacklustre and/or unseemly Zoom background, this is a good place to start, and September is a fine excuse to update the old work-from-home setup. Who knows, I might even hang up the paintings that have been leaning against my office wall for the past 10 months.
Also in the section: Healthy Living reporter Graham Isador reflects on the struggle to draw lines between professional and personal life. “The truth is that without my work, I have trouble knowing who I am,” he writes.
His piece includes insights from Amanda Tobe, a Toronto-based organizational psychologist who specializes in career-focused psychological services. Tobe has advice for how to create this separation and why it’s important – even when your career is going well and you enjoy your work.
Getting creative with the most plain clothing.Supplied
Lastly, more true to the Style section, Truc Nguyen instructs on how to find the perfect white button-up. Here’s a flick: The key is finding the fit and style that works for you – and fills a gap in your wardrobe. As more of us return to the office this fall, this guide may be more relevant than ever.
I hope you enjoy your end-of-summer reading. Keep an eye out for more of our stories in Business Brief.
Charted
American Eagle shares soar
Source: BarchartThe Globe and Mail
Despite the strong reaction from the internet, Sydney Sweeney’s controversial gene/jean ad campaign drew in new customers during its most recent quarter. Shares of American Eagle Outfitters spiked 31 per cent at the opening bell Thursday after the frenzy surrounding its campaign that sparked debate about race, Western beauty standards and a backlash to “woke” American politics.
The company now expects comparable-store sales to rise by low single-digit percentages in the third and fourth quarters, and the company notes that the Sweeney ad campaign will continue.
Bookmarked
On our reading list
Cook: Three easy and healthy work lunches to make now that summer’s winding down.
Look: Who is buying new condos in Vancouver now and why?
Shook: Google was hit with a $425.7-million fine for improper smartphone spying.
Morning update
Global markets rose as expectations for interest rate cuts gave stocks a boost ahead of August jobs readings from Canada and the United States later this morning.
Wall Street futures were mixed, with the Dow pointing lower, while TSX futures pointed higher after Canada’s main stock market reached another all-time high yesterday.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.26 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.23 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.26 per cent and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.08 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.03 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.43 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 72.48 U.S. cents.