The Disrupted Individual...

#career #enrichment #growth #disruptedindividuals

When we think of career, our mind conjures up images of going to work - either at a factory, shop, office or someplace where space and time are earmarked for engaging in gainful employment activities.

We also conjure up the image of an invisible switch that we try to use to toggle between and life and work.

The third image that comes to mind is that of a linear road or path going upwards and onwards, when we think of careers.

Between March 2020 until now, we learnt many of these images or assumptions are violently challenged! What happened?

Covid 19 put brakes on the Global Economy and Industry! Living became a priority over livelihoods.

Weeks of lockdown - some in isolation, some in the company of family or strangers, forced all of us to think in fundamentally different ways!

Was Covid 19 the first ever such opportunity to think about career and life separately? No!

World has seen many recessions, meltdowns, famines, pandemics and wars - and each such event had forced to look at life with different lenses.

Covid 19 was different in one fundamental way : faster internet and global connectivity and the ability to exchange information through images and videos showed us the vagaries of life in different parts of the world - from supermarket riots for getting toilet papers to large groups of migrant labor walking thousands of miles to go home to safety and to see their loved ones!

Covid 19 also made each one of us prioritize healthy living and family over everything else, including career.

People pivoted careers to stay safe and close to family.

People pivoted and accepted lower positions, even willing to learn and acquire new skills, just to avoid stress at work.

We roll this back a bit...

Before Covid struck, the world was undergoing another shift, or a few shifts.

Telecom technology had grown in leaps and bounds and social media had proliferated quite significantly. Mobile telephony was already becoming more and more affordable in terms of device and data costs; availability and speed of internet were increasing exponentially. Internet was a true leveller!

This was making communication faster ... almost at the speed of thought!

Covid 19 related lockdown and social distancing norms accelerated digital adoption and adaptation faster even at individual level.

From being a mere voice & data career, internet became the medium of commercial and social exchanges... from UPI to Zoom calls to Netflix to every possible way!

We were disrupted individually....whether we liked it or not!

Given this backdrop, I am trying to look back and compare how careers have evolved in the past and how they may pan out in future!

I am no sci-fi writer nor a futurologist; a simple career person looking at random events of my career trying to make relevant connections!

Read me at your own risk!