Exploring Non Traditional Ways of Working: With Samuel Durand, Creator of Documentary "Work In Progress"
In this episode of the series ‘World Of Work For Educators’ Nexgen Careers features Samuel Durand who has been traveling the world to meet people and organizations that are shaping the Future Of Work. With 100 meetings in 13 cities in the world, he has gathered all the best practices in the collaboration between freelancers and companies.
With this work Samuel and a team of passionate ‘future of work’ explorers have created a documentary ‘Work In Progress’ that is raising awareness of the different options available to individuals who refuse a linear and traditional career.
The purpose of the documentary is to show the different ways of giving meaning to one’s work within the Future of Work topic: salaried jobs, freelancing, communities, passion economy, nomadism.
Check out a 2 min video from the interview below or scroll down ro read the full article.
Nexgen Careers: What do you think is the best age to start talking about careers and work in any education system? Or maybe you can tell us how your journey started?
Samuel: Well, I would say that the earlier the better. I think I started my first business when I was 12 years old. I was buying candies and re-selling them for twice the price, so that was my first business. Though I had no long term vision, because I spent all of my profits on more candies. So I was a child and, I would say that I just learned it by myself, not at school in France. I don't think that it is so much about careers, until you go to business school. And then you start to realize what you can do after that.?
Then you just follow the path, you have good grades, and you do this, and then you do this, and you don't know what's the long term vision because they don't talk about it. So you just have to find it by yourself. I think that I would have loved to discover some jobs earlier. One of my ideas would be to do one month or two months, and each week you discover a new job. That would be my dream life. After some time and lots of money to create a company, I would create something like this.
So I would say the earlier the better. And in my case, I started to question myself about what I'm going to do in my professional life around the age of 18. And I created my first company when I was 19. I think that entrepreneurship and freelancing have always been deeply rooted in my mind.?
Nexgen Careers: Maybe we can expand on that.. Why do you think that is? Is that something you were born with? Is that something that's in your family? Have you got role models that showed you what entrepreneurship was? How do you think it came to you?
Well, my mom is a doctor, so she's independent. It's not entrepreneurship, but she's independent. And my father is an entrepreneur. So every time they came home, they didn’t tell me that they were fed up with their jobs. They weren’t just waiting for the holidays, waiting for the weekends and waiting for anything. They were just living in the moment and they just had lots of talks about their work, and they loved it.?
So for me, it was normal to see my parents working on the weekend, but taking one or two days off during the week. They also gave me a very liberal education. They encouraged me to do some studies, but they also supported me a lot when I wanted to create companies, when I wanted to go freelance and not to do internships. And when I didn't want to follow the main path, the main road, they supported me in my choices. That support was one of the keys for what I do today, I'm sure.
Nexgen Careers: So you've just graduated quite recently from a business school. And I wonder if that business school helped you with this entrepreneurial mindset? Or whether you found it hindered this mindset in any way to be in a system studying business from the perspective that you had? Is there any advice that you would give to anybody else who's in a similar position that has just finished a degree or is thinking about going to business school?
S: I don't think so. But the environment and also the time that they gave me was key, of course, the courses and the lessons I took there, they didn't prepare me for entrepreneurship so well, but they gave me some time.
And there is this environment where you have lots of associations you can work with. And this is where you develop your skills. This is where you develop your network, and everything that you need to develop your mindset, and what you want to do after that.?
So I don't think that the most valuable thing in business school is not the lessons that you take, because it's something that you could get anywhere else, and you can probably find it for free on YouTube. But at business school you can find an environment and support from the teachers and support from mentors, support from other students, and meet lots of people. I met so many people in business school, well in my learning expedition, the purpose was to meet 100 people, so yeah, I met lots of people at this time. But in general, I wouldn't say that the business school is preparing us so well. But in general with all the people you are meeting, then yes that help us a lot.
Nexgen Careers: Before you started the documentary “Work in progress” you had this learning journey where your objective was to meet over 100 people,? and then you visited 13 cities, and you were talking with them about non-traditional careers and different non-traditional ways of working. So why did you start this project in the first place? And what was the question that triggered yourself to start this quest?
S: At this time, I had already been freelancing for two years. And I had already created my first company. So I had a taste of what freedom was, and freedom in what you want to do with your professional life.?
During this kind of gap year, when you are in business school, you basically do two internships, in companies in big corporate jobs. You go work in finance, you go work in marketing, and everyone just follows the path. So I wasn't attracted to this path, because I already learned about the freedom you get when you're a freelancer. So I was like: The present world of? work, I don't like it. What would the future of work look like? And what is the future of work??
