Old Rules vs New Rules for Work

You’ve probably been following the rules of work established generations ago. What no one has told you is that there is a NEW set of rules, and it has been emerging for quite some time.

Many companies are using the new rules and aren’t even aware of it. It’s important to understand that we’re are at a time when every company is a technology company.

Qualifications have changed. University degrees used to be the main doorway for employment. Today employers are looking for critical thinkers and self-starters that are keeping pace with change. So lifelong education will be critical. Google, Facebook, and even the federal government are preferring skills to credentials.

• Go to school, choose a major, get a degree, choose a profession, stay there for years, do what your boss told you.
• We followed those rules because they worked.
• It was the basic structure for our lives

Today, it’s about developing digital AND soft skills — collaborating with teams around the world.

Traditional job search — interviews, employer controlled, classified ads in newspapers. But the process has changed. Online portfolios, crowdsourced platform, download an app, code challenges

Old rules won’t work as well as in the past.

The future of work faces many challenges: There’s an urgent need for us to be adaptive over the long term for future generations.

The sustainability of our resources, the technology we use, how it affects our psychology, and the very world we want to create.

• There will be a changing relationship between employer and employee
• Despite access to a global talent pool and the gig economy — skilled talent remains scarce.
• As workers become more accustomed to working remotely — the relationship between employers/employees will shift — either towards draconian surveillance — or a more results-oriented mindset.
• Changing demographics — There are 10,000 retiring boomers every day. A shift in the millennial worker mindset.
• Increased social responsibility — There’s a growing understanding that we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for. I’d like to urge everyone to not only think differently — but also act differently.
• Social responsibility, not only in lip service but in actions will define how we handle the next inevitable challenge that comes our way. We no longer have the luxury of short-term thinking.

Let’s take a look at Organization 2.0

Google didn’t replace the yellow pages. It made the yellow pages obsolete. Next-generation or “Org 2.0” — won’t replace the existing model; it must make the existing model obsolete.

• For hundreds of years, the dynamics of what trust means and how it is acquired among parties have been based on personal relationships. However, in modern times, things are entirely different.
• The pace of change has quickened, and the culture of trade and commerce is now global.
• It’s not a technology challenge — as much as a cultural challenge.
• It's about people, process, and technology — in that order

Work is adjusting — so are meetings.

Meetings are a source of burn-out for many.

• We don’t have to have meetings after meetings about work — where else it is okay to book a $3,000 meeting?
• At the end of the day, it’s all about alignment

Alignment is important in the age of distributed teams.

• Alignment is a set of agreements about what matters
• Continually checking in each other
  The terms we use and the ideas we share are important. What we think is important. Speaking square and circle
• IMPORTANT to double down on org goals, transparency, transparent on leadership and needs, what needs to accomplish over the next 3–12 mo
• When we don’t see each other in person — it’s a natural thing to lose what others are doing. Orgs need to double down on information architecture — related to alignment, communication, and culture.

Work is now a global collaboration for knowledge workers. Someone from London is working with a project manager in NYC and then sent for review in Singapore.

• A connective tissue is required to do this at scale across organizations. Silos no longer have to exist inter-organizationally or inter-departmentally.
• Workflows could be automated to reduce the work drudgery.
• Incentives would perhaps nudge and reward you should you decide to take on a micro-task — such as reviewing your colleague's work or providing feedback on a proposal.
• Balancing resources — Humans today are by far the biggest cost for many employers. The bench cost for employing highly skilled talent in this future could be shared with other employers (in the same way someone rents out their apartment on Airbnb) — providing valuable knowledge sharing in adjacent industries for cross-collaboration.
• Administration and project assignments would be routed by intelligent agents in the background.

AI Work Protocols

The technology to experiment with new systems of remote governance is available today.

To achieve this goal we’ll need smart work protocols. Work protocols would be modular business processes. Like a lego block containing instructions that plug into your existing business. Need an on-boarding module? What about a process for automating internal reports? These smart protocols could be transferred or even sold in a marketplace to other businesses as well.

A proposal protocol would standardize the sow. There would also be a need for a proof of value to ensure people did what they said they were going to do across distributed teams.

The end game has to be about maximizing human potential. Imagination is a tool that allows us to extend our reach. Technology and skillsets alone — won’t be enough. The magic wand only works if we update our mindset.

We are humans.

Biologically, we are used to patterns. If we are using a skill set over time, and we get good results, we want to keep doing it the same way.

THEN all of a sudden a virus comes along and things just don’t work like they used to. But our tendency is to still keep using our old approaches or returning back to what worked in the past. To be able to solve our current challenges and anticipate continuous change we will need to train leaders, with a new adaptable mindset.

• A mindset Inclusive of all people
• Aiding people to adapt skills for the “new normal” of continuous change to solve the inevitable things that will come.
• AI can help recommend, optimize, and assist.
• But it’s up to humans to maximize our potential.

Perhaps there is no better feeling than to let yourself be carried away. To be on a great adventure. Joseph Campbell talks about the Hero’s journey. To heed the call to adventure — is to allow yourself to be transported.

It is to FACE the renewed mind. You have to get out of your own way. If you’re willing to treat everyone as a teacher — you’ll learn new things about yourself and what truly matters. It’s as much a matter of mindset as it is a skillset.

Push humanity forward.