The Future Of Work Podcast With Jacob Morgan | Futurist | Workplace | Careers | Employee Experience & Engagement |

Artificial Intelligence is not a new concept. Actually, it has been around for thousands of years and you can see representations of the concept throughout history starting with Jason and the Golden Fleece. Did you know that the concept of Artificial Intelligence has been around for thousands of years? One of the first representations of AI in history shows up in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Jason had to travel to get the golden fleece and along the way, he had to battle it out with Talos, a huge non-human man made of bronze. Representations of AI also appear in Judaism and Chinese, Greek and Indian Philosophy. The concept has been around for a very long time. Now we have things like Siri and Alexa and it shows that AI is part of our human nature to want something that is higher and greater than ourselves. There is a quote from Pamela McCorduck that states, “Artificial Intelligence began with an ancient wish to forge the gods”. And that “ancient wish” is still around today. But, what happens when our

This week I am joined by Ragu Gurumurthy, the Chief Innovation and Digital Officer at Deloitte. Today we are talking about a hot topic--digital transformation. What it actually means, what it looks like to be a digitally transformed company, what skills are needed to achieve transformation and much more. Ragu actually authored a report on this topic back in March of this year titled, Pivoting to Digital Maturity: Seven Capabilities Central to Digital Transformation. In our discussion you will also hear Ragu talks through the seven digital pivots mentioned in his report and why they matter.  Ragu Gurumurthy is the Chief Innovation and Digital Officer at Deloitte, the world’s largest professional services company with 240,000 employees around the world. Ragu has been with Deloitte for over 13 years. Prior to that, he worked at companies like T-Mobile, Morgan Stanley, and AT&T.    In March 2019 Ragu authored a report titled, Pivoting to Digital Maturity: Seven Capabilities Central to Digital Transformation

Over the years I have heard many different definitions of leadership. One person might say that a leader is someone who has followers. Another person might say a leader is someone who has a clear vision and inspires others to move towards a certain goal. Someone else might say a leader is a person who is trustworthy, who acts with integrity and treats people well. Everyone’s definition of leadership is different because it is a very subjective thing. What is your definition of leadership? After you define your view of leadership, look around, you might unexpectedly find people around you who meet your criteria.

My guest this week is Omar Hatamleh, the Chief Innovation Officer, Engineering at NASA and Executive Director of the Space Studies Program at the International Space University. In today’s discussion, you will hear how Omar has seen NASA change over the last 21 years, how they plan to use technology like 3D printing and AI in the future, and his thoughts on which technologies are overhyped. Omar also gives us a sneak peek into how NASA works including how they tackle problems, how they build effective teams and deal with failure, and how they focus on creative thinking.    Omar Hatamleh is the Chief Innovation Officer, Engineering at NASA and the Executive Director of the Space Studies Program at the International Space University. He is the former Deputy Chief Scientist Ames and he has been with NASA for the past 21 years.    Over his 21 years at the company, he has seen a lot of things change. Back at the time of the Apollo program, the whole environment at NASA was very competitive as several nations were

I’ve had a rule for myself that I have practiced for several years. The rule is to do one thing every year that I didn’t do the year before. Some examples of new things I have implemented over the years are my podcast, my future in 5 video series and my online courses. Following this rule has allowed me to build up my personal brand and it has set me apart from anyone else in this space. It is important to note that this one item per year needs to be something fairly big, you can’t decide to do something for one week out of the year and expect results. It needs to be something major that become foundational elements in how you think and work. This is a rule that anyone can implement, whether you are a freelancer, an executive, or an employee. So what one thing are you going to do this year that you did not do last year?

Abe Greenspoon is the Program Lead for Canada’s Free Agents, a Government of Canada program launched in 2016 that proposes a new model for workforce mobilization. Abe has been in the public service of Canada for about 10 years.    The idea of creating a more autonomous, mobile workforce first came from a report released in 2012 from Deloitte. The report looked at how the government might reorganize itself to better respond to problems of the future and it proposed a concept of a cloud-based workforce based off of the IT cloud computing.    Essentially they have a group of workers in a database “available to do project-based work, move around the organization, solve problems, return to the cloud when they weren't needed anymore, and then just continue on to different projects.”   So when a position opens up, Abe and his team advertise for it within public service and those who are interested can apply. Abe says that this new way of flexible work has created greater employee satisfaction and better career decis

Amber Grewal is the Chief Talent Officer at Intel, a company with over 107,000 employees in 36 countries around the world. Prior to Intel Amber was the Corporate Vice President, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at IBM and the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at GE. Some of the major trends Amber is paying attention to at the moment are:   The pace at which technology is growing and changing The change in the average span of a company, which is now around 15 years and how to survive beyond that  The growth in the gig economy The desire of employees to know they are doing meaningful work and making an impact Working with a multi-generational workforce    All of these trends are driving Intel to make changes internally and they are directing Amber to figure out how to evolve HR in order to address these challenges. At Intel, they have quite a few programs that their employees can take advantage of. One of these programs is called Freelance Nation that launched in 2014 which gives employees more fle

