I am planning to create a report this year — the 2022 Work Futures Report (which will include a topic-derived subtitle) — and one of the elements I want to create is something like this navigational tool that The Work Economic Forum uses:
However, the chart I’m planning involves topics in the past, present, and future of work.
So, I have created a questionnaire on Google that starts with a list of topics I sent out in 2019. People’s perceptions may have changed after the events of the past few years, and many of you weren’t readers of Work Futures then.
So it would be great if you could fill out the questionnaire, which has a dozen or so topics for weighting.
it will look like this (Substack doesn’t allow me to embed the form, here)
You can also make comments in the discussion, here.
To me, Report = Data, and the world is full of data.
What is in short supply is wisdom or insight.
The World Economic Forum navigation wheel lacks any insight - it's a grab bag of topics, many of which are buzz words that 'need to be there'. Why is 3D Printing listed, but not AgroTech (food security)? Why BlockChain, but not the Future of Trust? (Feels like they are covering themselves.)
Worse, the connecting lines mean very little. Why is 'Science' only connected to 'Open Innovation' - what insight was intended from this?
I think the core problem here is that the 'wheel' is a classification system - it's focused on the 'What' when it should be exploring the 'Why'.
Why was BlockChain created - was it a libertarian desire to have freedom from the state's monetary system or recognition that trust in the digital age has fundamentally broken down?
Will 3D Printing enable a creative revolution in decentralised manufacturing (the resurgence of the pre-industrialised cottage industry) or drive the production of ever-greater mountains of products?
I suspect any discussion about the Future of Work will have more in common with philosophy than economics or technology. Time to reread Bertrand Russell.
I have read a lot interesting snippets & items focused on progressive work topics in your emails.
But it would be really useful to have a list of ways as a manager I could find the balance between autonomy for my team and making sure the work is done well - best practices and options (with summaries and links to longer articles).
I know this could be a lot of work. But even a short list of the best 3 or 5 ways to lead a team into the 21st century would be very helpful.
Without a clear alternative structure it is too easy to revert to the status quo.
I agree with David Thomas. Wheels like this are unnecessarily complicated and fundamentally silly. What the world needs is not more wheels but more axles. Davos is a spa for the elite. The last thing the elite wants to see is actual change. They would rather gather and blather about how "open to change" they are.
To me, Report = Data, and the world is full of data.
What is in short supply is wisdom or insight.
The World Economic Forum navigation wheel lacks any insight - it's a grab bag of topics, many of which are buzz words that 'need to be there'. Why is 3D Printing listed, but not AgroTech (food security)? Why BlockChain, but not the Future of Trust? (Feels like they are covering themselves.)
Worse, the connecting lines mean very little. Why is 'Science' only connected to 'Open Innovation' - what insight was intended from this?
I think the core problem here is that the 'wheel' is a classification system - it's focused on the 'What' when it should be exploring the 'Why'.
Why was BlockChain created - was it a libertarian desire to have freedom from the state's monetary system or recognition that trust in the digital age has fundamentally broken down?
Will 3D Printing enable a creative revolution in decentralised manufacturing (the resurgence of the pre-industrialised cottage industry) or drive the production of ever-greater mountains of products?
I suspect any discussion about the Future of Work will have more in common with philosophy than economics or technology. Time to reread Bertrand Russell.
I have read a lot interesting snippets & items focused on progressive work topics in your emails.
But it would be really useful to have a list of ways as a manager I could find the balance between autonomy for my team and making sure the work is done well - best practices and options (with summaries and links to longer articles).
I know this could be a lot of work. But even a short list of the best 3 or 5 ways to lead a team into the 21st century would be very helpful.
Without a clear alternative structure it is too easy to revert to the status quo.
Thank You for Your Work in This Area.
I agree with David Thomas. Wheels like this are unnecessarily complicated and fundamentally silly. What the world needs is not more wheels but more axles. Davos is a spa for the elite. The last thing the elite wants to see is actual change. They would rather gather and blather about how "open to change" they are.