There are lots of lessons to learn from Amazon. Never stop innovating or questioning the fundamentals of your business. Disrupt yourself before others do.
Brad Stone – Journalist & Author
Consulting firms, academics, and consultants are developing models for the Future of Work. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) developed a scenario called the Future of Work: A Journey to 2022. The premise of the study is: “disruptive innovations are creating new industries and business models, and destroying old ones.”[i] PwC outlined three distinct worlds of work: Blue, Green, and Orange.
In the Orange Work World, small is beautiful. Work is broken down into collaborative networks focused on specific projects. The driving goal for the Orange World is to maximize work flexibility, focus on lean organizations through projectizing work, and emphasize innovation to remain competitive. Orange Work World companies will be small using a just-in-time business model to produce on-demand products and deliver services. Work specialization and detailed knowledge are critical to adding personal value. Workers will have flexibility, have free time between projects, and focus on short-term contractual work.
In the Green Work World, corporate social sustainability and environmental contributions will drive organizations. Company ethical values, green thinking, sustainability, and doing the right things right are critical to adding organizational and personal value.
In the Blue Work World, business profitability, growth, margins, and market share are prominent. Global corporations compete based on innovation, resources, execution, and differentiation. Long-term job security, employability, and training are critical to workers in the Blue World. In this World, income disparity between the haves and have-nots continue to get bigger. [ii]
Work Lesson Earned: What world would you like to work in? Why? What type or types of organizations are in your current work world? How can you work for them? What are they looking for in employees? Remember, organizations in each work world still have to attract talent, plan projects, process work, reward performance, add value, and make a profit.
[i] ‘The Future of Work: A Journey to 2022’, PwC, 2014.
[ii] ‘The Future of Work: A Journey to 2022’, PwC, 2014.
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