Boundless #23: The future of work is really FIVE different conversations
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#1 | What does "future of work" mean?
If you've been on the internet, you've heard the term "future of work." As a former full-time expert in jargon and trendy terms (aka strategy consultant), I knew this term meant everything and nothing.
I’ve had many conversations and discussions around the idea of “future of work” where people talk past each other, often focused on different fundamental issues. In an effort to make sense of this complexity and create some common ground for the many people having these conversations, I propose differentiating between five future of work conversations:
Macro Trends
Gig Work
Organizational Culture
Gig Workers
Fundamental Questions
Read More (with links and a deep dive into each)
#2 BoundlessPod - Laura Gallaher
Dr. Laura Gallaher on humor at work, leadership at NASA after crisis, and building a business traveling the world
Dr. Laura Gallaher joins me from Serbia, where she is part of Remote Year, a community that travels to twelve locations within a year with a cohort of people working remotely. Laura is an organizational psychologist who studied humor and communication in the workplace and notably completed a dissertation with “that’s what she said” in the title (office fans, anyone?). With a title like that it was probably clear that Academia would be too limiting for her.
Web • Itunes • Stitcher • Spotify • Google Play • Overcast • Player FM
#3 Quotes Worth Pondering
“…but there’s one more thing I’m going to include as a form of solitude, and it will seem counterintuitive: friendship. Of course friendship is the opposite of solitude; it means being with other people. But I’m talking about one kind of friendship in particular, the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person.”
- WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ, Solitude & Leadership
Who are the friends that you have "those" conversations with? What are the conversations about? Let me know!
#4 Things Worth Checking Out
Podcasts
On Trauma, Success & Our Modern Predicament: This podcast from Dr. Paul Conti and Dr. Peter Attia was filled with vulnerability and reflections on trauma and the modern condition. Dr. Attia is a former McKinsey consultant, super-athlete and Doctor. This will resonate with anyone who struggles with the constant need to “strive” and who is curious about some of the inability of our medical system to look past diagnoses and diseases.
Articles
Platforms & Freelancers: This essay from the European Freelancers Movement was quite thoughtful (in contrast to a lot of the articles on the gig economy from the US) and poses a good central thought: “We shouldn’t complain that Uber drivers don’t receive full-time benefits; we should reconsider why benefits and security come attached only to full-time jobs.”
#5 Reads - Q3 Book Club
As a way to stay connected with people and to engage in discussions, I'm excited by, I'm launching a quarterly book club (join the VIP facebook group to stay updated).
The book this quarter will be "Bullshit Jobs" which is a book I've highlighted in a few other places. This book blew me away. Graeber's core thesis is that we have continued to squeeze productive labor, undermined the "value" of caring labor and have created all sorts of information jobs just for the sake of having jobs (due to political and cultural reasons). Here is a link to buy the book (affiliate)
Attend: September 30th 8:30 PM EST
#6 TOOLS - Fear Setting, Career Transition Playbook & Consulting Templates
I've gone a bit nuts in the past week trying to update and improve some of the tools and exercises I've created for people. I've also started offering these through a service called Gumroad, which helps you sell content. I've priced most of these at either $0+ or $1+ which enables you to offer a gift if you want. You can buy/download them all at once here.
Fear Setting Tool - $1+ - A 30-minute exercise as an editable PDF that enables you to "name" your fears, come up with steps to mitigate those fears and help shift your mind to the costs of inaction
Career Transition Playbook v3.0 UPDATED - $1+ -Updated as a 10-step "playbook" as an editable PDF file so you can track your progress and reflections
Consulting Slide Templates - $0+ - I spent several hours creating this after a post went semi-viral on LinkedIn for slide templates. Feel free to use and share liberally!
In-Progress - Solve Problems & Tell Stories Like A McKinsey Consultant course (e-mail me if you want to stay updated)
Access all the tools here
Below The Black Horizontal Line
Support Boundless Through Micro-Donations
Since going out on my own, I have been averse to the idea of "building a business" and "monetizing" my work. I am driven by helping others and try to devote my energy to being generous and creative - wherever that takes me. When I create tools like the Freelance Target Income Calculator, I want to get it into as many hands as possible.
I have embraced Patreon as an experiment for people to support me in continuing to do this work. Think about it as Kickstarter for creators, but focused on supporting one's life.
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