Redefining the 'corner-office philosophy': Why GM's renovated offices include pool table, game areas, treadmills

It's a Wednesday morning in early December and General Motors' Cole Engineering building off Van Dyke Road on the Global Technical Center campus in Warren fills with a soft frenzy of salaried employees bustling throughout the long and winding corridors.

That typically wouldn't be too unusual except for one thing: None of them has an assigned desk.

The 5,000 employees there that day are scattered around the building. The employees do have an assigned team area, but they have flexibility and freedom to work wherever they want, say near the Starbucks or in their team area when needed. Some are at high-top tables along the corridors with their laptops open, some stand chatting as they admire funky art on the corridor walls.