The term, “perpetual learner” has been thrown around a lot recently and while it is important to learn how to learn in today’s fast pace of change, the concept is not something new. We have always had to adapt throughout history, but the difference is now we have to be Super Perpetual Learners. There are a lot of organizations and leaders talking about the concept of becoming a perpetual learner these days. I have spoken about it many times. But the truth is, this is not a new concept. All throughout history we have had to adapt personally and professionally to new technology, new processes, new policies, etc...We have always had to be perpetual learners. The difference now is that we have to be SUPER perpetual learners. The pace of change in our time is much faster than it has ever been in history. So now it is not just about learning to learn; it is about being a perpetual learner in a quick, applicable and frequent way.

Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri is the Chief Human Resource Officer at TPG, one of the world’s largest private equity investment firms. Prior to moving to TPG, Anilu was the Chief Diversity Officer and Global Head of Talent Development at Goldman Sachs.  Anna Edwin, is the Global Head of Talent Development at TPG and she  works very closely with Anilu. Prior to TPG Anna was the Head of Global Leadership Development at BlackRock and VP Human Capital Management at Goldman Sachs.  Anilu is actually the first ever CHRO at TPG and she is enjoying being able to shape that role. She says the firm has gone through several different evolutions of paying attention to its people, but they are now at a place where they are ready to have a specific team in place to intentionally create these experiences to set TPG apart from all other organizations.  Some of the programs, benefits and perks that they are currently working on include:   Updated parental leave that gives 12-18 weeks for primary care and 2-4 weeks for secondary care t

We have come to understand that in order to attract and retain the best talent in the future of work, organizations must create a workplace where people want, not need, to show up to work. But in this effort to create great employee experience, we can sometimes get sidetracked with focusing solely on perks and benefits. While perks and benefits can be very beneficial to employees, it can also be dangerous. There is a term in psychology known as the Hedonic Treadmill, also known as the Hedonic Adaptation. This is a tendency in humans that has been observed which shows that we quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes. What does this mean for organizations implementing the latest and greatest perks and benefits at the drop of a hat? Well, it means we adapt to our surroundings quickly. So, let’s say your organization implements a new policy stating that there will be free food everyday and every Friday is bring your dog to work day. You may

Chetan Dube is the CEO at IPsoft, an American multinational technology company which primarily focuses on Artificial Intelligence. IPsoft has just over 2,000 employees in 15 countries.  When you think of AI you might remember an experience you’ve had with a chatbot when trying to contact a company in order to ask a question, make a return, or purchase an item. Most of our experiences with chatbots are extremely frustrating and commonly end with us screaming “agent” into the phone. But IPsoft is working on solving this problem.  Chetan says the problem is the average IQ of the chatbots and virtual assistants is around that of a 5 or 6 year old human. How can you expect great customer service from a five year old? You can’t. So what IPsoft is doing is studying the human brain and finding ways to mimic the human hippocampus, ways to make chatbots and virtual assistants more flexible and able to read a customer’s mood.  So where are we now in the grand scheme of things being able to recreate human intelligence in

If I were to ask you, when was the last time you spent time or money on creating an experience for yourself, what would the answer be? Most likely, the answer would be a few weeks ago, a few days ago, or maybe even earlier today. Experiences are genuinely human things, we care about them a lot. Experiences are connected to our thoughts, emotions and memories. Think back to a big moment in your life, perhaps it was when you bought your first house, the day you graduated from college, the birth of your first child, or the first day in a new job. I bet you can remember the emotions you felt and the things you were thinking. Were you happy, sad, excited, angry? Our experiences have a huge impact on us and they shape our relationships with others. With experience being that influential, you can see why it is so important for organizations to create positive experiences for their people. It will impact the relationships between your people and management, each other, the organization and the brand. So, what kind of

Cameron Hedrick is the Chief Learning Officer at Citi, a 200 year old financial services company with around 200,000 employees in 100 countries. Cameron has been with Citi for 16 years and prior to that he worked at Fidelity for over 7 years.  As Chief Learning Officer at Citi Cameron is responsible for the performance rating system inside the organization, defining the corporate culture, and of course the learning platforms.  Citi is addressing a lot of key issues including climate change, urbanization, AI and automation, changing demographics, and plenty of others. Some of these issues may make sense for an organization to focus on, such as AI and automation, but how does climate change and urbanization affect Citi and other organizations? When it comes to urbanization Citi realizes that there is currently a higher concentration of people in big cities--New York, Chicago, LA, etc… and so in the past a lot of companies have focused on putting headquarters there to draw in the best talent. But what Citi has r

