We are concerned about what the organization of the future will look like, how we will work and how we will interact with each other, how we will cope with the transformation of work and digitization, what we should automate to make it easier for us, and what kind of fears these arouse automation and digitization itself, which will help us learn to integrate artificial intelligence and use it in good faith to free up our thinking space for creativity and innovation in our lives and work.
No matter what role we have now or how expert we are in our specific areas of work, we are all beginners when it comes to the above topics. Skills seem to be more related to our ability to think for ourselves, to reflect on what is important to us and those around us, skills to make optimal use of information, and the continuous flows of information that surround us through so many mediums of communication. And the ability to be comfortable with a variety of digital technologies.
Our work will be carried out very easily with the help of devices and programs that are being developed. They allow you to use them intuitively, and over time, artificial intelligence will be able to save a lot of effort in collecting and sorting information and finding certain solutions that are based on research and processing of already existing information. This is already happening, and the capacity of these learning engines will increase considerably in a very short time. Even the education system will have to restructure itself considerably as a paradigm and way of integrating technology into school programs. The skills that will be needed by those who lead and think about the education system are completely different than they are now. And, not only primary and pre-university education will transform, but also university education, that is, the one that will provide specialists to organizations that need an educated workforce capable of quickly using technology and information.
What will the organization of the future look like – the place we would like to go to every day
In these conditions, we naturally ask ourselves what the organization of the future will look like and how we prepare leaders for it, at a time when including the concept of a leader is in transformation and is transferred to everyone when we coordinate a project or an initiative and not only when we have a formal leadership role in the organization. The concept of "self-leadership" is frequently used as the foundation of leadership skills. In our team projects, we even give this name..."Find your way..." Because it is about the ability of each of the managers and leaders, regardless of their place in the company, to find their way: with themselves and with those they lead.
When we talk about "self-leadership", we are primarily talking about the ability to work with our own emotions and thoughts: to observe them, understand them, and deal with them in a balanced way that rather uses our optimism naturally in the face of anxiety, to help us keep calm compared to losing patience and nervousness, to help us engage in dialogue and not in combative discussions that do not lead to finding solutions, but only to point out perspectives. Our whole set of beliefs, the assumptions we build our actions on, and the assumptions we make, all of these influence the way we relate to situations and manage to deal with them. A person who has this ability well developed can lead himself and generate trust in the team: he will manage to lead others as well.
The organization of the future will need much more ethics compared to traditional organizations that have developed in the last 100 years increasingly sophisticated control systems but which have also produced a lot of bureaucracy and, consequently, decisional blockages or organizational rigidity which does not help to adapt on the fly and innovate. Now technology helps us to provide more flexibility and establish mechanisms of collaboration, rather than mechanisms of control. But especially among leaders, or more precisely primarily among leaders, the need for ethics and integrity are essential. Because trust and hybrid working or delegation of decision-making cannot happen in a system that is not built on a strong foundation of ethics. New generations no longer feel that they owe anything to the organizations that provide them with a job, they want these organizations to inspire and give them a balance that they want and that they didn't see in their entirely dedicated parents to the companies in which they worked. For the younger generations, it is no longer enough that the organization wants them to submit effort fort. They need a purpose, they need care for the environment, they value family and they don't value waste at all. Leading the new generations requires a different relationship: more open, direct, and based on equity and values. And that's what we need to learn about.
If we look at what happened in business in the last 30 years, the crises that started from the flagrant violation of ethics in the banking world, the scandal of carbon emissions, the pharmaceutical industry that lost a lot of the trust of the population even though it made massive efforts to save of lives... All these crises start from the lack of ethics of some leaders, from greed or behind-the-scenes arrangements with far too great consequences for people to be ignored... And, if a few decades ago they could keep a lot under wraps, until the very last moment, the organization of the future through technology will become very, very transparent… And it will need leaders to lead based on commitment, dedication, and trust otherwise, the speed at which people will leave these organizations will grow. From this derives the need to prioritize reflective capacity, critical thinking, and analytical thinking, connecting with one's own emotions and values, and the ability to create a space for thinking and finding solutions in teams.
Sociologists and organizational psychologists, the big consulting companies, who have access to global companies and a wide variety of respondents, signal to us some trends that we cannot ignore. These are manifested at the level of society as a whole, not only in large companies. For example, trends related to the new generations (Z and Alpha) and their values. Whether we like their way of thinking or not is already irrelevant… We have a new way of looking at life and work and if companies do not also integrate their perceptions and perspectives, the elements of progress and well-being will diminish: a major turnover among the force of work will do neither the population nor the companies no matter whether they are big or small. The ability of organizations to create a place where people want to come every day, where they have a say in how they do their work and how they feel valued is not unrealistic, "story" or theoretical...
How might managers prepare?
... To understand people's way of thinking and how to relate to different situations. With empathy.
… To not only put pressure on the numbers and eliminate the discourse in which they fight any form of error but to eliminate from the discourse the fear of consequences. People do not create or generate solutions when they are afraid…
… To learn to verbalize a goal that people adhere to and not just divide tasks left and right…
… To have the courage to revise their beliefs and concepts about leading people and achieving motivation and enthusiasm in their teams.
… To find a thought partner like a mentor or coach to support them in developing the ability to observe, notice what is happening in their microcosm and understand their thinking system and the patterns that guide their actions. In this way, they will strengthen their social skills and increase their emotional intelligence and social intelligence.
… To think seriously about their set of values and the choices they are willing to make in life to remain authentic and ethical… what you don't change, you choose! It's very simple.
… To understand their fears and what fuels these fears, the stakes that they put on themselves, and the criteria they use to make decisions…
... To continue to strengthen their specific, professional skills and to be aware of what is happening in their field of activity but also related fields... no one is an expert in the long term...
… Let go of prejudices about diversity in the workplace, about generations, and other aspects of their lives that keep them stuck in a way of thinking without allowing them to adapt…
… Let go of the expectation that they can design the future exactly as they want and focus instead on what they can do in the present so that the consequences of their actions are positive for the future…
The organization of the future will be shaped by each of those who contribute to it unlike organizations created 200 years ago or 100 or even 50 years ago when the founder or top leader defined exactly what that organization should be and do and defined the vision. Loyalty to the organization and people's desire to stay is no longer shaped by the salary package and benefits... Loyal it's about people's perception that the organization treats them fairly and that the pay and benefits package is fair, it's about their perception that when they're asked to come up with new ideas and innovate they're allowed to make mistakes, it's about that they feel listened to and not just treated as a resource. We must begin to admit that the organization of the future is about humanity.
Source: https://life.ro/despre-organizatia-viitorului-locul-in-care-ne-am-dori-sa-mergem-zi-de-zi-fizic-sau-virtual/