The Irish-born, London-based author spoke last on the concluding day of the AdAsia 2003 congress
Social philosopher, management scholar, best-selling author and radio commentator Charles Handy is an influential voice worldwide. One of the first to predict the massive downsizing of organisations and the emergence of self-employed professionals, Handy has a gift for looking 20 years ahead at ways society and its institutions are changing. The Irish-born, London-based author spoke last on the concluding day of the AdAsia 2003 congress.
Charles Handy explored the way in which the world of work is changing and in the new order what the thoughtful individual's choices and responsibilities should be.
His whole contention was based on the proposition that companies - as well as individuals in their personal capacities - should take the second turn in their lives before the first one peaks. To explain his vision he proceeded to describe the new world ahead of us - one driven by what he described as Donuts, Rowing Eights and Fleas.
He said we are leaving behind an era of institutions and employees and entering a more fluid world of independence, partnerships and coalitions. The first type of structure could be loosely described as a Donut, comprising a core set of people in the middle who drive the organisation as a central force. The Rowing Eight was akin to a boat rowed by eight people with a leader at the helm. The analogy to a boat was to drive home the point that this system would reward individuals who understood and coordinated between themselves so well that communication itself was unnecessary.
Handy expects that in the future, people will have shorter and more careers, and they will do more part time work and volunteer work. More people will work independently in small businesses where they contract out their services to larger organisations. More workers, especially women, will work from their homes. In short, more and more individuals will spend more of their lives as fleas, or as members of flea organisations.
With the move toward more self-employment and more work from the home and away from the organisation, comes more choice and more responsibility, for both worker and employer. Their challenge is the need to manage their own work and lifestyle to define what success and 'enough' might mean for them when more choices are open. In the new world order, if we may use the term, large organisations will have to rethink their structures and the their relationships to these fleas, he said.
An interesting insight thrown up by Handy was "Money is correctly called compensation - compensation for not living your life the way you want to". He rounded off the discussion by saying that many such people, who have worked a large chunk of their lives as salaried employees would perhaps discover a new life when they are old, when their family responsibilities and responsibities to their workplaces are over. This, he promised, would be the subject on his forthcoming book. © 2003 agencyfaqs!
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