Gary Bolles -Chair for the Future of Work, Singularity University
The Great Digital Reset
The Corona Virus (C-19) Shutdown has hastened the “Digital Reset” globally – Robotics and automation were already causing job loss and business disruption, but the C-19 has favoured existing digital marketplace monopolies, like Amazon, eBay, Uber, hollowing out the middle class and family businesses, replacing customer loyalty with a “platform thinking paradigm – access, quality & price.
But, at the bottom, start-up opportunities abound digitalizing inefficient “legacy “business processes (faster, cheaper, better) plus localisation e.g. farmers markets, quality local products or services. In the USA 97% of new jobs are created in these nimble “start-up” businesses [less than 5 yrs. old] Sadly, 100 000 US businesses will NOT reopen post CV-19 leaving market gaps for new start-ups.
Emerging Management Models – CV-19 has also fast tracked working from home – a new distributed “worker skills” network challenging traditional command & control HR models. Australia & NZ have dispersed regions, so find talent where talent lives and let it stay there, is the new normal. “Management by surveillance” hierarchy will go – leaders must empower & mentor workers to reach goals, a disruption mind-set of continually solving customers problems -rather than slaves to process. It’s easier to innovate at the edge of organizations and work in towards the calcified core (John Hagel) The New Construct is digital skills for ALL workers – non digital jobs won’t exist soon.
Emerging Digital Supply Chains – Within supply chains bits are free (info) v expensive atoms (moving physical goods), so digitally track atoms (physical goods) to create digital information, for example selling and tracking food exports digitally into Asia. Digital flows are very high in Asia but low digital flow between Aus./NZ and Asia reflect poor infrastructure speed which MUST strengthen, because communities & organisations MUST have strong digital supply chains + digital worker collaboration.
Government Jobs Role – Strong communities with high social cohesion, can utilise existing skills and retrain workers to adapt to new market opportunities – reinvent themselves. If you allow older workers or handicapped to become irrelevant – the community and government is failing. It is tempting to import migrant labour vs. retrain. Strong cohesive communities can collectively reinvent themselves and retrain, for example, AI robotics programming, organic foods export etc. Post CV-19 the governments (globally) MUST first kick-start demand (customer spending), help communities Develop strong Capital, HR networks, help political leaders understand they (as change leaders) need new skill sets, need to take risks. Our political leaders must be Competent, Compassionate, Courageous – as drivers of change within the Great Digital Reset.
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To learn more about Gary: https://www.gbolles.com
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