The Future of Work

For further proof of a changing worklife, consider this fascinating statistic that I recently came across. Twelve years ago, 61 percent of McKinsey’s new US recruits had MBAs. Now only around 40 percent of the recruits hold MBAs. Partially, this statistic is based on an oversupply of MBAs in the domestic market, and the fact that data analysis can be outsourced to cheaper countries. But it's also because art graduates are demand. In a globalized world, products and services become homogenized and then commoditized. One of the best ways to create differentiation is through innovation, but what some people mean when they say innovation is actually design. Design involves the application of lateral thinking and physical beauty, both of which bring us right back to right-brain thinkers.

Of course some jobs cannot be done by a machine or outsourced to India. These include what I'd call 'high-touch' jobs, like nursing and teaching, both of which involve a high level of emotional intelligence. Jobs that involve the application of creativity and imagination are also safe. According to Richard Florida, one of the world's leading social theorists and public intellectuals, these types of jobs don't work just anywhere. There are specific types of cities that are attractive to right-brained entrepreneurs and innovators, because the score highly on the three Ts -- Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. Technology refers to the proximity of world-class research facilities. Talent is the clustering of bright, like-minded people from varied backgrounds, and Tolerance is an open progressive culture that embraces 'outsiders' and difference.

In the new economy, child-like receptivity and cognitive flexibility may prevail. Psychological neotency, a fascinating new theory developed by Professor Bruce Charlton at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (UK), says that the increased level of immaturity among adults is an evolutionary response to increased change and uncertainty. This sounds ridiculous when you first consider it, but it does make a certain amount of sense if you stop and think about it. Historically maturity was useful because in a 'fixed' environment it indicated wisdom and experience. However, in a rapidly changing environment experience can actually be disabling. In other words, youthfulness and playfulness may be adaptive responses to change where jobs, skills, and technology are all in a state of flux. This could certainly explain the apparently adolescent behaviour of innovators like Richard Branson and Steve Wozniak and, if true, has profound implications for everything from HR policy to office design.

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