The Future of Work Studios

My Degreed Co-founder, Eric Sharp, and I didn't know each other when we started Degreed in 2012--we lived in different states and had met in person twice. What drew us together was a passion for lifelong learning, even though we'd come to it in very different ways.

Eric, in his own words:

"Early on, I didn’t have much of a choice! I grew up on a small family farm. Technology for us meant the old tube TV set. When I came across a coding magazine my mind was blown! The idea that I could tell computers how to create new experiences was new and amazing to me. I used this passion to teach myself computer programming. I continued to approach new technologies in the same way. I would identify the landscape of new technologies, hone in on those that I thought could bring the most value to people and businesses, then go heads down and dedicate myself to learning it."

While Eric was a self-starter and largely self-taught, I was a student who colored inside the lines, did what I was told, and was dedicated to getting the best grades so I could get into the best university. But when it came time to take my ACT's, I finally saw my experience for what it was: I had managed to become a great student, but had failed to become a good learner. I cared about the grades, but not the learning. Realizing what I had become, I committed to myself that from then on, I'd become a great learner.

In building Degreed, our shared goal was to build a model of lifelong learner that gave everyone credit for everything they learned--irrespective of how or where. It's now used by a majority of the world's largest companies and millions of people, employs hundreds, and has offices in Amsterdam, London, New York, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Brisbane.

But technology continues its march. Today, technology scales faster than humanity's rate of learning/skilling, leaving a growing skills gap in its wake and growing inequity as a consequence.

While I continue to serve in my capacity as Executive Chairman of Degreed, there is more work to be done.

So Eric and I are excited to announce The Future of Work Studios: a venture studio model that is launching two businesses this year.

The first is Learn In and the second is BookClub.com.  We are joined in this whole effort by Jonathan Woahn.

Learn In

Learn In is pioneering helping companies manage learning sabbaticals and earning-while-learning hybrid arrangements. We are motivated by the belief that massive remobilization of the workforce is upon us. If it happens by firing and re-hiring, the costs to employers and the human costs in individuals will be great. If we can mobilize within employers themselves the costs will be minimized, the ROI improved, and skills gap closed. We are joined by co-founders Taylor Blake and Yael Gilboa Kaufmann in the effort.

BookClub

BookClub is author-led, virtual book clubs. Degreed has given us data and insights on how millions of people learn, and one of our biggest take-aways is this, that for all of the innovation in MOOCs, upskilling bootcamps, and eLearning, people still learn more from reading books than by any other means...by a lot. We want to give that learning a proper home, led by the experts themselves...the authors.

We hope this journey gives us a chance to share our love of learning with each of you. Every day the importance of learning increases, and now with massive upheaval across the globe from COVID-19, the stakes are as high as they've ever been. Will leave you with my favorite quote, from Eric Hoffer:

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”