work | Hinesight

Talking about the Future

October 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I recorded a podcast with Thunderstruck Radio last week on a wide range of topics about the future. Host Sancho Jones asked that we pay particular attention to positive developments regarding the future. His experience is that too often people are focusing on what’s wrong.

Among the topics we discussed in the hour-long interview were values shifts, new technologies, what’s next after capitalism, the future of work, globalization and America’s role in it. We also discussed the state of foresight as it is being practiced (or not) in organizations. Enjoy! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: capitalism, foresight, globalization, technology, values, work

Futurist an awesome job….that most haven’t heard of

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Houston Futures alum and new futurist at Disney Emily Empel brought my attention to a piece, 7 Jobs You’ve Never Heard Of – And Why They’re Awesome, that mentions futurists as one of 7 awesome jobs that people have not heard of. The article suggests that futurist is one of the jobs where people scratch their head wondering “what do they do?”

I suspect we futurists could do a better job sharing that – maybe a “day in our lives” to people a sense of what we do. I remember when Graham Bowley of the Financial Times followed me around for a day (published as “The Time Lords”) trying to get this sense of what we do, and he seemed a bit disappointed that it was pretty “normal:” lots of computer and phone work.

Of the seven jobs the article lists — 1. Chief Listening Officer, 2. Food Stylist, 3. Global Mobility Consultant, 4. Computational Linguist, 5. Greensman, 6. Parabolic Expert, 7. Futurist – I suspect futurist has been around the longest. Futurists are perceived as new even though we’ve been around for decades. Nonetheless, it is a positive to see more mainstream coverage and that it’s favorable.

That said, it’s a bit disappointing as to how the futurist job is characterized. For instance, “Your predictions about shifting trends help to guide future business decisions.” Clearly they are referring to pop trendspotting kinds of positions. Okay, it’s a start. We’ll have plenty of work to do on “predictions” [insert standard rant here]. Again, good to see the job futurist portrayed in a positive light and the ball is in our court to frame the conversation about the range of what futurists do — as more such stories come out as interest in the future and futurists grows. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Work Tagged With: career, futurists, jobs, work

Some thoughts on the workforce of the future

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Some thoughts on the workforce of the future for BeInkandscent e-zine, such as how the recession (and other negative events) inspires innovation, retirement-age boomers not retiring, and counseling patience for the gung-ho Millennials. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Work Tagged With: BeInkandescent, future, millennials, work, workforce

Size Matters: Scale in the Ecosystem of Work in the Future

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Dan Pink’s Free Agent Nation was, and still is, an appealing concept for thinking about the future of work. Many of us already are free agents and many more will be. If not pure free agents, many are working for a small business as an appealing alternative to the bureaucracy of large organizations.

Eventually, most free agents and small businesses run into the “scale” problem. There are some situations that may lend themselves to smallness, but many that don’t. It might be helpful to think of work as an ecosystem with problems at varying degrees of scale.

My own situation is one where I am half-time in an organization that has scale – a university. The other half is doing free-agent work (and I have previously worked in a couple of small boutique consulting firms and a couple of large firms). Today, I frequently run into scale issues in talking with clients and potential clients. I fit great into some projects, but others need more capabilities and resources than I can deliver. Thus, I look for partners and hope that client is okay with a more complicated arrangement of working with 2 (or more) entities, or essentially hand off the business – in the hopes that I’ve built good will with that partner and they will return the favor. And I am frequently brought in by partners to scale up their team. Seems to be working good so far!

It requires a degree of trust to compete on one contract and partner on another. Your personal reputation and brand is vital to survival in the work ecosystem, which might be compared to a Long Tail kind of model, where there a small number big firms with large scale operating alongside a large number of small firms with small scale. As an individual or small firm, your value is typically in specific niche that you can serve particularly well.

So, how do we small ones approach scale? The obvious answer is in building networks. The confirmed free agent is going to have to accept the loss of some work because of their decision to stay free, and to build solid relationships in the “return the favor” mode described above. Small firms face the challenge of knowing when to stop growing. Heresy, right? It’s all about growth? I’m not so sure about that. It seems that when you grow beyond somewhere around two dozen people, you start to fundamentally change who you are, as more complex operational capabilities come into play. If you stay under that number, then you have to really get clear about “what’s in and what’s out.” What do we need to do, and what gets partnered or outsourced?

