I imagine a future where
the organization is very technologically driven,
many decision making processes will be automated,
where data from ecosystems
is fed through learning algorithms,
is fed through automated decision making systems,
and the human hierarchy has gotten out of the way in
relation to those autonomous learning loops.
But the humans will be overseeing the algorithms.
The way companies are organized today is
still a reflection of Taylorism,
you know, the organization as a machine,
with employees being the proverbial cog in that machine,
and managers as scientists basically.
But in an increasingly digital world
that model breaks down completely.
Any type of work where you could see employees,
like as cogs in a machine,
will soon really be done by robots,
it will all be automated away.
And so the type of work that is going to be left is
the work that requires judgment,
ethics, creativity, teamwork.
The imaginative powers of people
will be extraordinarily important,
and that's what we need to train and encourage,
and we need to redesign
and rethink our organizations accordingly.
The world is getting faster and more complex,
so we need a new way of working.
A way that creates alignment around purpose
that takes our bureaucracy,
and that truly empowers people to make decisions faster.
Learning to work in teams
is going to be increasingly important.
We want these teams to be fast, flexible and creative,
like mini startups.
But to get there,
we need these teams to feel empowered and autonomous.
So to help an organization to transform
to new ways of working,
we obviously need to do more
than just putting in place the new structures.
And it also really is about enabling the people in
that organization to adapt these new ways of working.
Technology is really important,
but the acquisition of technology guarantees nothing.
We really need to harness technology.
And I believe that the,
one of the highest impacts of technology
will be that it will mean
that in the future companies will be competing on
their rate of learning.
Now these learning organizations
will need to ask questions like,
"What do the humans do,
what do the machines do,
how do the machines and the humans talk to each other,
and how do the humans get better at
what the humans should be doing?"
The most successful recognition systems
I have seen in companies today are
based on feedback loops that expose people directly
to the consequences of their actions.
Gratifying when they do well,
penalizing when they don't do well.
And these feedback loops are
intrinsically embedded in the work processes.
These are becoming increasingly important for
organizational effectiveness
because the world is becoming more complex.
So I think in the war of talent,
we're well beyond salaries as being the primary vehicle
to both attract and then motivate employees,
especially with younger generations.
Employees are really looking for ways to be challenged,
to experience new things,
to develop,
to realize their potential.
Of course, an important part of that is
what are they gonna learn,
what opportunities are they going to have
to stretch their own experiences
and set them up for the future?
In our economy today,
the speed of competition is accelerated.
Businesses are changing so fast,
that keeping up requires,
not just businesses to move quick,
but the employees to move quick.
An important part of that is,
of course, employees learning
and learning quickly,
and having learning systems
that actually enable employees to
have the foundational skills to be able to
adapt more quickly.