The future of work is a hot topic for many executives and thought leaders. However, the conversation tends to focus on rethinking processes and structures rather than on shifting worker motivation, engagement, creativity, intuition, and empathy. This can be a mistake, as the real future of work involves changing how we define what work is. Specifically, redefining work requires rethinking how we see and value the activity. This involves a shift from the view of work as an activity that is necessary to keep the institutions of the economy running (i.e., employers) to the view of work as an activity that is essential to the human experience (i.e., workers).
In physics, work is the amount of energy transferred from one place to another, or from one form to another. It is measured in joules, the SI unit for energy. Examples of work include a horse pulling a plow through the field, a clerk pushing a cart down the aisle at the grocery store, a freshman lifting her backpack full of books on her shoulders, and a weightlifter launching a shot-put. However, even these examples don’t completely describe what work is. For an action to be considered work, there are three key ingredients: a force, a displacement, and the cause of the displacement.
A force can do positive, negative, or zero work – or none at all – on an object depending on the direction of the displacement relative to the direction of the force. For example, if an object moves in the same direction as the force, then the system’s total energy will increase, meaning positive work was done. If the object moves in a different direction than the force, then the total energy will decrease, meaning negative work was done.
Finally, if the displacement is perpendicular to the force, then the total energy will be zero, meaning no work was done. This is what happens when a centripetal force restricts a ball to circular motion and does no work.
Beyond these technical aspects of work, there are cultural and societal attitudes towards the concept. Some cultures may consider certain types of work to be valuable or to offer a sense of pride and achievement, while others might feel that work is dirty, dangerous, or demeaning. In some cases, an overabundance of work can lead to illness or death due to overexertion.
In order to fully transform their businesses, leaders must take a fresh look at what work is and how it should be valued. This requires rethinking the entire company, not just its process and structure. This means that management systems, work environments, operations, leadership and management capabilities, and performance management and compensation systems must be changed. In doing so, companies can reframe the future of work from a fight between institutions and workers to one that is based on hope and opportunity. This new vision of work will be driven by the creative, imaginative identification and solution of unseen problems/opportunities, and it will ignite more worker passion over time.
