It's the People, Stupid

Coined during the 1992 US Presidential election, “It’s the Economy, Stupid” was a phrase meant to focus the campaign workers - stick to the script, and talk about how our candidate will be better for the economy.? Ultimately, the economy was one of three messages, chosen for the sake of winning the election by addressing the matters that resonated the most with the voters.? (The other two points of focus were about “change” and “health care”.)??

So, I take obvious liberties and assert (not very creatively perhaps) that, in the world of Digital Transformation...

“It’s the People, Stupid”.?

Alas, the narrative and focus has been, for too long, on the technology. And, often on aspirational capabilities that the technology will someday have - given an assumptive development trajectory. <Insert reference to Moore’s Law here>?

Yes, one day chatbots will actually stay with me long enough to solve my problem. AI will operate on its own without an army of humans in their metaphorical loop. Machine Learning will reliably get the right answer, and be able to explain how and why it got there. But, not yet. For now, we count on the most powerful, creative, and tenacious resource available.

People.

I’ve had the absolute honor of working in the trenches with some of these people. They are the most capable, passionate, and scrappy shapers and builders of this new world of work. I can tell you, if they had nothing but sticks and twine, they would somehow fashion a new digital operating model, build robots, and have them fully up and running by lunch time. Because they collaborate well, understand the mission at hand, and work in concert to make it happen. They also understand the constraints under which they toil.?

It is these people that should be celebrated. I intend to do more such celebrating in my future posts, blogs, and interviews. It is also these people (around the world) that we should invest in, to enable them to gather the skills necessary to transform their toolkit for the sake of transforming the environments in which they work.

There are truly great resources available today. I watch with pride as people take courses I’ve helped create. Read content I’ve helped author. And seek further avenues for personal development and growth from the wealth of academies, trainings, communities, and toolkits now available - all for the purpose of self improvement, job advancement, and career future-proofing.

To this, I say "forge on, you workers of the future in the future of work"! You are our best hope. And, there are not enough of you (as numerous studies and reports now suggest). So, it’s up to us all to meet the demand by empowering and enabling the supply.

Please stay tuned, as I speak to, and profile, numerous examples of these workers in the future of work. Because, while the technology is exciting…. It’s the people, stupid.??

Please consider following me on LinkedIn (I'd be honored), and stay tuned for more content coming very soon!