work

“I like coming here!”  was confessed with a smile. The speaker?  A highly skilled professional who is undertaking a major refurbishment project for me in my home.

It hit me that this is the fundamental ask. Every professional including those who deal directly with customer and shape the customer experience is looking to feel-think “I like coming here!”

Technology is changing work. It’s changing labor. Some imagine radical transformations, both positive and negatives. Words like robots and drones conjure up all sorts of science fiction imagination. But many of the transformations that are underway are far more mundane and, yet, phenomenally disruptive, especially for those who are struggling to figure out their place in this new ecosystem. 

I’ve been scratching my head trying to think about how to understand the different facets of labor that are shaping contemporary life. I don’t have good answers; I only have some provocations and a few questions, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

When we think about knowledge work productivity, it is a very tricky subject. The reason it is tricky is because at one extreme we can routinize knowledge work — as when someone is calling to fill out a survey, or answer a customer service call. In a low value added knowledge work task, there is some variation, and the motivation and attitude of the employee is still a very big and important deal. 

The photos do a good job of showing how this thing works. Here, in the first picture, some plucky worker has marked the clock with his goals for the day:

 

by: danah boyd