Perspectives on New Work →

Harold Jarche provides an excellent synopsis of Esko Kilpi’s Perspectives on new work: Exploring emerging conceptualizations.¹

It is a long read (132 pages), so I have taken the opportunity to capture some of it, for my own memory, and perhaps to save other readers some time.

I’m adding this to my rather large reading pile. Based on Harold’s synopsis, it looks like a compelling read.

Here’s just a few of the nuggets that he highlights:

• Human life is non-deterministic, full of uncertainty, unknowns and surprises. Creative learning is the fundamental process of socialization and being human. For a human being, the number of choices or moves in the game of life, in any situation, is unlimited.

• In creative work, we are fellow-improvisers in corporate ensembles constantly constructing the future and our part in what is happening. The idea of improvisation is often associated with notions of unrehearsed, unintentional action. However, the more skilled the players are, the better they can improvise.

• There can be no change without changes in patterns of communication. Organizations of any kind, no matter how large or how small they are, are continuously reproduced and transformed in ongoing communicative interaction. The patterns of interaction in an organization are highly correlated with its performance. Thus, we should pay much more attention to the strength and number of relationships and the breadth and depth of networked thinking.

• The future of work has to be based on willing participation by all parties, and the ability of all parties to protect their interests by contractual means.