Our future in science fiction, Improvisation, Circles, Decentralized work, 7-day work week

I have no excuse for the long delay since my last newsletter. I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing anyway! I got caught up in finalizing the workbooks for the Gig Mindset Circles and at the same time researching and drafting my thoughts for my next book.

Our future… in science fiction

The future used to be something that lay beyond the present, ahead of us, towards which we were moving. Now we know the future is in the present. It is here with us now. Science fiction holds clues for how we need to approach our work in organizations, institutions and life in general.

“By imagining the future through science fiction , we can even step in , make change , and actively play a role in shaping our reality . In other words , with every future we wish to create , we must first learn to imagine it.”
Yuval Noah Harari

I’m researching science fiction writers to find leads for people and organizations today. I’m currently reading Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky. (detailed Goodreads review) I’ve also discovered a number of (new-to-me) authors in the Vice collection Terraform entitled Watch/Worlds/Burn.

I have looked at these works as well: Ray Bradbury (The Toynbee Connector), Max Brooks (World War Z), Kim Stanley Robinson (The Ministry for the Future), Octavia Butler (Parable of the Sower), Ursala K Le Guin (The Dispossessed), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), Philip K. Dick (The Man in the High Castle), George R. Stewart (Earth Abides), Ted Chiang (The Story of your Life),  and Theodore Sturgeon (The Man Who Lost the Sea).

Are there others you would recommend?

Let me know what sci fi books you have found inspiring.

Improvisation….from Inside Outsider

Inside Outsider is my newsletter on LinkedIn. You can also read it on here and see an overview of the published issues. Click on the one or ones that interest you, read them on my website, and if you want to comment, please do so here or on Linked In. I disabled comments on my own website because of too much spam.

The last issue on Improvisation, a survival skill today and tomorrow started some interesting feedback on the LinkedIn version here.

The Gig Mindset Circles are starting

Gig mindset circles are small groups of people who are motivated by the desire to help make their organizations more purposeful, creative and resilient. They meet regularly to assess, share and advance. They go through interactive exercises described in the Gig Mindset Circles Handbook and follow the lead of a facilitator whose role is described in the Facilitator Handbook.

The materials are free, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

My goal is to find people around the world who are interested in creating these circles because they want to bring change within their own organization or help other organizations do so.

Are you interested? You can read more. Let me know if you want to receive a free copy of each workbook.

Get in touch to explore the idea.

Forward thinkers and pioneering organizations

Unleashing The Decentralised Workforce

in Workforce Futurist by Andrew Spence

The article is well over a year old, but as relevant today as when it was written. Spence talks about how an untapped workforce will utilize digital infrastructure to bring radical change in the nature of work, the firm, careers, education and welfare.

I follow Andrew Spence’s work which goes beyond the over-used ideas by many work-future “experts”.

Arup, pioneering organization with a future-leaning work model

I worked as an external advisor with Arup many years ago, and realized that, based on what I saw, their unusually engaged work culture was in part at least because the people own the company.

They express this clearly and strongly on their home page: “A global collective of designers, engineering and sustainability consultants, advisors and experts dedicated to sustainable development, and to using imagination, technology and rigor to share a better world.”

There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, not the least being their experimentation over a year with a new approach to work days.

• Hear about it from Arup and letting people choose their working days

• and from Wired who expresses it differently, as a 7-day work week!

A gift to give your friends a boost when reality comes back after the holidays

The Gig Mindset Advantage can help people kick off a new mindset and renew purpose in 2023.

Read about it here. It’s available in online bookstores around the world.

https://www.netjmc.com/about-the-book

If you want to gift your colleagues or friends as well, contact me for info about reductions on bulk purchases.

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Thank you for reading Gig Mindsetters – A Bold New Breed

What are your takeaways? What have you experienced that you can share with us?

Please share in the comments below, or directly with me via Twitter @netjmc or my website.

You can also request an invitation to join a community of gig mindsetters who share stories, frustrations, accomplishments and new project ideas in a private space.

Check out my book, The Gig Mindset Advantage, available in hardback or digital format from online booksellers worldwide.

Bonnes fêtes and happy holidays!