Escape Velocity!

The Dawn of a New MindsetMore than 44 million workers quit their jobs voluntarily in September the Labor Department said Friday That was up from 43 million in August and was the most in the two decades the government has been keeping trackamp160The New York TimesA May survey of 1000 US adults showed that 39 would consider quitting if their employers weren39t flexible about remote work The generational difference is clear Among Millennials and GenZ that figure was 49 according to the poll by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg Newsamp160Bloomberg NewsWeb 30 will bring us a fairer internet by enabling the individual to be a sovereign True sovereignty implies owning and being able to control who profits from one39s time and information Web 3039s decentralized blockchain protocol will enable individuals to connect to an internet where they can own and be properly compensated for their time and data eclipsing an exploitative and unjust web where giant centralized repositories are the only ones that own and profit from itamp160ForbesThe Future is Escaping from the Containers of the PastThe office and the nature of today39s firms are probably containers of the past as power moves to talent the cloud and to the edgeMark Zuckerberg is aware that the Facebook of today is a container of the past as he seeks his own escape velocity into the metaverseMedia companies and content owners are working to reinvent themselves not just because the content is now free from the physical distribution medium of compact disc physical book or newspaper and increasingly television networks but the real challenge is now dawning on everybodyamp8230 what happens if talent owns the rights and is increasingly empowered to be their own media companiesFrom Taylor Swift rerecording her catalog as Taylor39s Versions to authors using Substack and selfpublishing TikTok stars doing deals with Netflix without the need for CAA and artists using NonFungible Tokens to monetize their craft the great escape of talent has just only begunThe Waves of Change Enabling the Great EscapeThree key shifts occurring over the past two years will drive the biggest revolution in power dynamics between individuals and the companies1 COVID19amp160COVID accelerated the move to clouddistributed work and a new mindset about life and career balance that cannot be wished awayThe companies demanding people return to the cages of the office will find empty zoos Almost all the very important benefits of human interaction from training to collaboration to brainstorming can be done at events educational institutions restaurants and barsThe issue is no longer the relevancy of huge offices but a far more seminal question which is how a firm should be organized and designed in a world where technology is enabling a reduction in external friction in connecting combining delivering and servicing products and servicesThere are many reasons for firms to exist including making longterm investments building supply chains ensuring the promise of a brand and much more But few of these require people to cluster in offices for more than short bursts of time2 A Shift in TalentCapital Dynamicsamp160The term that is being used here is talent rather than labor While there has been a shift in power to labor versus capital in many markets post COVID19 it is still on balance much more tilted to capital This is not true when it comes to knowledge workers and many whitecollar workers who either through experience andor education have built expertise craft intellectual capital reputation and methodsEverywhere they understand that they are in short supply at the very same time that distributed work is no longer limiting the need for expertise to their local market but can be monetized across the globeThe current constraint is less of demand and mindset rather it isamp160the lack of portable healthcare Many entrepreneurs and financial technology companies will soon find ways to address this issue if governments do not3 Web 30amp160Imagine a world where one could code as easily as connecting Legos A world which was open and one which was decentralized where every one of us owned our own data and gave people a look like through a window when we wanted to and under financial considerations that were mutually beneficial This web of composability openness and decentralization is upon us and enabling everything from crypto currencies to nonfungible tokens and much more An underlying outcome of the new protocols is increased power to the individualSmart Companies are Preparing for a New AtmosphereAll over the world smart firms and leaders are preparing for the new world now versus dithering and delaying They have either benefited or been hurt by their experience of being early or late to Web 10 and Web 20amp160They realize that this wave of change is going to happen faster and with greater force than what came before and so they are asking and working to answer these three big questionsBusiness Model Fitamp160As the first three decades of the internet took away certain scale benefits in some industries scale of manufacturing scale of spending scale of resources while enabling other scale scale of data scale of networks scale of ideas and removed the benefits of time distance and information arbitrage leading firms are seeking to understand the implications of the decline of the scale of centralized control and the rise of the scale of individual talent among other shifts on their business modelsOrganizational Designamp160In a world of unbundled work distributed talent unprecedented edge computing power and new trust and identity currencies how must they shape shift their firm their partners and other parts of the ecosystem to ensure they can make the most of the new opportunities on the horizonTalent Investmentamp160The firms with the access to the best talent in ways that allow them variable access to brain power and skills combined with superb reputations ecosystems and plugandplay interfaces with other firms are likely to be the ones that thrive The top companies are working to find ways to enable cultures and processes that allow talent expanded freedoms to practice their skills to fit the companies into the storiesamp160of the talent lives versus fit the talent into the storiesamp160of the companies39 lives and to keep growing skills assets and reputation Companies will work for talentamp160talent will not work for companiesSmart Talent is Seizing Control of Their FutureTalent recognizes that the future of work will be one where everyone is increasingly a gig worker like those who work in entertainment movies theatre music or consulting move from project to project andor from city to city based on the need for their expertise as companies seek to manage their variable costsA gig mindset does not preclude longterm careers at firms In fact smart firms by enabling career shapeshifting flexible hours and investment in training are likely to extend the tenure of their best talentSmart talent will invest in four core behaviors to ensure they can rocket into the futureContinuous learningamp160The halflife of much expertise is shorter and shorter and talent will insist on access and invest in their own training and skill upgradingBuilding stellar reputations for competency trust and collaborationamp160In a plugandplay world those who are skilled trusted and known to collaborate will thrive The future will treat empty branding the selfobsessive and the frictionfilled drama kings and queens as viruses and route around themGenerosity and investment in their networksamp160Individuals will scale across companies industries and the world not by themselves but through the power of Web 30 networks alliances of talent and reputation To feed oneself one will need to fit the network Trust to be trusted Give to get Help to get helpBalance unite and integrate left brain and right brain skillsamp160The future requires anamp160understanding of the concepts of science math and technology It does not require one to be good at mathematics or know how to code but there is an underlying truth fabric and design to the future and we must all understand the concepts Everyone can and must understand these key elements if they are to thrive If one must align with the force one must understand the force But that alone will not be enough Top talent will also hone their creativity and their abilities to empathize and to be vulnerable The best talent will integrate math and magic plumbing and poetry and spreadsheet with storyThe future begins every dayamp160We are all on a rocket ship to a new worldPrepare for escape velocity from the containers and mindsets of the pastClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Escape Velocity!

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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