Bees at work (XXX). Research agenda in terms of work for the next 15 years. Elements of a new state-of-the-art working paradigm. Part 1
Holy Week, Easter week, Paques… Reflexional times. A week gifted to us by our employers, not just to paint eggs, enjoy vacations, and relax; but to reflect on ourselves, and what are we doing with our civilization. During Easter is good to ask ourselves questions. Questions as: Why do we want to change so drastically using the NAIQIs (All the combo of technologies associated with Nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Supremacy, and the Internet); or how do we conceive our societies in 50 or 100 years or more from now if we continue working 8 hours a day under the seclusion of technology? or why do we continue to do impulse technology changes without integral 360 degrees Design-Based Research for the future of work?.
This is the most relevant episode of the saga “Bees at work”. It will try to expose a bifurcated narrative that we hope will manage to unite masterfully the closing of three months of our work. We expect to link the bee’s life with our research agenda, which will show you at least the pertinent elements of a new state-of-the-art working paradigm.
Why is Eleonora Escalante Strategy categorized as a new strategy state-of-the-art theorist? Essentially, because of episodes like this one. If you have thought about us, and what we do; we define ourselves not as strategic consultants anymore, but as “strategy state-of-the-art theorists”. We have evolved from what we were, to who we are now. That shows us that we are always evolving for the most reasonable premises, under the guidance of Jesus Christ.
Many Ph.D. mentors from academics confuse the “state-of-the-art” definition as related to the most recent non-proved technologies or as a literature review. We are not doing any of that. We kicked off our bottom-line journey with a strategy ocean race, around five and a half years ago. At that time we published every single relevant strategy framework of analysis which are the theoretical foundations of how practitioners in the consulting industry were and are doing problem-solving for economic sectors or how are they applying them to solve business issues. That was our origin. Nowadays, what we do is to offer you a new theoretical foundation for the businesses and working of the future. It is up to you to reflect and think about it. We do a certain portion of the Design-Based-Research methodology up to the point in which we need to test our “state-of-the-art” hypothesis. So, it is in research that we have instituted our “state-of-art” content. Undoubtedly, a research agenda is the result of our reflections. Which need to continue to be examined from different contexts and views, by multidisciplinary academic teams, consulting practitioners, and please… slowly. It is better to go slowly than to ruin our future. We have recognized a well-documented journey during the last three months. Seriously enough material for research during a solid time frame of 15 years.
A new state-of-the-art working paradigm rationale. Our rationale is not just for sharing what we think, or to make money (we have not cashed one single absurd penny with our publications since 2016). We really want to cause you to ponder and think more about what we write, triggering that you take that seed in your mind, and do something about it. In the case of the “Bees at work” saga we really want to contribute to show you that the bees are in trouble, regardless they continue doing their honey collection and reproduction “as usual”, but the bees´ issues are the same problems humans have… with the difference that we as humans are causing the difficulties to the bees and ourselves. Therefore, we are responsible to change. In this saga, for a new working paradigm in the future.
Not repeating the cycle of sorrow again. Sincerely we don´t want the next generations to pass through the difficulties and working pains that we (as of Generation X) experienced in the developed world (Switzerland, New York, London) and in the developing economies (where I am located right now). We are writing sagas ignited by a profound sense of compassion and care for the youngsters that are living in an uncompassionate society. A civilization that despite all the degree of technologies to help us to do things, does lack human help to others. A civilization that is plagued with non-empathic leaders arising every day. I always ask myself, what type of society are the Generation X and Millennials leaving to the coming babies of the Alpha generation and beyond? And I am extremely disturbed when analyzing our global “working terms”. As Jess Love, editor in chief of the Kellogg Insight newsletter wrote “We live in a society in which if we have personally endured a hardship, we are less likely to show compassion for someone else who is enduring the same hardship. We may need to check ourselves”. I add, that we have to examine our hearts (feelings) and minds (thoughts) before proceeding with the NAIQIs-Giga era plan which is poorly defined and elaborated too.
