Like many leaders in learning and development, I spend a lot of time thinking about what work will look and feel like in the future and how we might get ready for it today. Recently I came across three future of work infographics that you must read.They were created by futurists who are way smarter, funnier, nerdier, and innovative than me and, as expected, my digital and analog networks had a lot to say about the ideas. Below are the infographics as well as my reflections on what they could inspire in our communities. I had some fun with my reflections – we always learn when we reflect and we can reflect in many different ways and learning is enhanced when we laugh. I hope that you have some fun reflecting, too.
The rate of change
MT @heathermcgowan
Reflections
I love this so hard. Futurist hero Heather McGowan captures what it means to be a lifelong learner. Whenever I’m struggling to emphasize how much human beings can expect our world to get rocked during our career I share this simple explanation. I also love it because the idea underscores the importance of learning as an antidote to disruption. Based on the ups-and-downs of the “relative rate of change”, it’s important to note that part of changing and learning means unlearning – we need to let go of old habits, systems and tools when new, dominant paradigms emerge.
Questions
- Is the 90+ life expectancy realistic given the wildfires, populism and precarious work?
- What are a few great strategies for unlearning something?
- How might we constantly reinvest in peoples’ skills in order to reinvent their talents?
Drawing
Haiku
Change is hard. And here.
Learning cures disruption, son.
Tyrannosaurus.
The evolution of the employee
MT @jacobm
Reflections
I believe that the future of work will be more human and more co-operative. So obviously this gem by humanizing-the-workplace hero, Jacob Morgan, confirms many of my biases and preferences towards how work ought to get done and how we should feel while we do it. What resonates the most, especially because it presents a spectacular advantage for the co-op sector, is the expectation that information should be accessible, learning should be democratized, and the wisdom of the crowd – the whole crowd – should inform who leads.
Questions
- Who works on tropical islands under palm trees? Honestly?!
- When a friend of mine saw this and wrote “are we to assume these are all improvements?” what did he mean?
- How might we create self-directed career paths (just like the ones for learning)?
Drawing
Haiku
Ladders everywhere.
Work all the feelz. Share. Adapt.
Cooperative.
The evolution of the manager
MT @jacobm
Reflections
Employees probably won’t evolve unless managers show up differently, Or there’ll be a revolution and that is a very different infographic. Transparency and the democratization of information are, once again, themes in this piece of content, too. While a part of me will miss my megaphone, it’s also very easy for me to see that asking great questions to the people who are doing the work gets infinitely better results than me playing a hero role and trying to solve all the problems. For managers, transforming from hero to host might be the greatest unlearning that we can achieve in service of our community’s potential.
Questions
- What is the best icon from this graphic?
- What is the convention that you most need to challenge? The conversation that you most need to have? And what’s holding you back from doing the thing?
- How might we create cultures where managers earn leadership as a prerequisite to the work?
Drawing
Haiku
What’s on your mind? [SMILE].
From hero to host. Evolve.
Abracadabra.