Vibe Officing: The Antidote to Office Mandates

The Vibes Began with Code

Just two months ago, Andrej Karpathy posted about "vibe coding":

"There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding', where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists."

The concept spread quickly, then Azeem Azhar zoomed out:

“The vibe working revolution extends far beyond code. Knowledge work of all kinds, marketing, strategy, budgeting, planning, research, and analysis, are fertile terrain.”

This new paradigm signals a broader shift in how we think about work. And workplace.

Vibes vs. Vibrancy vs. Vibe Officing

We must distinguish between three related but distinctly different concepts, and the difference between vibes, vibrancy, and vibe (officing) isn't just linguistic—it's strategic.

1. "Vibes": The Feel (noun)

Vibes describe a space's intuitive, emotional atmosphere—what your gut tells you about a place the moment you walk in. They are organic, subjective, and difficult to articulate precisely.

When I was at WeWork, executives touring our Chelsea HQ would often ask, "Why does it feel like this?" They weren't referring to the furniture or the floor plan—they were trying to describe and name something invisible that made the space magnetic.

2. “Vibrant” / "Vibrancy": The Intent (adjective)

Vibrancy is what happens when you deliberately design for a feeling. It's the output of a workplace strategy, the result of thoughtful decisions about space configuration, density, hospitality, and activation.

A recent CBRE workplace and occupancy report said:

“A sweet spot for buzz and energy occurs when at least two-thirds of an office is occupied. If the office is in that sweet spot, we call it a ‘vibrant day.’”

Like experience in general, vibrancy is rarely free either. Back at WeWork, Community teams had budgets for planned and spontaneous events, held in spaces configured for proximity.

3. "Vibe Officing": The Behavior (adverb)

Vibe officing is the most behavioral of the three terms. It describes how someone works when they fully embrace mobility and mood-based decisions about location.

I asked ChatGPT to define it using Andrej Karpathy’s vibe coding post as inspiration, and the result was pretty great:

“You fully give in to mobility, forget where your 'desk' is, and just follow the strongest WiFi and sunlight. 😎 I float between cafes, coworking spots, and random nooks. I don't 'go to the office,' I materialize wherever the mood and meetings align. I book rooms on apps I’ve never heard of. I overhear startup pitches while answering emails. Work just happens where I am and around me.”

If "vibes" are what you feel, and "vibrancy" is what you design, then "vibe officing" is what you do—prioritizing autonomy and experience over consistency and routine.

And if you don’t hear any of those words around your organization, I suggest forwarding this article to your colleagues.

Why This Matters: Power is Shifting

Vibe coding allows anyone with a clear vision to take control, instead of just technical experts. Similarly, vibe officing empowers individuals by moving away from corporate guidelines for presence and design. It promotes personalized experiences and supports AI-powered journeys.

Employees aren't just reacting to the office; they're narrating their experience. They select buildings and workplaces based on the vibe they need for the day's tasks. Workflows are constantly one step ahead.

Vibes fundamentally change the conversation about hybrid work. It's no longer about how many days leaders can mandate office presence, it's about creating magnetic environments that employees actively choose to visit despite having alternatives.

Lessons Learned from Vibe Revenue

But not all vibes are created equal.

Greg Isenberg recently coined the term "vibe revenue" to describe businesses built on temporary enthusiasm rather than sustainable value:

"Vibe revenue is money coming from customers who are paying out of curiosity, novelty, or FOMO rather than because a product solves a genuine problem."

Greg continues to say that “the hallmarks of vibe revenue include high initial conversion, impressive short-term growth, but poor retention beyond 3-6 months.”

The same risk applies to vibe officing but, unlike software, real estate moves slowly. Really slowly.

You can't iterate on a building or lease the way you can with code. Offices cannot be upgraded or reconfigured at the speed and whim of changing employee preferences.

Work is a Verb, Not Just a Noun

To overcome this challenge, organizations must stop thinking about "the office" as a static noun and start thinking about (vibe) "officing" as a dynamic verb. This follows the idea that work is a verb, not just a noun, a phrase I first saw in writing in 2012.

Taken together, this means:

1. Enabling movement across multiple settings, both within buildings and across cities
2. Using technology to reduce friction between spaces, making transitions seamless
3. Focusing on community and hosting rather than just amenities and events
4. Measuring experienced density rather than just designed density
5. Empowering employees to choose their environment based on task and team(s)

Companies like Atlassian are leading the way in this approach. Rather than measuring the cost of their offices per square foot, they calculate the cost per visit, acknowledging that the value of physical space lies in its use, not just its existence.

The Office Can't Force a Vibe, But It Can Invite One

The rise of vibe officing doesn't mean the death of the traditional workplace. But it does mean rethinking our relationship with physical space entirely. Even providers of future-forward spaces like Industrious are signaling a change in the workplace playbook.

Leading organizations will know they can't control where the best thinking happens, but they can create conditions that make people want to come together in whatever place makes sense.

For the people managers out there, I have two recommendations for you:

1. When you’re in the office, try to clear your calendar of meetings. Sit in an office? Leave your door open. This makes you accessible and responsive to vibes in your teams.
2. Listen to your employees. When they say they want "coffee shop vibes" to write or "war room energy" for a project sprint, they are sharing something fundamental about how environments shape their creativity. Help them find the right ones.

When the future of work sounds more like "What's the vibe today?," thriving companies will be the ones ready with compelling answers.

And those with office mandates, assigned cubicles, and "coffee badging" culture may find they have killed the vibes for good.

How are you experiencing or enabling a “vibe officing” culture in your organization?

- Phil