Working It: Disruption Rules

Book excerpt: Are you Future Ready? McKinsey, the global consulting firm, estimates that between the present and 2030, 75 to 375 million workers need to switch jobs that will require new skills and new education just due to automation and tech disruption: “In terms of magnitude, it's akin to coping with the large-scale shift from agricultural work to manufacturing that occurred in the early 20th century in North America and Europe, and more recently in China. But in terms of who must find new jobs, we are moving into uncharted territory. Those earlier workforce transformations took place over many decades, allowing older workers to retire and new entrants to the workforce to transition to the growing industries. But the speed of change today is potentially faster. The task confronting every economy, particularly advanced economies, will likely be to retrain and redeploy tens of millions of midcareer, middle-age workers.” In this book, we explore the Future of Work and how it’s going to affect all of us in critical ways. We look at Disruption Rules through the lens of paradigm shifts, disruptive forces, and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity). We look at what causes these changes, why it matters to you the reader, how it impacts you, and most importantly, what you can learn and do as a result of these disruptions. The main title of this book is Working It. As the title implies, Working It can be what you do to earn a living or what you do to have fun or how you live your life. In other words, Working It is all the stuff you do that have meaning and value for you. So when you go through this book, you’ll notice that many of the stories go beyond what you do at the place that provides you income. We focus on the meaning and things that are important to your Working It - Disruption Rules. When there’s a disruption, most of us find a job or career book to find answers and encouragement. Most old-school job books provide life, career, or job road maps. Follow these steps and you’ll get to where you want to be. If you believe these principles and follow these practices, you’ll find a satisfying job and enjoy a substantial salary with guaranteed yearly increases. In this book, we want to get real, provide insights, and tell it like it is! The Future of Work impacts people on a daily basis since it deals with our human needs, wants, and expectations. The Future of Work is now! So, we’d say that the Future of Work is important and relevant to the vast majority of people worldwide.