In summary: Our rationale for writing “Bees at work” is based on a profound loving affection for those who are starting to work and the following heirs. We don´t want them to endure the inner suffering and adversities that we went through by working as we have done it (at least since I started to work, which occurred in the 90s). We don´t want them to experience what is to work between 90 to 100 hours per week, as soon as we joined an investment banking enterprise. We don´t want them to live the pains of the bees in their own skin.
The elements of a new state-of-the-art working paradigm. Eleonora Escalante Strategy has already unfolded a hypothesis: A possible 6 working hours a day hybrid employment scenario that may be a solution for all of us who wish to have an integral life for ourselves and our families. We have listed these elements using 15 different contexts. Our new state-of-the-art purpose for it must answer each and all the following questions per context, which are ultimate all the elements required to apply multiple and simultaneous DBR loops. We have supposed that this exercise will take us at least 15 years to be tested properly. Or a minimum of the sum of three consecutive Ph.D. periods: 5 years multiplied by 3: 15 years.
We will publish two parts of this episode: Today we will cover the questions that came to my mind for the first 7 backgrounds or perspectives: time-based, industry, technological, institutional-policy, social, organizational, and geographic. And tomorrow Friday we will continue with the next 8 contexts (special, cultural, political, environmental, ethical, financial, spiritual, well-being/integral).
Temporal or time-based: Scheduling differently: Are 6 hours of working time per day the perfect formula for any employee? In which industries and economic sectors can function? In which not? Is the reduction of working hours a feasible solution? For how long? Under what chronological conditions? Should we segment different numbers of working hours per age? Per status (if single or married or widowed)? Per gender (male or female)? Per number of kids in the household? Can we test different modalities of time schedules? Why? How? Why keep a record of the results? For how long? How many hours a day do represent a minimum of quality family time? What about creating progressive scheduling by different variables, including those that are related to climate? In which schedule the hybrid best alternative is a win-win for employers and employees? Have you observed that the bees have different working schedules depending on their role at the hive?
Industry type: How to be prepared for hybrid working formats per type of industry? In which situation works best? How to prepare a workload alternative that helps the most vulnerable industries by type of coming disaster? What type of future disasters will hit the most what type of industries and how? Are these disasters only related to biological events and climate change? Should we consider geological incidents, wars, and financial crises? How many working hybrid alternatives do we have per type of future disaster? Which working formats are more essential and need to have contingency plans per country? How do we perform different DBR loops in reality and test different working frameworks for each industry under each country’s standards? Why do we need to do DBR for each working hybrid, remote, and office model in each? Have you observed that bees do have specific working procedures that only apply to the type of work they perform?
Technological: Can we separate technological communications from the way businesses operate? If yes, how can we proceed? What type of effects is coming if we continue using social media to sell products and services? How to work from now and then in different scenarios of communication technologies (including social media) and disruptive tech? What about a regulation that helps us to stop the negative consequences which we are at the moment because of NAIQIs? Why does technology affect working? How to measure the consequences of working with NAIQIs technologies during the next 50 to 100 years from now? Which are the elements that need to change in Silicon Valley and other edge technological cities to reframe a working framework? Are tech venture capitalists promoting an unfair working perspective? Yes, or No? how to change it? Can Stanford University procure a new integral working setting for slowing down the tech industry? How to go back in time to pause technology development or to at least trigger a slow rhythm: is this the responsibility of the big 5 titans: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook (Meta)? Or is it a government move? do we have to include China and other countries? How to stop a lack of compassion when working with or in technology? Can we stop the cycle of repressed anger communications using social media? How do we measure the impact of NAIQIs on the working style of each employee? Have you observed that bees don´t need NAIQIs technologies to adapt to the difficulties of times?
Social: What is good to keep from the existing social media technologies that help us to be better humans with others? What is not good to keep? Why do we need social media? Can we wipe the current social media tech? How do we limit each of the social media existing platforms? Is this the solution? Why do we need to go back in time to the basic mobile phone of the 90s? Is this the solution to heal our solitary hermit lifestyle? Is social media convenient for our families? For my working style? For the future? How can we use the technologies to return to the moment in which families were social? Are you aware that bees are always social? No matter what, they keep their socialization always.
