Living Your Future — Today
Helping people and organizations cope with the changing Future of Work
Are you unhappy with your work environment?
· Over-managed with outdated rules that no longer make sense?
· No ability to find a voice for your suggestions and insights?
· Rewards go to others who play politics better than produce work?
· Uncertain career path and “stuck” in a dead-end job?
If so, you are like most of your peers working in bureaucratic organizations that were designed for your grandparents. So, what are You Going to Do???
You have three choices –
(1) Suck it up and complain to your friends while smiling to your boss?
(2) Look elsewhere (hoping the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence)?
(3) Learn how to influence the change you desire by joining a grassroots revolution that is creating the Future of Work as a Network Weaver???
Pioneer organizations are already testing new ways of working — doing what they can with the means available to them, taking calculated risks that have an acceptable worst-case outcome. But your greatest barrier will be your self-doubt that you are alone without an army of like-minded people who want a work experience that matches your personal needs and world vision.
So, let’s address your doubts upfront –
· I don’t have the positional power to lead change.
*** Positional Power is sufficient to produce passive-aggressive behavior that still needs Personal Powers for change success. You have more power than you think you have if you only identified your strengths and opportunities. Further, there are Group Powers that come from convening a group of people with a vision for a better future. All change starts with one person who sees a problem and works to open the eyes of others.
· My boss will retaliate!
*** Yes and no. Yes, if you directly challenge the status quo but alternative avenues are available for building a support network and finding points of leverage to nudge the system. There is also safety in positioning the change for the organization’s benefit, and even more so if your boss can also take credit. This is strategic thinking combined with stakeholder analysis and network development. Also remember that your boss may feel the same frustration you do and may welcome the opportunity to be involved.
· I don’t have the resources needed.
*** This is old thinking that puts goals first, followed by securing the necessary resources. Just flip this thinking around — what can you do now with the means you already have available? How can you partner with others to extend the means available?
· I don’t know how.
*** Probably true since few people have any experience with organizational change and what experience they do have is likely from poorly executed change initiatives using Industrial Era thinking about organizations, leadership, and change. However, this does not prevent you from acquiring this knowledge, along with ways to build a network of like-minded people to experiment with small-scale ways to nudge the bureaucracy to find points of opportunity.
· I don’t know where to start
*** You need to reframe this question. Most people make their decisions based on what they know and have experienced. This sets up a future that is based on the past, hence the Industrial Era bureaucracy that was built for an era of stability is maintained as the dominate organization structure and operating style. Rethink this time horizon — what decisions can you make today that will bring about the Future You Desire? What is already within your control? Who else can you influence?
One additional question remains –
· What is limiting you — other than your self-imposed boundaries?
*** You must answer this question yourself. But do not forget to include others who can both assist and encourage you in building the Future You Desire, by the decisions you make today. Network Weavers refashion the organization, one link at a time.
The choices we make today determine our future. If we focus on the past, our decisions will reflect what we like about the past that will likely conflict with the current forces for change. However, if we think about a desired future and work back to how we can create that future by the decisions we make today — ????
