Why The New Era Of Business Requires The End Of Traditional Jobs And Careers

The rate of change requires people to rethink how to build a career and companies to change how they recruit, contribute to and reward people. The idea of working for a business in the construct of a traditional "JOB", the paradigm of exchange of control by companies and guarantees of income for employees, should shift to "tours of duty" where intrepreneurs are incubated as a means of innovation: both for themselves and for the organizations they work with. Failing to make this shift will lead to poorer performance among legacy organizations and less rewarding careers for people, while doing so successfully can mean a strategic advantage and professionals being fulfilled and better developed in their careers. (NOTE: employees who stay in companies longer than 2 years get paid 50% less).

At the BRITE ’16 conference, Dr. Rita McGrath outlined how the nature of a long-lived competitive advantage has changed, with new entry conditions, such as network effects, taking over from traditional ones. She accurately detailed new sources of advantage and how firms should be thinking about them in a more transient society. Most importantly she set forth the idea that this new era of change will call for new leadership where ;

"People are unafraid to speak the truth and respond to that truth."

McGrath tells the story of Ford's former CEO, Alan Mulally, an innovation CEO for the record books. Included in his many skills in helping to turn around the failing automobile maker was getting the leadership team to be honest and tell the truth. This Forbes article describes the early days of Mulally's tenure:

At his very first weekly session, Mulally’s direct reports showed green lights with just a few yellow lights sprinkled in. Mulally calmly indicated that this could not be possible; the company was in a financial straight jacket and steadily losing market position. He urged them to roll up their sleeves and ask new questions, putting away their boxing gloves. Lots of red lights showed up at the next Thursday morning meeting. By personally modelling candor and a willingness to openly speak about complex, taboo subjects, Mulally built a safe operating environment for his direct reports."

Despite facing imminent bankruptcy the executives at Ford were accustomed to protecting their own asses instead of being candid about what was really happening. This condition isn't an isolated one. Dr. McGrath is right, leadership oriented to maintaining the status quo, being relevant despite ineptitudes and protecting turf is the death-knell for any organization (check out my post As business models shift, leadership's gotta shift too. Right?). Having worked with leaders in organizations for over 30 years I can attest that fear has become an increasingly relevant force in decision making and this is keeping many from considering valuable alternatives which would open the door to many other opportunities.

Fear based scarcity thinking extends to the very notion of career and jobs as well which is antithetical to the reality of how people should best consider their future opportunities to work and thrive. In a world where success means developing the capability to innovate not episodically but as a strategic capacity people need to apply new approaches to their own lives and skills; but most do not. My post The Dangers Of Social Media Platitudes With 12 Tips For Living A Fulfilling Life In The 21st Century gets into more specifics .

Traditionally, career path efforts have been based on the increasingly flawed idea of “moving up the ladder.” Success was measured by how high you get. A lateral move was usually not seen as a smart career decision. Even when changing jobs to enhance skills, the expectation was the new position needed to be a step higher up the ladder. The idea was to keep moving up until you’ve gone as high as you can. That is often a bad idea.

This old school career ladder thinking is creating a lot of problems for both employees and their companies . When people reach their theoretical career peak, they start to stagnate. They also begin behaving with an increasing scarcity mindset, fearful to pursue new things because of their fear of failure. Their creativity in problem-solving ability decreases because their thinking becomes habitual and based on self-preservation. After all when you're that high up the fall is all the more deadly.

The implied contract between employers and employees has also changed and will continue to evolve. The original contract, which governed most of the 20th century, was that in exchange for loyalty, the company would provide a job for life. However, toward the end of the 20th century, companies could no longer promise a job for life and the contract no longer held up.

In the 90’s a new contract emerged; in exchange for a full effort and engagement while part of the company, the company would offer the opportunity to increase skills that could be transferred to one’s new company. But Gallup engagement studies have clearly demonstrated the new contract never worked.

In today’s increasingly complex world, where creativity and innovation are the seedbeds of growth, organizations need employees who are attuned to fresh thinking, not those whose thinking has become automatic or are scared to take risks. Similarly people need to abandon the career ladder belief system and start evaluating more options that align to new opportunities and true long term rewarding goals regarding work in general. Work is changing and the options available to find rewarding pursuits is going up significantly if you only know where to look and how to think. It is folly to rely on companies to do that for you. That is why the new era of business requires the end of traditional jobs and careers.

Given these factors are you ready for the new era ? In her book the End of Competitive Advantage McGrath offers the following 10 yes-or-no scenarios to help you figure that out. Any no answer indicates a potential vulnerability. If you answer no to five or more questions, McGrath warns, “It’s time for immediate action!” Welcome to the era of transient competitive advantage and why your thinking about careers needs to be reassessed.

1. If my current employer let me go, it would be relatively easy to find a similar role in another organization for equivalent compensation.

2. If I lost my job today, I am well prepared and know immediately what I will do next.

3. I’ve worked in some meaningful capacity (employment, consulting, volunteering, partnering) with at least five different organizations within the last two years.

4. I’ve learned a meaningful new skill that I didn’t have before in the last two years, whether it is work-related or not.

5. I’ve attended a course or training program within the last two years, either in person or virtually.

6. I could name, off the top of my head, at least 10 people who would be good leads for new opportunities.

7. I actively engage with at least two professional or personal networks.

8. I have enough resources (savings or other) that I could take the time to retrain, work for a small salary, or volunteer in order to get access to a new opportunity.

9. I can make income from a variety of activities, not just my salary.

10. I am able to relocate or travel to find new opportunities.

So what do you think ? I'd love to hear your views and thoughts on this subject.

Bryan O’Rourke is a board member, executive, advisor, investor, keynote speaker and author who has successfully led global brands in a variety of roles for over 30 years. He guides and works in and with many fitness and health club brands and serves on several leading for profit and non-profit boards. He is CSO for Gold's Gym of Houston with founders Bryan and Kristi Murphy. He launched Vedere Ventures, a boutique private equity firm in 2016, which has invested in a number of companies and is President of the Fitness Industry Technology Council which supports the Fitness + Technology Podcast, check it out today. Get his recent book the 9 Partnership Principles written with his partner Robert Dyer and other top fitness industry leaders. Follow him on all the major social platforms @bryankorourke and visit bryankorourke.com .