It is so tempting as a small business (and a free agent) to do it all. Seek the appropriate therapy for that and move on. Once you get past that, the next challenge is learning how to routinely work with an increasingly diverse set of partners – building skills in identifying and managing partnerships. This requires trust! Do you really believe your partners can do what they say they can do? Perhaps it’s most dangerous when you have some knowledge or expertise in what you are partnering/outsourcing, which can lead to an ongoing second-guessing that undermines the relationship. The irony is often that we are often the victims of the same bad behavior when we are the partner, that is, we exhibit the same behavior that we complain about – (c’mon ‘fess up if you’ve done this). Of course, some of this is managed productively and even seamlessly, but in general I suspect being able to broker and managing and ongoing web of relationships is going to be an increasingly critical competency in an ecosystem of niches, partners, competitors, and problems of varying scale.

Perhaps I should offer one helpful bit of advice to close out what has mostly been identification of the problem so far. Trust is the lubricant of the ecosystem. One way to build trust that I’ve used in my own practice that I borrowed from Seth Godin’s idea of permission marketing, which I called permission futuring since I’m a futurist, is to approach client or partner engagements along the lines of dating. You start small, enable a quick “getaway” just in case, and progressively build the depth of engagement. In business terms, take on small projects, do them well, and use that to ask permission for increasingly bigger and complex projects. Don’t ask for the trust, rather earn it. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Work Tagged With: ecosystem, free agent nation, future, scale, work

If you need to be creative, don’t go to work (and other good stuff)

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Work Tagged With: creativity, work, workplace

World of work portends greater flexibility, and greater uncertainty

August 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Enjoyed my presentation at the High Tech Conference at Lone Star CC on Friday. I gave my “Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work” talk, but from a different perspective. I typically aim the implications at organizations and how they can prepare. But this time I took the perspective of the individual students and workers: what can the individual do to prepare for the surprises?

The key theme is a shift in responsibility for managing one’s careers from organizations to the individual. Organizations are off-loading as much as they can, perhaps the key example being training. Individuals are increasingly expected to arrive with the requisite skills. Elaborate training programs are increasingly rare–organizations realize the workers are going to shift jobs many times, thus why train someone who is likely to leave? Similarly, they are looking for ways to reduce their costs. So, individuals must find ways to develop required skills on their own.

Dan Pink raised he idea of the “free agent” years ago and it’s a good metaphor. Professional athletes must come to their teams with the necessary skills to survive. They do, of course, then get the benefit of coaching. Similarly, workers who have the skills and get hired will benefit from coaching and experience at each of their jobs. The key will be how to leverage what they learn into the next job. It’s important to have one eye on the next job or career turn, making sure to be developing what will be needed for that.

This isn’t easy. Most individuals are already pretty busy people and trying to develop new skills while maintaining a current heavy workload is challenging to say the least. The whole idea of managing one’s career, in effect being one’s own “agent,” is new territory for most.

The emerging world of work is going to be characterized by a lot more uncertainty–and most of us don’t like uncertainty. Multiple careers, re-skilling, and the move towards project work, and a more entrepreneurial approach to getting paid, involves much greater uncertainty than the old lifetime employment model. It presents a greater opportunity for flexibility in managing one’s work life and life, but also a greater ability to manage it and the ability to deal with periods of uncertainty. I think of my own current situation, in which I work half-time at the university, which provides a guaranteed source of income, albeit not a great deal of money, and half-time in consulting, workshopping, and speaking, which provides greater money, but a much more irregular stream of income. I think this type of arrangement will be increasingly common, given the dozen surprises about the future of work. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Talks, Work Tagged With: future, Lone Star Montgomery CC, Star Tech, work

Talking on Future of Work at Lone Star College High Tech Conference

August 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I’m talking about “A Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work” at 9am….

Lone Star College-Montgomery Hosts High-Tech Conference in October
Focus on Technology Trends, Career Opportunities, and Community Impact

Lone Star College-Montgomery presents the first-ever High Tech Conference, an emerging technology event designed for both the general public and business professionals, on Friday, October 21, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., in the Music Hall (Building H).

The conference, which is just one part of the college’s inaugural StarTech Symposium, allows attendees to explore Texas’ high-technology ecosystem and related trends such as economic growth, job creation, and innovation.

The conference is free, but reservations are required.

“The conference brings together an audience from a wide range of backgrounds who share a common interest in technology-related trends and issues that impact the local and national economies,” said Tonya Britton, workforce program manager at LSC-Montgomery and conference organizer. “Attendees will leave with relevant, cutting-edge knowledge about various technology sectors that they can leverage to improve their personal and professional quality of life.”

Providing the keynote address is Andy Hines, lecturer/executive-in-residence of University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Futures Studies. His presentation, “A Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work,” will demystify the future of the workplace and discuss structural and other changes taking place in how we work, where we work, and who will be doing the work in the future.

