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Notes about the Future

Meet The Associates

We've recently formed a virtual community of experts who, like us, are committed to helping create the future of work. These firms and folks are independent, but are joining with us to produce new ideas and perspectives on the changing nature of work, the workplace, and the workforce. You can read more about the Future of Work Collaborative and meet all of the Associates on our website, at this link:

http://www.thefutureofwork.net/about_associates.html

Each month for the foreseeable future we're going to feature several of the Associates here, in the belief that the more you get to know them the more you'll want to engage with us and them as you create your own future.

This month, two experts from Michigan, and one from Dallas. All three are specialists in the human side of organizational design and change:

Paula Bartholome is the founding principal of Parallax, which provides consulting and training to help individuals and organizations tap into intrinsic motivation by shifting from a perspective of 'hard work' to 'hard fun.' Paula's experience prior to founding Parallax includes heading the marketing function for organizations in multiple industries and for the past decade serving as a member of the adjunct faculty in the nationally-recognized School for New Learning at DePaul University Chicago. She received her bachelor of science in business (marketing/advertising) with honors from Indiana University and her master of science in organization development from Loyola University Chicago. She lives in New Buffalo, Michigan.

Candace Fitzpatrick is president of CoreClarity, Inc., a company focused on uncovering the core competencies of individuals, teams and organizations. In addition to developing and delivering learning programs to identify and maximize the innate strengths of the participants, she works with organizational leadership to not only promote but enable cultural change from the grassroots level up. Prior to creating CoreClarity, Candace was co-founder of CRESA, where she served as Executive Director from its inception in 1993 until her retirement in November 2003. Candace earned an MBA with honors from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University and a BA in Physics from Texas A&M University. She is based in Dallas, Texas.

Beth Kelly, a co-founder and partner of ConnexSource, is a human resource and talent management professional who specializes in implementing HR processes and systems that attract and inspire the best talent for work groups and organizations. Beth has worked with a wide array of clients in manufacturing, retail, and health care industries. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her Masters from Michigan State University.

The Future of Technology

A Cautionary Note: Technology May be Bad for You

On July 8 David Brooks of the New York Times published a column he called "The Medium is the Medium" (calling up the old Marshall McLuhan comment, "The medium is the message") Brooks reported on some recently published research out of the University of Tennessee (described in more detail in USA Today), which found that sending students home for the summer with a dozen old-fashioned hard copy books had a very significant impact on their academic performance the following fall.

Brooks went on to cite another study from Duke University (published by The Bureau of Economic Research) showing that increased time online is associated with reduced math and reading scores.

It's all very sobering and well worth paying attention to.

On the Other Hand, Robots can be Effective Teachers

Maybe there is some universal balance scale governing our use of technology. The New York Times also recently carried a story about how robots are helping autistic children learn basic skills, including relating to a "companion."

From the article:

In a handful of laboratories around the world, computer scientists are developing robots like this one: highly programmed machines that can engage people and teach them simple skills, including household tasks, vocabulary or, as in the case of the [autistic 6-year-old] playing, elementary imitation and taking turns.

The full story is here: "Students, Meet Your New Teacher, Mr. Robot".

The Future of Place and Space

Telework Improvements Act Passes in the House of Representatives

On July 14 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Telework Improvements Act, a bill that will enable most federal employees to spend up to 20 percent of their work time working from home (or anywhere else) over a two-week period. A similar bill has already passed the Senate; the legislation will become law once it gets through a House/Senate reconciliation.

From a July 15 post on ExecutiveGov.com:

Under the bill, the Office of Personnel Management would develop a telework policy for all employees in federal agencies and would create a Telework Managing Officer within every agency.

The bill also mandates training for employees and managers, and ensures that teleworking will not affect any individual's performance evaluations.

This is a very big deal; Future of Work Associate Kate Lister of the Telework Research Network estimates that full implementation of this policy could save the federal government over $13 billion a year.

Stay tuned; we'll be watching this development very closely.

The Future of People and Organizations

The Central Role of Trust in Organizations

This link will take you to an important and insightful essay on trust-based organizations (and how to create them). It appears on a relatively new website called the Management Innovation exchange, or MIX. MIX was established, and is led, by Gary Hamel, a world-call management guru.

MIX describes itself this way:

The Management Innovation eXchange (MIX) is an open innovation project aimed at reinventing management for the 21st century. The premise: while "modern" management is one of humankind's most important inventions, it is now a mature technology that must be reinvented for a new age.

