The future of work

I would like to take a break from education to look at what comes after education - the world of work, and how technology is likely to disrupt the traditional (in the mass-industrial era) patterns of employment.

The industrial notion of a stable job in a large corporate, with its clear hierarchy and defined experience, is being replaced by an ever shifting landscape of nomadic individuals combining in flexible and fluid organisations.

There are a number of key forces acting on society's current economic reorganisation, including

• decreasing costs of organisation
  
• declining capital costs of tools of value creation
• rise of the creator economy
  
• expansion of education
  
• extension of working life

I will try to look at these over the next few posts, and seek to identify how technology is shaping organisations - both from the social perspective of the individual (i.e. relationship with employer) and from the managerial perspective of the organisation (relationship with employee).

Unlocking passion creates outliers

Ken Robinson's new book is about how 'How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything'

Why is this?

Because it enables you to achieve success. Malcolm Gladwell recently popularised the 10,000 hour theory of success in Outliers. Gladwell's theory shatters the myth that some people are inherently more talented than others, attributing success instead to sheer hard work. His examples include the Beatles and Bill Gates, who had spent 10,000 hours programming before he'd even hit college.

That is why enabling people to find their passion changes everything. Nobody has the determination to rack up 10,000 hours doing something they don't enjoy. Yet when you are passionate about an activity, you positively want to invest as many hours as possible - because its not 'work' or 'practice' - it's just you, doing what you love.

The 10,000 hour rule and its emphasis on hard graft explains the virtuous circle that people are good at what they enjoy and enjoy what they are good at.

If education did a better job of helping people discover their passions, then maybe Gladwell's subjects wouldn't be such outliers.

Teachstreet - made for the 'Experience Economy'

Teachstreet is a great example of a business that has positioned itself to tap into consumer demand for experiences rather than mere products or brands.

While Trendwatching identified this movement towards skill based status back in the boom-time of late 2006, this trend is only likely to increase as people turn away from conspicuous consumption.

Indeed, as consumers refocus on value, learning new skills offers long-lasting value that few other purchases can match.

As the backlash against credit card debt increases, and people have more free time to occupy themselves they will look to activities other than 'shopping'.

The boom in 'craft' activities and education reflects people's desire to leave behind the throwaway excesses of consumer culture and hark back to a simpler time

Teachstreet's beauty is that they not only encourage community involvement through their now-standard 'social networking' features, but also that their feedback system allows would-be students to overcome their fear of being out of their depth, or ripped-off. Another previously opaque industry gets a light shone into it

Teachstreet's position at the convergence of these trends mean that they have every chance of succeeding if they can generate critical mass