In the past when we thought about work we mostly thought of it as a job where we put in our time and then we make money to pay the bills. But the mindset around work is shifting and work is much more than just a paycheck. Now work is more about a sense of self, identity, and purpose. The impact that our work has on our customers, our communities and the world gives us a reason for being. People aren’t picking jobs for just salary anymore, they want to feel as though their work has meaning. What are you doing as an organization to account for this new way of thinking about work? Are you still thinking about job openings in your organization as a position to fill with a warm body who has decent skills? Or are you thinking about how someone can use that job to bring meaning and purpose to their life and how they will be able to impact the world around them within that role?

Haenim Sunim is the bestselling author of Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection and The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World. He is also a monk and a Zen Buddhist teacher. Haemin was born and raised in South Korea and moved to the US when he was 18 to study at Berkeley, Harvard, and Princeton. While he was working on his Master’s degree program he went back to South Korea and received the proper monastic training there.    He has over 1 million followers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. His first book sold over 3 million copies and he has taught Asian religions at Hampshire College in Massachusetts for seven years.   In our society today people always seem to be so busy. We get burnout, stressed, overworked, overwhelmed. Haemin believes it is because we are goal driven, striving to get the end result as quickly as possible, and we aren’t taking time to enjoy what we are doing. We have lost the joy of living and working.

In Psychology there are two ways of thinking; System 1, which is a fast, intuitive way, almost like a gut reaction and then there is System 2, which is a more conscious, purposeful way of thinking. A lot of times in our organizations we tend to make decisions about our people initiatives and employee experiences in a System 1 type thinking. We react quickly, we don’t think about it too deeply, we just do something for the sake of saying we did something. We need to take a step back and be more conscious about our decisions around our initiatives to understand what we are doing and why. We need to act in a more mindful, purposeful way instead of reacting in a knee-jerk fashion. Our initiatives will be much more effective and successful if we can change our way of thinking.

  Christy Gillenwater is the President & CEO of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. Christy has been in the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development field for over 20 years, mostly in various cities throughout Indiana. She moved to Chattanooga in 2017. Chattanooga is the first city to be twice named Outside Magazine’s “Best Town Ever” and it was recently ranked one of U.S. News’ Best Places to Live.    What does a Chamber of Commerce actually do? Christy shares that while every chamber has differences, one of the main focuses they all share is “the economic prosperity of their geographic region, so whether that's the county, their city, or a multi-state, multi-county area, they focus on making sure that their existing businesses can grow, thrive and prosper, that those companies have the talent they need to meet existing and future customer demands. They really think about and partner with their elected leaders, and business leaders, around what does their community need to continue to grow and diver

Looking around at the world today it is so easy to get down, be negative, give up hope, and have a bad attitude. But in order to be successful in this new world of work it is crucial to be optimistic. We have to be positive, otherwise we lose our desire to take action and move forward. So how can we be more optimistic when things seem to be so dark and crazy all around us? One thing we can do is to focus on the things we are grateful for. Come up with a list of 5 things each day that you are thankful for and think about those when you are stressed or overwhelmed. We can also think about what impact we can have and things that we can do to for our family, our community and our organizations that can make a difference. And maybe we need to limit the time we spend on social media or the time we spend watching or reading the news. It may seem like a challenging thing to do, but it is so important to our success, in work and in life, that we be optimistic.

David Epstein is the author of two top 10 New York Bestselling books, The Sports Gene and Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, which is the topic of today’s discussion. David has a fascinating and very diverse background that led him to write both of these books. David has a Master’s degree in environmental science and journalism. While he was in college studying to be a scientist he was also a competitive runner. When one of his teammates died in a race, David decided to merge his interests of science and sports together to figure out what happened and why extremely fit athletes can suffer sudden cardiac arrest. While investigating the disease he ended up writing for Sports Illustrated. During his time at Sports Illustrated he wrote about things like the only living Olympian to have survived a concentration camp and the revelation that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was using steroids. He was also asked to speak at a conference about sports development where he and Malcolm Gladwell,

We tend to talk about technology as if it is its own entity that has its own mind, mission and agenda. “Technology is going to replace our jobs, it is going to get out of hand, it will take over the world!” But the truth is we have control over technology, it is our choice how we use it. We can decide whether we want technology to replace us or augment us. There are already a lot of great organizations, like Accenture, Amazon and McDonald’s, making the conscious decision to use technology to augment their people. Technology is a tool, how are you going to use that tool? Are you going to let it replace jobs, or are you going to find innovative ways to use technology to help your people get their work done?