To handle the pace of change and realise the opportunities rapidly rolling towards us, we don’t need a burning platform, we need burning ambition.
We don’t make good decisions when we’re afraid. But we do when we’re inspired. That’s what I took from our uplifting conversation with future of work strategist, Heather E McGowan, on The Reset Show last week. (I’m a huge fan of Heather’s work – check out her best-selling book The Adaptation Advantage).
So why are we trampling on people’s creative vision and ambition, from the time they can barely walk and then all the way through school and into work?
In the book, Heather talks about how identity and work have become so tightly intertwined it’s impacting our wellbeing. According to research, she quotes ‘it takes twice as long to get over loss of a job as it does breakdown of a close relationship’. Why? Because we have attached our whole selves to what we do at the expense of who we are.
This all becomes so much more problematic when we squeeze ourselves into jobs and futures, that not only don’t suit us, but in reality, may well not exist by the time we get there. Who at school knew they wanted to be a …[insert your role here!]?
It’s why I’ve kicked off with unicorns. On the show, Heather shared a story about her four-year-old niece who was told at her career day that being a unicorn wasn’t a realistic option. Why not? And what’s the alternative? Picking our future based on what someone told us we were good at when we were 16? Does that make any more sense?
Having a whole learning system based around becoming something set is absurd, Heather suggests. “That’s all external, we need to move to internal. What are you interested in? What are you good at? What do you care about? Where do those circles intersect and how do you shape a future based around that?”
Heather suggests we never know when or where we’re going to find our sweet spot. So we need to stop focusing on what people are good at and what they’re not, and create more opportunities for us all to explore.
Sounds optimistic? Well, the conversation was broad and covered much more than identity and jobs. Everything from black lives matter, to climate change and purposeful business. Across a number of issues, Heather suggests there is room for belligerent optimism (quoting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg).
But, it’s down to us to make it happen. We can’t continue to treat humans as units that we download information to, and then drawn down on for decades to come. We need to stop thinking of humans as a vessel, and instead treat humans like humans. Those with privilege need to make that proclamation for themselves – choosing ways of working and learning that make sense to them – and support those that can’t. And we need leaders to step up. As Heather says: “We’re coming out of the era of scalable efficiency. My job as a leader now, is not how much productivity can I squeeze out of you, but how can I inspire you to create the next thing.”
If inspiration is the name of the game, how can we help more people bring their inner unicorn to life?
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