So I decided to take six months to meet people around the world. And I was working with freelancers, and I saw some problems. And I knew they were coming from the company side, because the companies are usually used to working with employees with salary jobs, but not so much with freelancers. So I thought, why not go around the world and meet with the people who are ahead of the time, who are already living the future of work and working with freelancers??
And maybe they do it in a better way. So we are going to learn from their best practice where they can share, and then I'm going to share everything that I learned in France.?
So that was the original idea. But by exploring the future of work through freelancers, I also expanded my scope of possibilities, and I also searched about the future work in general, innovation, and co-working spaces, communities. How do you manage and create flat companies? Everything! Lots and lots of things that are much more than just freelancers.?
So by meeting people, you meet someone else, and they recommend you to someone else. So you expand your network globally. And when I was, for example, in New York, someone said, “You should go to Toronto, I have a friend there and she's very interesting, you should meet up with her”. So I went to Toronto. And then in Toronto, I met someone who says “go to Chicago” and then this is how it goes.
Nexgen Careers: So we often hear the words “future of work”, and we keep talking about it. The title of your documentary “Work In Progress”, makes us think that the future we keep talking about, in fact, it's already here. So what are the work models that are out there that could be interesting to students that they might not be aware of?
S: My definition of the future of work is that the best way to predict the future is to invent it. So there are already some people who are working and living in the future. And we just need to learn from them and these people, they can be thinkers, philosophies, CEOs or just HR, people working in any kind of company. And they are ahead of the time. And what is good about it is that these people are ahead of their time, and they tend to share a lot through documentaries, podcasts, and articles.?
So if you go to Twitter, blogs, newspapers or newsletters, you will find people who have tried something, and they share what they’ve learned about it. So I think that the future of work is already here, you just have to learn from these people who are ahead of the times.?
I would say, for example, you look at Basecamp - the company. They're very famous because they wrote the book, “Rework”, also “Office, not required”. They're very famous for their remote work. But they also created a new vision of work and have lots and lots of benefits for the people working within the company, not just because they want to recruit people, or because they need it for the employee branding. But because they are deeply and sensibly thinking that companies shouldn't just bring value, and money. Companies should bring value to everyone and you should? join a company because you are aligned with the purpose of the company.?
I'm sure that my message in “Work In Progress” and in general to the students is that; work is not a burden that we should get rid of as soon as possible. And we can find fulfillment, we can find meaning and it could be because you are in an environment that you like, around people that you like, in a mission that you like, or the activity you're doing, you actually like it, it could be anything, you just have to find the rare gem. Because there are companies out there who want to bring people together, and not just create money.
The best way to predict the future, is to invent it"
Nexgen Careers: From the research and work you have done could you tell us; what are the trends you see that are being consolidated with Covid-19 and what are the trends that are likely to shape the next few years??
Passion Projects - From personal projects, side projects, the passion economy, and the creative economy, it's very easy right now to create anything, basically. You can launch your own podcast, your newsletter with 0€. It's very easy, it's free, and you can learn anything on the internet.
So I think this is the major shift, and people are starting to create their own businesses. Sometimes it's just because they have a passion, and they want to develop it, and it's alright, and sometimes they want to earn money from it. And for the side project, they are going to transition to full time projects, and going to turn them into entrepreneurs.
Freelancing - Also, another trend is with freelancers. Before when you graduated from a business school or a university, they would tell you to find this salary job as an employee position, and that would be it. Then you just find this and you continue for 10-20, maybe 30-40 years. Right now you just go for a company for 1-2 years maximum, and then you go to find something else. And there is always something which is shinier as well.?
So you can create your own path by becoming a freelancer. Freelancing right now has lots of benefits and lots of perks. Because lots of companies have started to tackle the topic and they are creating a safety net for freelancers that the society doesn't bring yet.?
So you have health insurance, you have banks, specialized just for freelancers in the US in France, and I'm sure you also have them in Spain, and everywhere really in the world, because the institutions are built for employees. And entrepreneurs are building a safety net for their freelancers.?
The major shift that I saw two years ago in the US, and that is happening right now in Europe, thanks to the COVID 19 is that we already had lots of freelancers before but there weren't enough gigs for them. And when you go on any freelancer platform, they have just like 3-5% of the people who are really working on the platform.?
Flexible Workforce - But right now companies are starting to really work with freelancers and in a much faster and much wider way, because they've realized; firstly there is a flexible workforce, so it's easier to adapt to the business to the activity that you have. And also because they're ready to work from one day to the other, anywhere in the world, and they are just very talented and skilled people.?
So now that they have understood that they can work remotely, they also understand that they can work with any kind of people, they don't really care about the status, freelancer or employee, we don't really care. So I think that's the major shift that started happening two years ago in the US and right now in Europe.
