In episode 47 of the CXO Minute, Tony Uphoff describes how the definition of knowledge work is shifting and defines the ways in which business leaders can prepare, manage, and adapt to its new form.
Highlights
00:13 — Tony asks viewers to imagine a bank in the 1960s, with rows of office workers updating ledgers via typewriters, and compare that to today’s digital-first distributed knowledge work. He says this visualization represents the stark difference between office work today and several decades ago.
00:38 — The world is in the midst of another change in office work that holds the promise “to make today’s knowledge worker look like the bank employees of the 1960s.” Today’s new area of knowledge work has three fundamental changes that are reshaping this work as it is known:
01:52 — As these changes accelerate, wholesome shifts in knowledge workers occur, and business leaders must be prepared to handle it. Tony lists five major ways that knowledge work will change:
- Increase in technology use
- Greater emphasis on problem-solving
- More cross-functional collaboration
- Greater focus on innovation
- Remote work
03:06 — Tony suggests that these changes in knowledge work do not represent a dystopian view of the future. Rather, new technologies and capabilities will create enhanced opportunities for knowledge work. At the same time, knowledge workers of the future must be equipped with new skills and ways of working, making it critical for business leaders to prepare their companies and themselves.
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