Hines, an academic futurist, co-founded and is currently on the Board of the Association of Professional Futurists. He has also co-authored three books and appeared on several radio and television programs, including KRIV-26 News to talk about the future of libraries, and the CBS “Early Show” to talk about an MTV-commissioned study on the future of youth happiness.

In addition, Jonathon Taylor, director of the emerging technology fund from the Texas Governor’s Office of Economic Development, will provide the opening remarks.

With a strong focus on technology-driven business development, the conference includes scheduled presentations about start-ups, co-working, innovation, project management, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, the conference includes several breakout sessions hosted by leading experts in the fields of aerospace, clean energy, geographic information systems (GIS), biotechnology, information technology, sustainability, healthcare, telecommunications, and nanotechnology.

“Business leaders will learn best practices on the increasingly sophisticated technological environment, and general lay people will become informed on the technology resources that are available throughout our region and state,” said Britton. “Students are encouraged to attend, as they will learn about emerging jobs in the industry and increase their familiarity with technology-related terms, topics, and trends.”

The High Tech Conference takes place during the StarTech Symposium, a four-day technology trends event that includes a community job fair on Thursday, October 20, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; the NanoTech Workshop, on Thursday, October 20, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and an Algae Certification Workshop, on Saturday, October 22, from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

The community job fair is presented in partnership with the South Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. The NanoTech Workshop is held in partnership with the Penn State Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization with sessions facilitated by Dr. Stephen Fonash, executive director for the center. The Algae Certification Workshop is held in partnership with the National Algae Association (NAA) with sessions facilitated by Barry Cohen, executive director for NAA.

For more information about the High Tech Conference or to register for the free event, visit www.LoneStar.edu/StarTech.

LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call (936) 273-7000, or visit www.LoneStar.edu/montgomery.

With more than 69,000 students in credit classes for fall 2010, and a total enrollment of more than 85,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Park, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.

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Filed Under: Science & Technology, Talks, Work Tagged With: lone star cc, Star Tech, technology, work

Lone Star College High Tech Conference Explores the Future of Work

August 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

It’s been my experience (and others, I’m sure) that community colleges are often at the leading edge of change. They need to be innovative to survive. So, I’m not surprised that Lone Star-Montgomery CC is hosting a one day event to explore Texas’ High Technology ecosystem, as well as related trends and issues to prepare the organization and students for the emerging future.

I am very pleased to be able to contribute a keynote on “A Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work” which will help set the stage for the rest of the day by suggesting some structural and other changes taking place in how we work, where we work, and who’ll be doing the work. The point of talking about surprises, of course, is to prepare the audience so they are not surprises. So if I’m successful, my “surprises” wouldn’t be surprising — the audience will see these emerging changes coming. As futurists, one of our goals is to demystify the future – it doesn’t have to be a scary place. By thinking about how work will change, and then by exploring the specific changes going on in the high tech arena for the rest of the day, participants should come away feeling confident about the future. They’ll know what’s coming and have time to prepare!

And here’s some really good news. The event is FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Pre-register by emailing tonya.m.britton@lonestar.edu for information. Also visit the symposium’s facebook page: Star Tech Symposium_Lone Star College-Montgomery. Hope to see you there! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Talks, Work Tagged With: future, Lone Star, Montgomery CC, Star Tech, work

Where Do You Get Your Best Ideas?

August 30, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

A favorite exercise I use in working with groups is to ask the question above. I’ve done it hundreds of times. The “joke” is that work either doesn’t get mentioned or it is one of the very last places. Here we are talking about the importance of creativity and innovation in our economy, yet our workplaces are the last places to be if we want to be creative!

The places folks mention are “walking/running, the shower, driving, meditating, sleeping, gardening, etc. The common denominator: relaxation and time to think. So, it makes sense that the workplace can be challenging for that. Phones ringing, emails, instant messages, people dropping by, meetings….Not conducive to relaxation and time to think.

Some good news is that as notion of the work “place” expands (see one of the dozen surprises on place), it is increasingly permissible to leave the office and work somewhere else….in the future, that will increasingly be a place of relaxation, so find your creative space, and claim it! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Work Tagged With: creativity, ideas, work, workplace

Another take on Future of Work Surprises

August 30, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I really enjoyed the commentary “A Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work: Implications for Workforce Professionals” by Kristin Wolff of Enhancing Workforce Leadership. She attended my Dozen Surprises talk and I thought the notes she posted had some very insightful interpretations that y’all might enjoy. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Forecasting, Foresight, Work Tagged With: forecasting, foresight, future, surprises, work

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