A few years ago I read a very thought provoking book called Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. I highly recommend it. It makes some very compelling argument for a new economic model in which people who work for corporations are slowly being replaced by free agents who compete for the work over the web. There is more to it than that but it sparked my thinking so I wanted to give it credit for the spark. About a year or so later I read another book Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself by Daniel Pink which further solidified my thinking in this area by revealing the extent to which free agents already participate in the job market. After extensive contemplation, I came to some conclusions about how this might play out. The following is my vision of the future of work. I am moving cautiously here because I want to give credit where credit is due while not attributing any of my crazy speculations to the sources of inspiration.
Although there are some very significant counter examples in the world today, most citizens of modern, developed, autonomous nations have long ago for gotten their tribal origins. I would draw an analogy between tribal allegiances and corporate allegiances. That is to say that there was a time when tribal allegiances were a necessity for the workings of society and the protection of individuals. Similarly, there was a time, when corporate allegiances were necessary for the workings of the economy and the protection of individuals. Except for some significant counter examples in today's world, tribal allegiances have all but faded into history. And it won't be long before corporate allegences will fade as well. Imagine someone today asking you what tribe you belong to. For most people this question would sound silly. In the future the similar question - what company do you work for - will sound equally as silly. When somebody asks - who do you work for - you will answer "I work for myself, just like everybody else does."
Why do we work for corporations or government agencies today? I think there are two primary reasons. First, working for an entity gives you a place to go to meet with your co-workers. And, second, inherent in the management of the entity is a control structure which directs work and manages productivity. But, neither of these features is part of the fabric of reality and both can change as our reality changes.
The first is easy. Telecommunications has made co-location irrelevant as I argued in the Visualization of YOU. The second takes a little more explanation. Think about tribal structures which had control structures as well. There was probably a chief, some warriors, maybe a shaman, and the like. Those job were replaced by governments (local and federal) and professions (doctors, soldiers, teachers, etc). It is possible, maybe even likely, that corporate roles will follow the same path. In other words, managers and executives will be replaced by similar roles that are not limited to a given entity, possibly an industry or even a nation instead.
"What will happen to the workers?", you might ask. My guess is that they will all become free agents, bidding for pieces of work that are tendered on the Internet. So, when work needs to be done, industry executives will dole it out online, individuals will bid on it, complete their tasks and get paid for the work they did by the industry entity. Presumably, if one believes in an efficient economy, workers will bid on the work that they do the best as to get maximum return for their efforts. From the industry side, worker will be chosen based on their efficiency at completing tasks as desired. One side effect of this is a maximally efficient economy as everyone does exactly what they do best and each job goes to the best worker. There is more to it than that as this must occur along with other trends. But, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.But, if the analogy holds, tribal members eventually became free citizens and corporate workers will become free agents.
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