Does that happen to you as well, when you see a book and the words “read me” gently form in your head?
So I picked up the book ‘De slimme organisatie’ by Menno Lanting unabashed from the kitchen table of a girlfriend, and called out to her, as the book slipped in my handbag: “I need to borrow this book from you.”
This is typically the sort of book which delights me. It gives me an insight in the future. Because I am very curious about what is to come.
Menno writes about the change in the work process: smart organisations make the transition from Work 1.0 via Work 2.0 to Work 3.0. Smart employees oppose this movement by their employer or start up by themselves.
Work 1.0 is a structured way of performing tasks: the employees arrive at work at a fixed time, to work at a fixed location.
With Work 2.0 the employee gets some freedom to organise the work in the best way he or she thinks is right. One can occasionally work in a different location. Work and private life begin to blend more. In Work 2.0 however, the job and the employer are still the focus.
This changes in Work 3.0: the work finds the right talent. Work for the most, becomes a virtual ‘stream’, searching for talent, creativity and capability. Work 3.0 does not mean the end of organisations, we will just have to give it a different structure. The boundaries between work and not-working for example will fade away even more.
Whereas rules and structure now still stand at the centre, work in future will be more dependent on creativity, individuals and their relationships. We are moving away from rigid patterns and arrangements to a fluid and spontaneous way of collaboration and organizing things by ourselves.
I wonder if Menno will have been right. And how fast these trends will develop. I am grateful to be working for clients who are now already putting this into practice. I am happy to see my children already doing this naturally: working together in a creative and spontaneous way.
So it is not just a matter of observing the generation now entering the labor market? And observing the way they work? And learn form them? My confidence and enthusiasm are great. Off we go to Work 3.0!
