For many of us the idea of thriving at work sounds like an unrealistic dream. After all, navigating internal politics, fighting for scarce resources and opportunities, and the belief that we need to work later and later in order to be respected, is leaving more and more of us feeling disengaged and exhausted.

But is there a better way to thrive at work? With telecommunicating and freelancing on the rise, local co-working spaces where people from different organizations share an office environment are becoming increasingly popular. And as I discovered when I recently interviewed Professor Gretchen Spreitzer from the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizations, people in these spaces are more likely to report they are thriving than people in traditional work spaces.

Why? Watch the video below to discover my a-ha moment about the benefits of co-working spaces and what traditional workplaces might learn from their approaches.

Or listen to my full interview with Gretchen here.