Dave Desforges began piloting "Work From Home" solutions over 3 years ago. His role required identifying additional candidate requirements and necessary remote work practices for both employees and managers at Sun Microsystems. His current work encompasses blending appropriate technology, organizational practices, and workplace environments to support mobile and distributed teams.
Jim McGee is currently a Director at Huron Consulting Group. He has spent much of the last 30 years working to understand, design, and apply information and technology innovations in organizations. Before Huron, Jim taught at the Kellogg School and was one of the founding partners of DiamondCluster International. With Larry Prusak, he was the co-author of Managing Information Strategically (Wiley, 1993). Jim has both an MBA and a doctorate in Information Technology, Organization, and Strategy from the Harvard Business School.
Regina Miller has more than 18 years of experience in Organization Development, Human Resources, Leadership Development and International Operations. Regina recently launched a global consultancy called The Seventh Suite which assists growing companies bolster their competitive edge via aligned strategy and progressive people practices. Her last corporate job was as the VP HR/OD for Oskar (Vodafone) which has been dubbed “one of the fastest growing mobile operators in Eastern Europe.” More info here.
Giovanni Rodriguez - Through a combination of luck and persistence, Giovanni has worked in the company of some of the most interesting and colorful leaders in several worlds: the law, theater, and technology. Today, he is a principal at Eastwick Communications, a Silicon Valley PR agency, where he advises both emerging companies and market leaders on executive leadership, public speaking, marketing strategy and media relations. He has worked for, consulted and advised numerous businesses and organizations including HP, Stanford University, Fujitsu Computer Systems, Cadence Design Systems, VMware, the American Arbitration Association, and the Unified Court System of New York. He is a graduate of Princeton University (Religion and Anthropology), and he has done graduate course work at the Columbia School of Journalism and N.Y.U.
Jim Ware is a cofounder of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program. He has over 30 years experience in research, executive education, consulting, and management, including five years on the faculty of the Harvard Business School. He was the lead author of The Search for Digital Excellence, (McGraw-Hill, 1998), and holds Ph.D., M.A., and B.Sc. degrees from Cornell University and an MBA (With Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.
You may have noticed that posting here has been sporadic of late. As usual, it is the perennial problem of balance that is at issue for all of the contributors to Future Tense. Behind the scenes, however, there has been some significant activity of late as we figure out how to re-invigorate this blog, as we all believe that the topics we cover here are important ones, and we still have much to say, new experiences to share, and questions to ask.
We are therefore going to be making some changes in the very near future, the most significant of which is the introduction of a new conversation leader (the term editor will go away). I am very happy to announce that Giovanni Rodriguez, who some of you may know from his blog The Good Seed, will be leading discussions going forward. I will remain as a contributor, as will most of our current contributors.
I have known Giovanni for about a year and a half now, after "meeting" him in the PR blogosphere. He is a principal at Eastwick Communications, a Silicon Valley PR firm. Since the beginning, I have been impressed by the depth of his thinking, as I think you will be as well. Giovanni is very interested in social media and emergent organizations, and will be sharing his thoughts and experiences on this topic. I'll let him tell you more in a following post.
As for me, my focus these days is on corporate transparency/ethics and digital identity. You'll find posts from me here about how those topics impact future of work issues going forward. I look forward to our conversations.
Hylton Joliffe alerted me to a great piece in the latest issue of Newsweek on the "secret sauce" in Google's management practices ("Google: Ten Golden Rules"). It's a great recipe for leveraging the talent in your knowledge workers. I wrote about the same issue briefly just last week at the Future of Work blog, stimulated mostly by Intel CEO Paul Otellini's new insights into Google as a recently appointed Google director ("Intel's Inside Scoop on Google"). Getting the most out of your knowledge workers is clearly the key to success in the future. And Google's a terrific role model. And for a more comprehensive Google story, be sure to check out the December 5 issue of Business Week ("Googling for Gold ").
I just posted this note over at my own Future of Work weblog but wanted to share it with FutureTense devotees as well.
I am very pleased that several of the Future of Work corporate members (Forest City Covington, Agilent, Boeing, and IBM) and the Business Community Centertm concept that Charlie Grantham and I are promoting are mentioned in the December 12 issue of Business Week ("The Easiest Commute of All" - paid subscription required to access), now available online and scheduled to be in print on newsstands everywhere on Monday, December 5.
Today's San Francisco Chronicle carries an important story by technology writer Tom Abate ("Tech engineers fear U.S. is falling behind"). It reports on a recent survey by EE Times magazine showing that only 10% of American engineers are confident the U.S. will maintain its technological edge over time. The survey results are available online, at http://www.mcbru.com/news/insight2005.php. This isn't just about offshoring, however. It's also about the U.S. education system, which is falling way behind the rest of the developed world. And even if you live outside the U.S. and don't care that much about U.S. competitiveness, you have to be concerned about the state of technology innovation in the global economy.
Charlie Grantham and I are are featured in a short interview column in the November issue of Fast Company. Our conversation with writer Chris Collier focused on the changing nature of distributed work.
Check it out - it's not the most profound thing we've ever said, but it's nice to see the stuff we all care about getting more recognition in such a great publication.
As readers of this blog know, Charlie Grantham and I (aka The Work Design Collaborative, or Future of Work) have been commissioned to conduct an exploratory study of the feasibility of launching a new industry association focused on distributed work.
We're well along in conducting our first round of interviews with interested and experienced thought leaders and leading practitioners. It would be premature to report findings, but I've picked up an interesting pattern that I thought might provoke some useful conversation.
One of the questions we ask each interviewee is, "What resources do you depend on for information about developments in distributed work?"
