About Future

So there's a lot of valid concern these days that our technology is getting so smart that we've put ourselves on the path to a jobless future. And I think the example of a self-driving car is actually the easiest one to see. Well, a recent study in this regard predicts that 25 million jobs might disappear over the next 10 years, where, even the smartest, highest-paid people will be affected by this change. The rate of change today suggests that we may only have 10 or 15 years to adjust, and we need to react fast. 

If we start taking steps right now to change the nature of work, we can not only create environments where people love coming to work but also generate the innovation that we need to replace the millions of jobs that will be lost to technology. I believe that the key to preventing our jobless future is to rediscover what makes us human, and to create a new generation of human-centered jobs that allow us to unlock the hidden talents and passions that we carry with us every day.

we still hold on to this factory mindset of standardization, We still define jobs around procedural tasks and then pay people for the number of hours that they perform these tasks. We've created narrow job definitions like cashier, loan processor or taxi driver and then asked people to form entire careers around these singular tasks. Unfortunately, such jobs will be the first to be displaced by robots, because single-task robots are just the easiest kinds to build. 

One suggestion I saw in TED is this. We have to start creating new jobs that are less centered on the tasks that a person does and more focused on the skills that a person brings to work.  We need to stop asking people just to come to work and do your job. we need to realistically think about the tasks that will be disappearing over the next few years and start planning for more meaningful, more valuable work that should replace it. We need to create environments where both human beings and robots thrive. 

 If we really want to robot-proof our jobs, we, as leaders, need to get out of the mindset of telling people what to do and instead start asking them what problems they're inspired to solve and what talents they want to bring to work.  "Jobs of the future will come from the minds of people who today we call analysts and specialists, but only if we give them the freedom and protection that they need to grow into becoming explorers and inventors. If we really want to robot-proof our jobs, we, as leaders, need to get out of the mindset of telling people what to do and instead start asking them what problems they're inspired to solve and what talents they want to bring to work."