jan de man

The New World of Work

So, it is high time to (briefly) lay out my thoughts on what I will redirect this blog towards. 

The premise is this: Work is being redefined. 

Well, work has probably always been in an evolutionary process. Still, new aspects of work are making its mark today. Obvious things as globalization, networks, communication technology have made both employers and employees aware of new loyalites and new priorities. But also new ways of doing work. And perhaps even defining work.

The point here is not to state the obvious, but to signal that "the new world of work" is a significant arena to explore, conceptualize and share in the years to come. In the broad arena of work lies most of humanity's modern challenges – sustainability, equality, making a decent living, etc.

My work with the business sector the last 10 years tells me that companies (and most organizations in general) will increasingly be challenged to understand the new world of work and not only adjust to it - but ideally push forward and lead the way into a more hopeful future.

So, this is the basis of my exploration. This blog will try to capture the evolving thinking, conceptualization and shaping/prototyping of the new world of work.

/jan

So, it is high time to (briefly) lay out my thoughts on what I will redirect this blog towards. 

The premise is this: Work is being redefined. 

Well, work has probably always been in an evolutionary process. Still, new aspects of work are making its mark today. Obvious things as globalization, networks, communication technology have made both employers and employees aware of new loyalites and new priorities. But also new ways of doing work. And perhaps even defining work.

The point here is not to state the obvious, but to signal that "the new world of work" is a significant arena to explore, conceptualize and share in the years to come. In the broad arena of work lies most of humanity's modern challenges – sustainability, equality, making a decent living, etc.

My work with the business sector the last 10 years tells me that companies (and most organizations in general) will increasingly be challenged to understand the new world of work and not only adjust to it - but ideally push forward and lead the way into a more hopeful future.

So, this is the basis of my exploration. This blog will try to capture the evolving thinking, conceptualization and shaping/prototyping of the new world of work.

/jan

Snowed in!

Suddenly winter arrived. With a wonderful snow storm that has been howling all night. 

The good thing with living in the country side is that you don't have make up arguments for why you can't make it to the city. We are literally snowed in.

I imagine that the city folks are busy as usual today, cursing the weather because they are undoubtly being delayed by it. But most are not adapting to it. Not saying, well this can wait until tomorrow. Not thinking, is it worth the risk driving today. Not accepting the value of stopping for a moment and experiencing the full blown beauty of nature - even in the form of a winter storm.

/jan

25 years...

...of consumption financed with borrowed money.

At a conference I attended today Daniel Sachs at Proventus offered this as a perspective on the current financial turbulence. I hadn't seen it that way before. But once he said it made total sense. 

So recovery won't be next year. Or the year after. This is going to take much more time. 

But first we'll have to face some more music. If what Daniel says is true, we haven't seen the end of the downward spiral yet.

And I know this sounds kind of strange and maybe even heartless, but I see this mostly as good news. In bad times we can experiment and change more because we have less to lose. As I see it this makes it a little easier to create the new world of work. A more sustainable world of work.

(I know I promised to outline my exploration of the new world of work in my next, ergo this, post. But I couldn't pass this over.)

//jan

New world of work + Friendly troublemaking

Since I left fluidminds (a company I co-founded 10 years ago) a little more than a week ago I've been thinking some about this blog. I've tuned in on Seth Godin's and other wise people's ideas about good blogs.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a very good blog. But I'd like it to be. And the key to that is to focus on you as a reader and not so much on me as a writer/thinker. Obviously reader and writer have to connect through the content. I have to have some form of talent and experience that attracts a reader base. And I have to take the initiative and put content out that I believe would generate reader interest.

So, my simple premise for this blog is to carry on the work I started out at fluidminds a couple of months ago. Work and writing that had started to generate a small reader base.

The broad theme and area of interest is The New World of Work. My goal is to explore this area in its broadest sense. My next post will draw the outline of this exploration.

A method of exploring and communicating that I enjoy and find fairly effective is what I call friendly troublemaking. I'll expand on this in a coming post. 

I hope to share lots of friendly troublemaking with you in the future days, weeks, months and years and hope you will do the same with me!

//Jan

Test post from my iPhone

I don't think posts can be very long, but there is value in being able to once in a while to post on the fly. /jan

Get rich easy...

Seth lays it out. Read and then be more alert.

/jan

Can we also be happy about the downturn?

GDP is generally seen as a measure of our wealth. It could also alternatively be seen as a measure of how fast we are depleting the planet's resources and creating waste. 

With this perspective one could in this period of finacial downturn and potential recession choose to be happy for the planet. 

Perhaps a bit simplistic, but it does have a nice twist to it.

Have a nice weekend.

/jan

Cool new friend

Yesterday at a book event I met Johan Ununger who is the CEO of Saltå Kvarn. They have a fascinating story going for them. This I would say is a social business at its best.

And Johan, of course, is a great guy championing the ideals of his company along with the pragmatic realities of running a profitable and growing business.

He also runs a blog if you'd like to learn more. Be warned, it is in Swedish...

And the book that the event was held around was the Swedish translation of "Getting to Scale" by Jill Bamburg that yours truly has edited. More on the book here. [Also in Swedish]

/jan

Cool new friend

80 emails...

...of encouragement. Damn, that is warming. Thanks all for being so supportive.

My last two days have been spent working on my gigantic back-log. Things are looking better now so by the end of the week I should be able to look a little forward - and also rest some.

/jan