Institutional Policy: What does the government have to accomplish to help societies to work well? What type of working policies need to be explored and tested? Why does the government play a crucial role to align a hybrid working model in each country? How to test the best framework for working under a 6 hours/ day scenario? If we don’t change our current Smartphones to the 90s mobile standard, our society will continue with the problems that we have. Is a government policy the legal measure to handle a test?
Can governments offer different social free experiences that help humans to be happy again? NAIQIs have substituted the human experience of living, can governments help us to reverse the damage of the NAIQIs in our working routines? How? Have you realized that queen bees always have policies to respect? And they comply with the law of the hive for their survival
Organizational: In this segment, there are several questions that come up to my mind. Human resources must stop calling themselves such. They must switch to Talent Advisory Guidance. An organization will change if a hybrid working framework of 6 hours/day occurs. How do we help organizations thrive under it? What type of changes are immediate, medium-term, and long-term? Many organizations should be thinking ahead of time: How to stop Artificial Intelligence to destroy our business? How to discern which NAIQIs are paving the road to destroying my team and my employees? How can I stop them to come up? If I were the CEO of Mckinsey, Bain, and BCG let me tell you an experiment that I would enroll all my employees: I will test these organizations and keep a journal of what will happen in 2 months. The test would be: Remove the Smartphone from each and all employees for 2 months and provide a basic phone similar to the NOKIA GSM 900 / 1800 (1999). Reduce the work schedule to 6 hours a day. No working at home for a month. And the next month, a hybrid alternative or more. And see what happens. The organizational impact of the test will be revealing. No cheating, please.
Geographic: Are 6 hours/day hybrid working frameworks feasible all over the world? Yes? Or No? Which cities or towns or villages will be able to test this model first? Under which limitations and advantages? Can we apply this model to the top manufacturing country in the world, China? Can we measure the impact of this model on their populations? Will Chinese families benefit from a hybrid working model? Or not? What will happen if we apply our working model in New York? Or in the countries of Africa? What will happen in logistics? What about the difference between the supply of global inputs? What to do when geography is the key sustainable factor of working? What about working with a micro-community concept closed economy? What about working on our hypothesis in a global city like London, Geneva, or Dubai?
I will stop here. Of course, there are many more questions that will arise if we sit down with multidisciplinary teams and we see the future of working from the point of view of the employees and their families’ integral well-being. To see humans at the core requires changing all our books in which we studied management since the end of World War I. Can you perceive the transformation? So our research agenda in terms of the future of work for the next 15 years requires us to change all the premises and foundations of our management theories. It will take a while… We will continue tomorrow.
Strategic Music section.
Why did we choose Marcos Witt in our last publication?
Marcos Witt is an American Christian musician, singer, author of books, songwriter, pastor, and conference leader that travels a lot to share the message of “Intento ayudar a las personas a conocer a Jesús para que vivan mejor”. He has a vast experience on his shoulders: more than 30 albums, 5 Latin Grammy Awards, and two Billboard Awards, among others. If you wish to read about Witt, click here https://marcoswitt.com/biografia/.
We selected him among others because several years ago, he established a mission for his life, that has been perceived out of the 4 walls of his church. His songs are listened to by Catholics and separated evangelicals (Lutherans, Baptists, Assembly of God, Presbyterians, Methodists, and even Jews for Jesus) in between other many other Christian denominations. Witt´s music has closed the gap between the different Christo-centric denominations. His music has been a bridge of union so required in our times. It is impossible to attract non-Christocentric followers if the Church of Crist continues in the conflict between different denominations. Music is also a way to blend different groups in harmony, all coming together because of the son of God, Jesus who is our guide and example in everything we do, including businesses and working.
Songs for today belong to Justin Timberlake. We have chosen three videos for you: “Can´t stop this feeling” is the first one. “Mirrors” LIVE is the second one. And the last one is from his origins as a singer, when he was a member of the NSYNC group, “This I Promise You”. Enjoy!
See you later, blessings, and thank you for reading to me.
Sources of reference used for this publication. None.
Disclaimer: Illustrations in Watercolor are painted by Eleonora Escalante. Other types of illustrations or videos (which are not mine) are used for educational purposes ONLY. Nevertheless, most of the pictures, images, or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
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