The Leader - September 2007 - (Page 15) closIN G th e ta le Nt G ap : co mp aNI e s aNd co mmuNI tI e s te am up FI G . 2 NeW competeNcIes for the future of Wor k competency design story symphony empathy play meaning community characteristic social and ethnic variety; “coolness” performing arts; historic preservation civic involvement; diversity of interests social action programs recreational variety; whimsical architecture and natural spaces number of faith-based organizations; connectivity to the global economy and society In short, the time has come for corporate real estate and economic development agencies to invest in each other. Companies must invest in communities to build new social capital while communities in turn invest in attracting and generating the talent that companies need. We’re not talking about the old factory town of the industrial era, but of the new urban and rural “villages” of the 21st Century. about the authors be head-and-shoulders above average in attracting and retaining talent. We believe a good way to approach this question is to take a step backward and examine first what kinds of abilities and competencies will be required of the work force of the future. Or, put another way, what will knowledge workers have to be good at to thrive in the emerging global economy? Our hypothesis is that they will be attracted to communities that offer them an experience of what they have to be competent at. And what competencies will matter in the future? One of the best answers we have found to that question comes from Daniel Pink in his 2005 book A Whole New Mind. Pink proposes six new competencies for the future of work: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. If these are the core competencies, the things that knowledge workers need to engage with, then how do they translate into community characteristics? In the interests of brevity, Figure 2 captures our initial linkages. puttING It all toGether Let’s face it: The future of work is already distinctively different from the world that most of us grew up in. Today work can be done productively almost any place and any time. The idea of an eight-hour, 9-5 day is ancient history. The economy is global, meaning work is going on 24x7, 52 weeks a year. And the name of the game is talent – the care and feeding of the knowledge workers who drive economic growth and create sustainability. CoreNet Global’s Corporate Real Estate (CRE) 2010 program said it all several years ago: the role of the corporate infrastructure executive has to be supporting work wherever and whenever it takes place. That is even more true today. But it’s a radical departure from the concept most CRE executives have of their current jobs. And economic developers are going to have to rethink their jobs too if they expect to help their local communities thrive and grow in today’s global economy. Charlie Grantham is a co-founder of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program. Grantham has spent over 20 years studying and writing about the future of work. He is also the founder and chief scientist of the Institute for the Study of Distributed Work, based in Prescott, Ariz., where he manages an extensive applied research program focused on the emergence of the electronic workplace. He is recognized as an international expert on the design of information and organizational systems that support these new forms of work. Jim Ware is a co-founder of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program. He has over 30 years experience in research, executive education, consulting, and manage- th e le ade r 15 september / october 2007
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.