Profit is about sales - sales is about giving people what they want. At present, we have a populous increasingly lost in the data fog of economic war; there has been an increased focus on salesfolk to simply the message embodying their product or service, making it literally a no-brainer for customers to buy in.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in politics, where successful leaders flaunt 5-point plans and repeatedly regurgitate canned messaging. The same holds true for a whole generation of government relations consultants, encouraging their clients to be as simple as possible while at the same time trying to secure "the low hanging fruit" for those who pay their bills. "Give 'em the sugar" is the message - "they aren't interested in the meat."
On the employee side, however, the reverse is true. Employees in politics, as in a growing number of fields, are supposed to be masters of all trades; sales, product development, execution, project management, social media, keeping the boss happy, keeping the client happy, etc.
Employers are increasingly cycling through employees, using the three-month-contract like a speed-dating service. Even more cost-effective for their end has been the use of unpaid interns; you get the benefit of the date without having to buy 'em dinner.
How many of these employers are clear on what they're actually looking for? How many criteria do voters consider in choosing the candidate or Party that gets their vote?
We keep telling ourselves that the details don't matter - whether we're a consumer or a voter or an employer, we want what we want and it's up to those we're paying to do the heavy lifting. If they can't, we'll move on to someone else. If they can't, we'll rinse and repeat the process. When top-rung folk keep finding that employees aren't playing by their rules, or voters aren't behaving the way they want them to, they can grow despondent, get mad at the other party and fume about how kids these days "don't get it."
Meanwhile, smart employers are adapting the rules of the game to be a bit more inclusive and supportive of those who would work for them. Ongoing training, work and workplace design and a bit of individual brand-building are all part of that package.
As is the case with any adaptation curve, there will be those that innovate new employee engagement practices, those that recognize they need to catch up and those who refuse to accept that the world has changed. Those who fail to adapt will find themselves going the way of horses and bayonets.
The Industrial Economy relied on cookie-cutter functionality; knowledge was the purview of a select few at the top, making the decisions for their employees and for society. The Knowledge Economy, surprise surprise, relies on more knowledge and decision-making ability in the hands of a larger demographic.
It's an old story, but definitely one worth reading carefully. After all, the devil's in the details.
FURTHER READING:
Trainingpedia: The Future of Life-Long Learning
Cognitive Labour: The Mechanics of Innovation
Cognitive Labour: An Idea Going Viral
Mental Health, the Knowledge Economy and the Cognitive Labour Movement
Cognitive Labour in the Classroom
Life-Long Learning: Managing the Future
Mapping the Future of Government Services
This is What Creative Destruction Looks Like
Conscious Capitalism: The Future of Business
The Conscious Revolution: Peering Into the Looking Glass
IR #4: The Conscious Revolution
There's plenty more - I'm a prolific writer. I'm hardly the only one painting this picture of what tomorrow looks like, though; it's worth your while to take some time, look around a bit, see where the other strands are and how they're starting to connect.
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