Metaverse regulation, capitalists, HBR on gig mindset learning, consensus, temporary organizations...
Living purpose, inside and outside the workplace is the underlying theme this month
This month my reading and writing has focused on purpose and how precautions need to be taken to ensure that people can live their purpose, inside and outside the workplace.
I am sharing two of my favorites discoveries from recent reading: regulating the metaverse and enlightened capitalists. I have also included summaries and links to my recent Inside Outsider newsletter issues: the counterintuitive consensus conundrum, and the Icehotel and temporary organizations.
But first, I’ll start off with my recent article published in the Harvard Business Review that has caught a lot of attention: “How workers with a gig mindset can help your company thrive”.
Image: Diamond Dogs/Getty Images
It triggered an invitation to speak to members of the alumni network at one of the top business schools in the world. The person who invited me said she was looking for inspirational content for people who are thinking about purpose, the work world as it has changed today and the role they want to play. I’m looking forward to interacting with them!
This month I also had the immense pleasure of working with Aiden McCullen, creator of the Innovation Show podcast, where he interviewed me about The Gig Mindset Advantage. Check it out when you have time. It’s over 90 minutes long and we cover a lot of ground. Aiden is a rare podcaster who plunges deeply into the work of the people he interviews and leads interviews with in-depth knowledge of the subject.
I offered a free copy of my book The Gig Mindset to the winner of a blind draw of podcast listeners. David C. won, and it’s winging its way to him right now.
My discoveries this month
We need to put regulations on the metaverse now. Here’s where to start
Published on Fast Company
VC Bradley Tusk urges everyone to get out ahead of the technology because he says, this is the chance to get it right.
Image: iamyesarun/Pixabay
“While questions remain, what we do know is that it’s coming. Arguably, it already exists. We know it will integrate today’s internet with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and blockchain technology. We know it’s going to be a place where people will interact with each other, where they will buy and sell goods and services, where communities will form around education, culture, entertainment, and faith, and where the traditional boundaries of personal data, property, and privacy will be thrown wide open. We know it’ll resemble, in some ways, the digital world we already know and, in others, it will be completely different.”
The short life of enlightened leadership (and how to extend it)
By James O’Toole, author of The Enlightened Capitalists: cautionary tale of business pioneers who tried to do well by doing good
“Most companies that try to do well by doing good can’t make it last. Their leaders need to think more carefully about their philosophy and governance…The author gives 4 examples of companies that achieved long-lasting changes saying “They developed fully fleshed out business philosophies in which they identified higher purposes for their enterprises than simply making a profit. Their primary ethical value was respect for people...
Illustration by Gérard DuBois
“...That meant introducing organizational structures, legal strictures, and ownership bulwarks designed to ‘bake in’ attitudes and practices that would last for generations.”
Selections from the Inside Outsider, my weekly newsletter
Issue 7 Counterintuitive: avoiding consensus yet keeping people together
jean-wimmerlin unsplash
In today’s volatile world consensus is dangerous. Once considered a noble goal to achieve before making a decision, consensus is not effective in a volatile environment.
Trying to build consensus actually decreases resilience: today's consensus will likely be wrong tomorrow
Issue 8 What can we learn from the Icehotel
Images: internet search
The Icehotel symbolizes a paradoxical organization that is simultaneously:
Temporary and permanent
Evolutionary and revolutionary
Different yet the same
The Icehotel takes temporariness to an extreme. It reflects the need to be specialized in order to be part of the team that comes in each year to build the new rendition.
Living purpose, inside and outside the workplace is the underlying theme this month.
Purpose expresses itself in different ways. What are your thoughts about these dimensions:
Regulating the metaverse for the good of all
Achieving value-oriented capitalism that lasts
Learning in a gig mindset work culture
Avoiding consensus in order to bring people together
Thinking about organizations as temporary, and what changes
Please share your thoughts in the comments below, or directly with me via Twitter @netjmc or my website NetJMC.