July/August Issue of Future of Work Agenda Newsletter
[This newsletter is being emailed to registered subscribers today, July 7. We are reproducing it here for your convenience. The newsletter is also available through our website at this link. You can subscribe to the newsletter here; we produce 11 issues a year, every month except August. The newsletter is free and will remain so as long as possible.]
From Jim and Charlie
“Summer time and the livin’ is easy.”
Huh? That may be true for Porgy and Bess, but not for most of us still trying to put food on the table and pay the rent. The economy is still in the doldrums, and the “recovery” seems more elusive than ever right now. Oh, but wait, the “good news” is that things are declining more slowly now. Big deal!
We continue to believe this is not a “normal” recession and that the world on the other side of the Valley will look and feel very different than the one we left behind last September. So, as those of us in the northern hemisphere enter the dog days of summer, we offer up yet another analysis of how to think about the future – first of your local community and then of your own organization.
Our Feature article focuses on what makes communities attractive to talented residents, and includes a “quick-check” set of questions we suggest you ask your friends and neighbors to assess whether the community has a viable future, and to determine what you have to do to make the future more compelling. The Compass article narrows the focus to your own organization and argues passionately that there are incredibly powerful economic reasons for embracing flexible, mobile work. You ignore those realities at your peril.
Finally, in the Notes from the Field article, our colleague Larry Barkley offers some thoughts on why so many organizations are essentially ignoring the business case for change.
We hope and pray that you’ll absorb these perspectives and be prepared to hit the ground running as a bona fide change agent come September—or sooner.
Enjoy.
Charlie and Jim
PS: Don’t forget that we won’t publish another newsletter until September. We’re not taking the month of August off by any means, but we do need some time to catch our breath.
Click on any Headline below to access the full story.
Feature Article: Is This A Nice Place To Live, Or What?
This is the last in a series of three articles about transformation. We know that what is happening right now across the planet is historic, permanent, and unstoppable. The changes will be felt in all aspects of life; work, learning, and play. Our conversation this month focuses on your local community. We offer you a set of questions to ask your neighbors in order to sense where your community is going: will it become a better place to live and work, or will it sink into obsolescence?
Compass: What Are You Waiting For?
Brace yourself: here we go again. This is a flat-out rant about why your organization is really off-base, and potentially in trouble, if you’re not actively promoting flexible/mobile work for as many of your knowledge worker employees as possible.
Notes from the Field: Why Is Adopting Mobility Taking So Long?
Much has been written in these pages over the past several years on mobility, Alternative Workplace Strategies, and all the issues surrounding the implementation of new ways of working. Yet, despite all of this impressive work and study, it appears that adoption by the end user business community has not risen to anywhere near the level of our theory and beliefs. So, we’ve had to ask: “Why is that?”
What’s Happened/Happening?
A short note about where Jim and Charlie have been, are, and will be, holding forth in public conversations and other activities.
As usual, your comments and reactions to any of these articles are more than welcome. Please send your thoughts to us at any time, or add a Comment right here.