The Story of the Future of Work-Part 3
Part 3: Let’s Envision a Preferred Future
Preparing for a preferred future means we need a vision for our community — a particular set of short, medium, and long-term actions to avoid being disrupted out of existence.
What does it mean to grow a collaborative community? It’s building bridges from our small town to larger cities, as well as broader networks outside the specialized silos of the past. Networks of networks:
- A community that values diversity — which provides access to a larger talent pool
- Developing a community that’s welcoming and accepting — not just tolerant
People have a unique competitive advantage over machines.
Our ability to empathize, express emotion, and connect the dots between seemingly random events, people, things, and ideas guards humans against obsolescence — at least until the robots learn to do it better. After which, I just hope we can be their pets!
The best way for a small/medium sized community to prepare is to attract and retain good people. They will think differently, have new ideas, and will want to contribute to our community — blending their culture, differences, and brilliant insights (which means more parades and hopefully food trucks). It is up to us to make everyone feel welcomed and accepted.
“It’s the first inning. It might even be the first guys up at bat. We’re on the edge of the golden age [of AI].” — Jeff Bezos
As a small community focused on our strengths, we could be in a position to grow our talent, upskill our workers, rethink old models, and guard against the rise of machines.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18
We have an opportunity (and an obligation) as business and community leaders. Can you envision a preferred future, rather than simply accepting the status quo and optimizing for the next quarter? The next 5 years will look nothing like the last 5 years. What are we going to do today to prepare for a future that is 80% certain?
It is coming. The question is: will we choose to embrace it as a community? The world is changing. Business is changing. We can’t leave this to chance.
There’s no doubt that an opportunity exists for businesses to reinvent themselves by setting an example.
A preferred version of the future is one where education centers around lifelong learning. We will focus not just on degrees, but also certificates, nano-degrees, and on-demand learning. Technology needs to be leveraged to reskill a rapidly displaced workforce using AI and self-paced, on-demand, customized courses in multiple languages. Kahn Academy is an example.
Connectivity is one of the keys to providing the 24x7 education and training needed. We will need to invest in connectivity to provide access to education, collaborators, and markets.
It’s time to be daring. What if we could build a self-sustaining community, not only in infrastructure, but with access to information and talent?
- What would a freelance guild look like? Solo practitioners are referring projects, sharing expenses, and building bridges to other communities and networks of people. What would happen if local corporations, banks, and businesses supported these economic engines of growth?
- What’s our vision to up-skill people in fields where a traditional degrees or certification become quickly outdated or disrupted?
- It’s more than overcoming a culture that fears failure — it’s acceptance of failure
- In technology circles, there’s a saying: “fail fast.” Failure is learning — it’s an event, not who you are.
“Tomorrow belongs to those who hear it coming.” — David Bowie
Our future is determined by the choices we make today. We can accept the current trends as inevitable and do nothing, or we can strike out on a bold new future for our community by embracing the changes (and applying them) to create a preferred future
