Modern Workplace was a long-running Microsoft series that evolved over several seasons from a webcast format into something closer to what it became here: a genuine documentary, with a city as its backdrop and real stories at its center. This episode, the second of a two-part look at teamwork, follows Wunderman Thompson across their Manhattan offices and makes the case that the best creative tension isn't accidental. It's designed.

The opening segment was shot at Grand Central Terminal, a location I arranged specifically to set the tone for everything that followed. Having one of the world's great transit hubs as a backdrop rather than a conference room or a lobby changed the feel of the episode immediately. New York wasn't just the setting. It was a character.

What the episode doesn't reveal is how much was figured out on arrival. We hadn't seen most of the locations beforehand, and several of the interviewees were added once we were already on the ground. The Wunderman Thompson offices yielded conversations that touched on accessibility, inclusive design, and the creative philosophy they call "collision," a managed process of productive disagreement that is as honest a description of good teamwork as I've encountered. Christina Mallon, who ran inclusive design globally and has a physical disability herself, was one of the most compelling people we put on camera during the entire run of the series.

The whole thing was captured in two days, and it looks like considerably more. I'm still proud of that.

What I haven't mentioned yet is the context. This was shot at the end of February 2020, finishing in the first days of March. We were filming in Grand Central Terminal, walking through subway tunnels for additional footage, working around crowds and noise and the low-grade unease of something that hadn't quite been named yet. A few weeks later, the world shut down. We fought back those feelings and finished the job. Our host recorded voiceover in a hotel room afterward, couch cushions stacked against the wall to reduce echo. It worked.