You can feel it coming. A time when more and more of us are working independently or co-working, or are with smaller organizations, or socially-designed businesses. A time when collaboration occurs between individual practitioners as much as it does within company walls. It's not here yet, but it's around the corner.
Why? Because technology is toppling the barriers to entry. Because many of the resources of the large corporation are now available to the individual. Because small means nimble. Because the social web will allow us to collaborate beyond existing notions of an organization.
We are moving towards a knowledge economy where success is less dependent on physical resources. Success in the future will depend more on whether or not you can be both self-directed and collaborative within personal and social networks.
Of course, large corporations aren't about to go away, but the self-directed/social future affects them as well. The movement towards performance-based systems such as ROWE (results only work environment) plus leaner staffing and contract work mean that you have to be self-directed and socially savvy to do your job and advance your career.
Self-directed/social-oriented work is a positive thing. It rewards traits such as:
- Passion: do great work and share it with others because it's a labor of love, not because you are told to.
- Discipline: focus and produce even without direct pressure from colleagues.
- Knowledge: acquire new skills and information without being told to do so.
- Network: harness the power of personal and social networks to your professional advantage.
- Organization: independently manage projects and your work/life balance.
Passion is the most important of these. When your work is self-directed, the social pressure to produce falls away. You soon find out whether you really are passionate about the work you're doing because it'll be reflected in the results you produce. It's a great test of whether you really enjoy what you do. Hopefully, it means more of us are doing work we love.
