We Need a “Next” Mindset About Work
If I can work from anywhere now, why would I work here with you?
It was the first time I’d considered a question like that, stated so boldly. At the end of a job interview, I was leading a couple of months ago, I asked the candidate if they had any final questions. The question they posed framed the deep issue at the heart of this virtual, in-person, collaborative, individual world that defines work for today’s Modern Times: If I can work from anywhere now, why would I work here with you?
To Retool Work, Focus on These Questions:
- What can we do as leaders to make sure people want to work with us?
- What can we do as communities to distinguish ourselves within a broader ecosystem?
- What is the flywheel that will prepare us to tackle emerging challenges?
- What are the big moves we can make to bring together great talent?
- How can we build organizations and communities that widen the net of opportunity?
Organizations Need to Retool Toward Better Learning
People want to work for organizations where they can keep growing. As we’ve moved from the classroom mindset to on-the-job training to a much more dynamic and continuous learning process, one of the best ways to bring an organization forward with great talent is to rethink learning advancement.
When people feel they’re progressing, they’re much more likely to connect to their job and stay with the company.
The last generation defined job progress as training content + learning platforms. In the next era, we can provide even better learning through customization, retention, and access. I view the work of companies like Ahura.AI as leaders in the next wave of AI-enabled, custom learning environments.
To move upskilling to the next era, at Ahura AI we focus on keeping individuals engaged during learning. There’s valuable content out there, but most of us don’t have the support to reduce bad learning habits or alter the learning experience to suit our individual needs. Ahura AI plays the role of a personal trainer to identify distractions and discomfort while learning, nudge us into focus and drive learning engagement that positions employees to be top performers.
—Alex Tsado
Co-founder and COO
Ahura.AI
Communities and Regions Need New Elements of Distinction
What will it take for talented people to live in the region? If technology enables communities to be great at anything now, what does our community want to be great at (and how can we make that happen)? How do we define community? Can we focus on integrating capabilities to help us all make progress faster?
If regions can engineer advantages today, what should geographic regions optimize for if work will thrive there in the future? How might we tackle something important together?
One of the leaders in recrafting regional advantage is the Innovation Outpost. They are shifting the innovation advantage toward regions whose infrastructures are specifically designed for the new realities of the workforce and workplace.
The next wave of innovation must go beyond traditional thinking about industry clusters or centers of excellence. The playing field is leveling to a point where regional ecosystems must prioritize the differentiated flywheel effects they can create and foster. In a world growing less dependent on coastal urban centers of excellence and technology hubs, small cities and even rural communities can access the best talent and weave a fabric built on a community of learning and the very same frameworks that fuel globally competitive companies.
—Todd McLees
Managing Partner
Innovation Outpost
The Big Picture of Work Brings New Organizing Principles
I’ve been inspired by the book The Next Rules of Work by Gary A. Bolles in framing new organizing principles. He describes the Four Domains of the Future of Work with the driving ethos at its heart: No human left behind.
The four domains he outlines point to a significant opportunity to reshuffle our current guiding principles.
- BEYOND PROXIMITY. People who don’t need to live close to the place where they work can optimize their choice of where and how they want to contribute far differently than they did in the era before remote was possible.
- BEYOND GEOGRAPHY. Centers of excellence can be defined beyond geography.
- RADICAL SHIFT IN TRAINING. Upskilling talent needs to move beyond reliance on traditional training grounds.
- URGENT WINDOW. Leaders of organizations, communities, regions and even countries have a window right now to recast our futures to create more inclusive economies.
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We recently held a town hall meeting with Gary A. Bolles with a lively conversation about The Next Rules of Work. Here’s the link.
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ToolBox
Start here to begin retooling work
TALENT MAGNET
O What are you doing to widen your net and see ahead of talent capabilities in other geographies and other industries?
O How are you shaping jobs to bring in and keep the people you need?
O How responsive is your leadership to new conversations?
EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES
O How are you joining forces with other leaders in your community?
O Have you created a distinctive collective purpose?
O Which challenges will you tackle?
WELL-ENGINEERED FORCE MULTIPLIERS
O Have you established a true learning flywheel?
O How have you incorporated emerging technologies into your learning culture?
O How are you preparing for your future needs for talent?
EXPANSIVE ECONOMIES
O How are you monitoring access, inclusion, equity, and diversity?
O metrics will tell the story of your progress?
O How is purpose engineered into your priorities: individual, team, company, community, region, and the alliances you form?