The answers have been all over the map, from naming specific market research firms and industry analysts to relying on personal networks of friends and colleagues. But what struck me this week is how many people have answered "Google" or "my RSS newsfeed."
Maybe that's not surprising, given today's technology and our increasing reliance on the Net, but I found it interesting that there don't appear to be any definitive or consensus sources (other than Future of Work and FutureTense, of course!)
So, other than Google, where do you go? What websites, blogs, analysts, or professional associations do you find helpful in sorting out trends, data, and conflicting perspectives on the future of work? I'm seriously interested in hearing from you. Where do you go? And Why?
Recently I posted about the fact that I am a member of the freelancers union here in NY and that because I am a member of this group I have healthcare coverage. Sara Horowitz sent an email to members and so here are a few new things from Working Today that might be of interest to many of you. Here is her email:
"Read "The Rise of the Freelance Class" and find out how your experience compares to that of your peers. Is the story that emerged your story too?"
"Freelancers are creative, independent, entrepreneurial people. Many are fiercely dedicated to the freelancer lifestyle. Survey respondents said things like, “I’ll freelance till my fingers bleed.” “Never say never, but I
don’t think I’ll ever work for a corporation again.” Could these be your words? Come to our new message board to talk with others about your freelance life and attitude."
"Freelancers are politically engaged and coming together as a group. Almost all have voted in a national election. About half feel that they belong to a freelancer community, and they think that’s important. Do you agree? Let us know what you’re thinking. Participate in our message board
and help build our freelancer community." (But where's the Freelancer's BLOG??)
"Freelancers are getting the word out about who they are and what they need. They’re no longer content to be politically invisible and entirely on their own fending for benefits like health insurance and retirement. Do you know any members of the press? Share The Rise of the Freelance Class
with them and help spread the news. Freelancers are on the rise. And people should know."
According to a new UK study (Working in the Twenty-First Century), as reported by the Guardian, the lowly office desk is endangered by workforce mobility. As a requiem for desks everywhere, I thought I'd share this poem (found via a Google search on "ode to my desk") with all of you:
My old desk, at which I write
An old and faithful friend.
Just like a mule, that bears its load
And doesn't bow or bend.
Sometimes at night, when I can't sleep
And find I need express
The feelings in my heart, so deep,
It gives me happiness.
Just seeing my familiar things,
Pens, papers, books and such,
Creates ideas and I try
To say what means so much.
There is a feel of magic here
Beside this desk of wood.
What stories lie within its drawers,
To tell you if it could!
[Note: The research was done by the Tomorrow Project and the Economic and Social Research Council , but I couldn't find a direct link to the report or, in fact, any information on it on either of the websites.]
There is an important article in this week's Newsweek Magazine about the future of municipal WiFi systems ("Pulling the Plug on Local Internet").
The issue of course, is that private ISP's are fighting the whole concept of low-cost municipally managed WiFi - they see it (correctly!) as a serious threat to "their" franchise. -- jim ware
My friend Debra Moritz of Jones Lang LaSalle just alerted me to an interesting and provocative study suggesting that those much-heralded open office plans may actually decrease worker productivity.
The study, reported yesterday in FM Express, an Australian website, was conducted by researchers George Mylonas and Jane Carstairs of Macquarie University, and presented at the Australian Industrial and Organisational Psychology conference last week.
[accessing FMExpress requires a subscription; however, there is a 21-day free trial available - and it's easy to sign up]
Here's a brief excerpt from the study:
"A new report has completely debunked the purported link between open plan offices and improved productivity, and says scientific research actually shows the exact opposite is the case."
For a somewhat longer excerpt, please visit the Future of Work blog.
* The OECD 2005 Employment Outlook report has been released. Quoted: "Rising imports, outflows of foreign direct investment (sometimes tied directly to the relocation of production) and inflows of immigrants all contribute to rising job insecurity in OECD countries. The rapid integration into the world trading system of China and India, with their huge pools of low-wage labour, and the recent enlargement of the European Union have fuelled fears of job losses and wage cuts."
* Yankee Group study shows that nearly 50 million US workers are mobile. That is nearly 40% of all US workers.
* Free agents satisfied? 87% say "yes," according to this Kelly Group survey. (This is not an independent survey, so be aware Kelly likes these results, being a staffing company).
It's a little funny: this area (near Marseilles) voted strongly against the EU constitution at the end of May. And now they are getting thousands of new jobs and an influx of people from across the world. I heard a mayor of one of the small villages nearby on the news last night. He was happy about the economic benefits, but wondering how their little village would absorb so many new people (many of whom will be from Russia, Japan and other nations).
Each week, I'll be posting links to the most interesting articles and posts I find on our topic. I'll also tag a wide variety of articles related to the future of work via del.icio.us. You can subscribe to our del.icio.us feed futureofwork to keep up with the topic (there a couple of dozen in there already).
* What Really Ails Europe (and America): The Doubling of the Global Workforce by Richard Freeman. "Most people still have not come to grips with the most fundamental reality change in the current era of globalization — the fact that the global labor force has virtually doubled in size in the last 15 years."
* I found a couple of articles on municipal WI-FI referencing Philadelphia, which is moving forward, and Orlando, which is shutting down.
* Agility: The Next Talent Management Imperative by Tony DiRomualdo of Next Generation Consulting. "There are many organizational and cultural reasons why companies constrain talent. Performance obsessed managers are often reluctant to give up the people resources they feel are needed to achieve ever more challengingly goals and performance objectives. This short sighted behavior is reinforced by management and incentive systems that reward business results but not development of people."
Giovanni Rodriguez
Elizabeth Albrycht
Dave Desforges
Jim McGee
Jim Ware
