The context of today’s world, irrespective of where we are in the globe, is best provided in Stephen Covey’s recent book “The 8th Habit”. He describes 7 global seismic shifts that characterize the new Knowledge Worker Age.
- The Globalization of Markets and Technologies: New technologies are transforming most local, regional, and national markets, into global markets without borders
- The Emergence of Universal Connectivity: Proprietary communication channels that bound people/ companies together have become obsolete. The glue that held our economic activities together is melting in the heat of universal connectivity
- Democratization of Information/Expectation: No one manages/owns the internet.
- Exponential increase in Competition: Organizations must constantly develop better ways of competing against lower labor prices, lower material costs, faster innovation, greater efficiency and higher quality.
- The movement of wealth creation from Financial capital to Intellectual & Social capital: The wealth creation movement has gone from money to people; from financial capital to human capital.
- Free Agency: People are becoming more aware and conscious of options. The employment market is turning into a free agent market. Knowledge workers are increasingly determined to brand themselves.
- Permanent White Water: We live in a constantly changing environment. In turbulent white water, people must independently understand the purpose and guiding principles of their team/organization.
