#knowledge worker

“A study of knowledge workers found that they face a distraction every eleven minutes on average, and that once distracted, it takes them twenty-five minutes to get back to the task at hand.” (Sanborn, 2006, p. 46)

Quote of the week – 18.11.22

“Knowledge workers were already exhausted by their jobs before the pandemic arrived: too much e-mail, too many meetings, too much to do—all being relentlessly delivered through ubiquitous glowing screens. We used to believe that these depredations were somehow fundamental to office work in the twenty-first century, but the pandemic called this assumption into question. If an activity as…

Quote of the Week (29.07.22) – Seth Godin

“As knowledge work has shifted to a remote-first setting, organizations have generally done an astonishingly bad job of bringing any intent at all to how they will build a culture that they care about. Forcing people to show up so they can hide behind a screen in the office is lazy.”Seth Godin – ‘Management with intent‘ (blog post 27.07.22)

Remote work now mainstream

There’s a widespread feeling that remote work is now mainstream. An assumption that we will never go back to the old ways of working.

If that’s true, it’s been a long time coming. For years experts and pundits have predicted many more people will work from home in the future.

There’s evidence that the number of people working from home, at least for some of the time, was already rising before the…

One Thing Great Leaders Never Do!

By | Dr Marshall Goldsmith | #1 Leadership Thinker, Exec Coach, NYT Bestselling Author. Dartmouth Tuck Professor Mgmt Practice

The ever-increasing presence of knowledge workers (people who know more about what they are doing than their boss does) presents challenges to modern-day leaders that their counterparts in years…

It’s not the end of the world, you know

Today’s blog post is about education in general. Whether it’s the Leaving Certificate (the final course in the Irish secondary school system), SATs in the US, O- and A-Levels in the UK, or Le Bacin France, I’m sure you’re familiar with the day of reckoning just-finished second-level students are facing about now as their examination results are published in advance of matriculation for…

Written by James Miller

What do phones, computers, music, television and your local fast food restaurant all have in common? They have all experienced a massive disruption and convergence within in the last decade with technology sitting at the forefront of this cause. With the ever increasingly globalization thanks in part to technology, knowledge has become more valuable than ever. This ultimately leads to the question: What can you do as a knowledge worker to ensure you benefit from digital capitalism?

 Change is inventible. Whether it is in regard to our personal growth, businesses, career goals, place of living or even the climate itself. Unfortunately, change is what people fear the most, almost to the point of resistance. The security rug pulled from beneath their feet for most puts a strain on those who are ill- prepared and fell that they are no longer in control of their lives. Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter stated that the loss of control, excess uncertainty and more work are just a few reasons out of many, why people resist change. (Kanter, 2012).

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation is no longer just a concept or the thing of the past. It is coming and here to stay. Workers that once filled jobs such as the check-out attendant at your local grocery store and cashiers at fast-food restaurants, have now been all but replaced with machines and self-serve kiosks. The question now becomes, how do I not get left behind when businesses decide to go full iRobot on the rest of the world? Those who are concerned about the future and where they will fit into the grand scheme of it all, I would say that you already have arguably the most invaluable tool that will outlast any machine, and that is of course, your knowledge and ideas.

Education:

Education is key to anything that you do. Having the knowledge and understanding behind the reasoning and logic is crucial to your growth and development. Furthermore, it allows you to stay ahead of the curve introducing you to new concepts and ideas in which way the market and industries are headed. With that said, it also helps to have creativity and have a strategy in place. Mark Dodgson, Director of Technology and Innovation Management Centre at the University of Queensland said that: “Universities are central actors in the knowledge economy. Understanding the conditions in which they best perform this role and contribute to the industries of tomorrow is a critical input to future policy-making.” (Dodgson, 2012).

 Creates New Jobs:

It is not without a doubt that the new industry of automation and cognitive systems will open a door wide to new innovative industries and markets. With any new industry creates future jobs, at least for those who are in the know or that can implement their skills as a knowledge worker to good practice. With the slow introduction to robots and AI on the market, you of course need people who are knowledgeable to build and maintain our future electronic co-workers. Like the auto-industry, these machines will not work on themselves. Intellectual capital will become beneficial for those who move where the industry is headed, which is in machine learning and AI. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment of computer and IT occupations is projected to grow 13% from 2016-2026, faster than all occupations. This is expected to add over half a million new jobs. (Labour, 2018).

Companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook all thrive on ideas and knowledge applied to real situations. Think of how easier our lives have become since the emergences of the iPhone and the rise of smartphones. How convenient it has been to search all of your music on one platform called the mp3 player/iPod, or how quickly you can ask Siri for recommendations of the hottest restaurants when you travel and the navigation to get there when you are lost on your way to that restaurant. One thing for certain is that machine learning and AI is here to stay. Westpac bank is seeking to adopt a range of AI plans reiterating change within the business model.  All of these ideas were once just an idea, a spark of something that would later become greater than the person who initially thought of it. Perhaps instead of fearing and resisting change, we should embrace it and put our knowledge to a better cause that can maybe one day benefit us all, because what good is knowledge gained if it isn’t applied.  

Tell me what you think? Will you become a victim or beneficiary of this major technological movement that is set to disrupt our daily livelihood? The fourth industrial revolution is here upon us.

References 

Dodgson, M. (2012, April 10). A Smart Strategy To Drive Australia’s Knowledge Economy. Retrieved from The Conversation : https://theconversation.com/a-smart-strategy-to-drive-australias-knowledge-economy-6188

Kanter, R. M. (2012, September 25). Ten Reasons People Resist Change . Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang