In the 90’s, everyone wanted to be a DJ. I shared a room with one at University and, inevitably, became one too. When I moved to London the running joke was: “You’re never more than 6ft away from a DJ“
These days, the same might be said of “future of work” experts. More and more people are getting involved. But there’s something about the monetisation of this area which feels a little awkward to me.
Perhaps this is the reason why…
One of the changes foreseen in ‘the future of work’ by The Responsive Organisation is a shift from extrinsic rewards to intrinsic motivation. That sentiment was evident when so many people gave up their Saturday last week to attend the London event, unpaid. Gifting your spare time, ideas and energy to the community is, after all, how networks outperform closed systems. That works great when we’re all in it together. But in a market environment where others are seen as competitors and competitive advantage is perceived to be vested in ideas, identity, time and resources, does the spirit of sharing and helping others in the network break down? How can we remove some of those obstacles and promote the Gift Economy principles which underpin working as a community?
One avenue could be committing to give away our spare capacity. In the legal profession, barristers and solicitors regularly give up their time to represent others and provide training, and the same thing happens in many other areas of work. I wonder whether there would be appetite for “change agents” to offer their full commitment, for a part of their time, on a voluntary or pro bono basis, to help organisations do it themselves?
Back in the day, there wasn’t really much money to be made out of DJing, other than for the ‘elite’. But that wasn’t the point. It was a passion. What became obvious though, was that DJing isn’t that mysterious. Like many things, belief and commitment will take you a long way. I remember hearing stories about a guy who passed himself off as one of the high paid superstars and got booked to do gigs up and down the country. The irony being that he was, by all accounts, pretty good and the people who heard him weren’t at all disappointed. With a bit of guts, I thought, anyone could do it themselves.
To support the shifts happening in work, I’m committing 10% of my time, as a gift. I’m not a superstar, but I do have a passion for change. If you would like me to come to where you are to discuss organisational development, let me know.
#caDIY
Inside out 