These posts covers the likely future of work in this increasingly disruptive world
The grand experimentThe Covid pandemic triggered a spontaneous and global management experiment to explore the management implications of operating a largely remote workforce. How would it impact productivity? How would managers cope with not being able to hover over their subordinates?What’s in it for me?During the pandemic a new generation of people entered the workplace. […]
The future of work is a valuable expression, but only from a search engine optimisation perspective. You’ll note that I have used it twice already. The term has developed a life of its own, so we now use it even when addressing the ‘now’ of work. This is just one of the ways in which […]
There was a sense, at least in the UK, that Covid was under control and we were returning to some sort of steady state ‘normal’. If my gamified journey from Vienna back to London is anything to go by, disruption is just taking off its tracksuit. Luckily after struggling in the lower levels, I eventually […]
Nobody knows the future of work, or the future of anything for that matter, there are too many interacting macro-environmental forces at play. But let’s make a few assumptions and see where that takes us:People have a natural distaste for despair and terror.Some people are curious about discovering their true potential.Leadership is becoming decentralised.First, let’s […]
Definitions of work typically assume that there is a worker involved. According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, ‘work is defined as an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.’ This definition first started to fray around 3.3 million years ago when the first stone tools were created. […]
The future of work The clock speed of business and society is on the rise. So much so that strategy and tactics are converging, as are the present and the future. Thus, the future of work is not an abstract concept reserved for discussions about the future working lives of those born today. Post-industrial work […]
Being productive is not enough in the digital economy. Creativity is key.Thus we need to engender creativity by the incorporation of cultural diversity and isolation.Very little is generated from a creative perspective when everyone in the room is like-minded. Cultural blind spots are minimised when multiple cultures are on the case.But setting up your very […]
It is my view that you should treat your staff or team members as if they were each a single cell amoeba. But not just any amoeba. I would like to introduce you to physarum polycephalum, which can be thought of as semi-intelligent slime mould. I learnt about this fellow living organism through a compelling […]
Humans have evolved to solve problems that need solving now rather than waiting for natural selection to ‘breed in’ the solution. Certainly customers are less willing than ever to wait several generations until their needs are met. The first step in your staff augmentation programme is to release the shackles that constrain them from acting […]
In the grand scheme of things we haven’t been on the planet that long. In anthropological terms we are still hunter gatherers. If you have a fall out with a colleague you just wander off with your mates and start a new tribe. Thanks to the agricultural revolution we have grown from about seven million […]