For more information, go to the MIX home page at:
http://www.managementexchange.com/

Back to trust. The essay was written by Bentley College Professor Raj Sosidia, and it's well worth taking a few minutes to read.

Note: you may have to register, or join MIX, to access the essay. But it's free, and it's a wonderful source of ideas, articles, online videos, and webinars from a star-studded lineup of thought leaders.

The Future of Work Design

How America Can Create Jobs

The July 5-11 issue of Business Week includes an incredibly important cover story written by Andy Grove, retired CEO and Chairman of Intel. It's a call for major new public policies to encourage the rebirth of manufacturing jobs in the United States. It's actually about more than the manufacturing sector; and it's a very insightful perspective from private sector executive who knows all too well the perils of excessive government intervention—yet calls for a significant role for the feds in assisting American businesses.

Read the story on the Business Week web site.

Stuff We're Reading — and You Should Too

This month we encourage you to check out two very good reads. (The links take you to online descriptions complete with ordering information.)

Attraction and Retention: A Collection of Articles from WorldatWork,
Wendy Anderson, WorldatWork Press 2010.

This guide is an excellent overview of a very important area of human resource management practices. This collection of 22 articles and five new surveys covers a wide range of topics. From "Why should you have attraction and retention policies?" to "What does the future have in store for retiring and multi-generational workforces?", the book provides readers with an amazing amount of guidance from practitioners in a wide range of industries.

Whenever you are developing any type of benefits program with a goal of improving the attraction and retention of talent, this book should be the first place you should go.

WorldatWork is the premier benefits and compensation consultancy in the human resource practice space. This book can be ordered directly from WorldatWork's on-line bookstore.

The Connect Effect
Michael Dulworth, Barrett-Koehler, 2008.

"It's not what you know, it's who you know." How many times have you heard that piece of wisdom uttered by your parents, your mentors, and your friends?

With all the buzz these days about social media and the easy access we all have to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (to name just the big three), it may seem strange to recommend a book focused on how to build personal and professional relationships the old-fashioned way, through personal interactions and common experiences.

But it's worth remembering that no matter what kind of electronic media you use to connect to family, friends, and colleagues, there is actually another human being on the other end of that digital pipe.

Mike Dulworth is the CEO of Executive Networks, a firm that forms and manages a dozen or so proprietary networks of senior executives in the United States and Europe (disclaimer: he's also a personal friend and a former business partner). He's a genuine expert on creating and maintaining strong relationships.

In this compelling book Mike shows you how to build your own personal, professional and virtual networks, and why you should. He actually makes networking sound easy, though he'd be first to tell you it takes a lot of focused effort. But Mike will also tell you (as he does in the book) how rewarding it is to have access to all the talent and know-how that any extended community of people can bring to bear on even the most difficult challenges.

The Connect Effect is full of personal stories, but more importantly it includes dozens of highly practical tips and guidelines for mastering what may be the single most important key to business and personal success.

The book is available on Amazon.com and other online stores. The Amazon link is:

What's Happened/Happening?

Public Appearances

Well, maybe not quite "public," but on August 17 we will be reporting on our just-completed white paper on "Managing a Remote Workforce: Proven Practices from Successful Leaders," which was sponsored by Citrix Online. Citrix will also be hosting an online webinar at 11 AM Pacific time on the 17th.

We don't have registration details yet, but if you are interested in participating, let us know by email, and we'll send you the registration link as soon as it is available. We'll also post the link on our online calendar and our blog. And both we and Citrix will be distributing free copies of the white paper in the very near future.

Getting Out and About

We're currently spending time with clients in southern California once or twice a month, although it's doubtful we'll be there in August.

Looking ahead, Charlie will be in the Seattle, Washington, area on July 28-29, on a private client assignment. He may have some free time, so give him a shout if you're there too.

And we'll definitely be in Los Angeles on September 15, when we're keynoting a private summit conference for Kimball Office clients.

If we're in your area and have a few minutes, we'd love to see you for breakfast, lunch, dinner (depending on our other commitments), or "refreshments" any time after 5 PM local time (and you know what that means).

We're doing our best to publish our travel schedule, including both public appearances and private client work, on our new online calendar that's embedded in our website on our Events page

And please follow us on Twitter for more current updates on the future of work and our travel plans.

Give us a shout or send us a note, and if we can squeeze out some time, we'd love to say hello and share some good ideas the old-fashioned way: face-to-face, glass in hand.

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