Nexgen Careers: We all know that we have a small subset of students who are pretty engaged and quite motivated and self driven. But there's a large swathe of students who are just less proactive. So the collaboration between freelancers and companies, and what that might mean for somebody who is planning to just sit back and let life take them where it may, what's going to happen to them in this new future of work? Then how will their lives be different from their parents' working lives?
S: For example, during the last century, you worked for a company, you knew that your salary would be even higher each year, that you have a lot of health protection, lots of benefits, and there would be better and powerful unions fighting for you. So you have a vendor of benefits in exchange for division of labor and subordination. So it was easy to accept it because the vendor was huge. But starting in the late 80s, the promise of a job for life was gone, and you needed to create your own safety net. If you wanted to find fulfillment, if you wanted to have a good position, you needed to create it by yourself.
So right now it's the same. Well, you can go and work in corporate jobs and maybe within the company, you will be able to find a certain fulfillment in accomplishing the objectives. And if that's good for you, fine by me, go and do this. But it doesn't take much to create your own projects right now, and to try it, maybe just spend one hour or two.
When I first started my own company, it was a sweater company I created. So at first, it was just about sending an email to a factory, “Hey, how much does it cost to create a sweatshirt,?” and then look at the price of other companies, other brands, so it was just some research I was doing when I was 18-19 years old. So it was very easy, and you're not committed to anything when you just do this. And slowly as the hours pass, you just realize after a few weeks that you are really doing something and you're really into a new project, and it can be very exciting.?
I remember the first day is very exciting, because you think of all the possibilities that you could have. And maybe it's a project that you are going to give up in a few weeks and you just have learned something. So it's good. And maybe it's going to grow and become bigger. And we're going to find some co-founders, to find some funding, and it's going to grow.?
Every huge company that we know, they started very little at first. So you don’t need to have the ambition to create a huge company or a unicorn, you just need to want to enjoy it, and that's the most important thing. When you enjoy what you are doing, you are learning a lot. You're not realizing that you're learning, instead of going and sitting and just waiting for the teacher to tell you what you need to learn, you do this by yourself and you go find the information you need.?
For example, when I was a kid, I was very lazy and I didn't want to learn anything. I discovered that I could learn what I was interested in, and on the internet I could find how to create a website, how to set up an Instagram, how to find clients, how to do anything and by realizing that, I learned a lot on the internet.
"Every huge company that we know, they started very little at first. So you don’t need to have the ambition to create a huge company or a unicorn, you just need to want to enjoy it, and that's the most important thing."
Nexgen Careers: If there's one piece of advice then for educators listening, would it be to give more freedom? Or to give more time for students to explore? Or how would you help them sort of make that impact in an educational setting happen if it's not automatically happening already?
S: I would give it some time, for example, have half a day each week, when you just work on your own project and the educators are here just to support you, to help you find connections with other people. Connect you with a mentor, connect you with alumni, connect you with sponsors or companies that would be interested in helping you learn.?
An Educator's role is not to work as if he was the co-founder, or to help grow the company. Their role is to help the students understand and help the student make mistakes. Because the earlier you make mistakes, the better and the faster you learn. So you need to make mistakes. The educator is here to make sure that the mistake is not that you're going to go to jail, of course but to help you find the right way and to get you started.
Nexgen Careers: So the last thing is about following you because you're a dynamic young person who I think will bring a lot of energy to others like you. So how can people follow you and keep up to date with what you're doing? Are you happy for students and councils to contact you?
S: Yeah, sure. I'm always happy because after I did my learning expedition, I had lots of students contacting me and saying that they wanted to do the same thing in their own field in their own passion. For example, I had someone to do and explore women entrepreneurship around the world, someone smart cities, or AI and what I did could be helpful for anyone in any project is the same recipe. So they can write to me through LinkedIn or Twitter, that would be the easiest way, and you can go and subscribe to my newsletter, which is the big future. And I send some news and what I read about the future of work every two weeks.
Nexgen Careers: Fantastic, yeah, and we will, we will definitely be tracking you and working out how we can utilize some of this, this content and this energy that you have, and that you bring to the conversation in a school setting and in a classroom setting. Because Andrew and I want to create things, you know, pieces for students to start thinking about this and start embedding it into the teaching and learning. So we're, it's awesome to have met you.
The Nexgen Careers team wants to send a big thank you to Samuel Durand for his participation in this episode of the WOWed series. Make sure you follow his social media listed below.
Join the future of work movement
?? Watch the trailer of Samuel’s documentary ‘Work In Progress’.
?? Watch the documentary on your favorite platform
?? Email Sam to host a private screening of the documentary
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