Reimagining The Way We Work - Talk at LSE – Thursday 19th June 2025

Once again, I attended this talk 8 months ago, so will just post the notes I made at the time:

The coming change is unlike anything we've ever encountered. The modes of managing change of the past, will have no bearing on the future...
Mass unemployment by AI.

One of the reasons for this is the mismatch of identity. There are jobs, but people aren't willing to do that work, because it doesn't match the identity of the person. Eg. Blue collar workers won't do pink colour jobs.

Altruistic capital?
Quiet quitting. Cost to productivity- because people feel like they're doing something meaningless. People WANT to contribute, but the work that we do does not stimulate our human needs.

Is the purpose of law to provide jobs for lawyers so they can provide justice to 'consumers'?
Is medicine there to give doctor's a job, or to give people treatment?

People who work white collar jobs are intrinsically tied to the identity of their job. They want to be the lawyer or doctor that 'was' ..Now, that job has changed. The entire 'work' landscape is now dynamic. As a 'worker' you have to be adaptable and separate your identity from what you do.
Kids in school need to be taught that. They have to be dynamic and adaptable. That means they'll have to be training and learning their entire life, not just until they're 21.

Workplaces of the future won't be so 'top down' (autocratic) - it will have to be more democratic, where the relationship between workers is more peer to peer. But to get there will be difficult, as those at the top will resist it fiercely.

No one knows what the jobs of the future will be: people have to be allowed to experiment, on the payroll! So much money is spent on 'restructuring' in organizations, and this 'experimenting' can come from those expenditures. It also empowers the workforce, and they're more productive because of that.
The problem is, employers don't want to invest in skills that their employees can take to another job/organization. Maybe governments need to then step in.

The future workplace MUST be flexible. Why not different occupations on different days? Monday's you're a baker, Tuesdays you're a teacher?
People need to FEEL something from their work and their lives! It needs to be enjoyable and meaningful. So much productivity is lost to mental health and lack of motivation issues.

The human psyche is fragile. Fear stumps cognitive function, including creativity. Fear of losing your job impairs your thought process.
The challenge of the future workplace is uncertainty. How do we respond? Flexibility in jobs and continuous investment in learning!

One company can't do it. It requires systemic change. Everyone, top and bottom, every company, needs to be on the same wavelength.