When I think about my South African childhood, some of the brightest and happiest memories that hoola-hoop around in my brain are the moments in the park just down the road from our house. I can still feel the rush of the wind blowing in my hair as I slide down the very loooooooooong slide. I can feel my tummy turning inside out on the merry-go-round. My body bounces at the memory of the seesaw.
What happened to play? Why have we stopped shrieking with delight at life? A fundamental shift in how the world works has happened and very few people are asking the right long-term questions.
- Jobs are being invented every day that have never existed before.
- The robotic work that has kept humans far too occupied is drawing to an end as robotics and artificial intelligence becomes more and more prominent in our working world.
- Employers are wanting creative problem solvers who need more unleashing and less management.
This is good and ultimately positive for humanity but it’s highly disruptive for the foreseeable future. Chaos Theory defined is this: what appears to be chaotic is in fact a complex system, where a lot of micro changes are happening regularly, in a seemingly unpredictable way. Work on a global level is adopting these exact characteristics. We are on the edge of the most exciting period in history: we have within our grasp the ability to become human again.
I see work as a giant playground (check out my chaos theory talk). I have dedicated my life (and I plan to live to be 189 so we’re talking many years here) to seeing work transformed.
I want to live to see a world where humans are using their minds to transform the world, and where, in coexistence with AI and robots, they are able to make the world a better place for our children.
So, let’s go play … I have chaos, and some rocket fuel for you.