Читать книгу Work Disrupted - Jeff Schwartz - Страница 20

Since the first maps were carved into cave walls in 16,500 BC, we have relied on these pictures and navigational tools to explore new terrain and make our way through the world.³³ Maps tell stories. Maps are knowledge. Maps provide context. As author Reif Larsen noted, “A map does not just chart, it unlocks and formulates meaning; it forms bridges between here and there, between disparate ideas that we did not know were previously connected.”³⁴ A road to the right, a river to the left, a steep drop ahead. As an avid traveler, I am in awe of the power of great maps to help us condense and visualize data so that we can take on complex routes and challenges, whether hiking up a mountain or finding our way to a new restaurant. Maps allow us to make more informed decisions.

Maps have kept me from getting lost countless times in the more than 75 countries I have visited and worked in throughout my life. I remember going on summer road trips with my parents, sister, and brother when I was growing up, flipping through a huge paper atlas map to help my father navigate unknown roads to new destinations. Today, GPS apps on our smartphones, from Google Maps to Waze, offer near-instantaneous options for getting from one place to another. They provide real-time information on traffic flows and accidents, rerouting us to keep us going safely and quickly in the directions we choose. Though we have mapped just about every corner of the physical world, we are just starting to map the future world of work.

This is a story about the value of mapping, the importance of direction setting, and the need to create new maps and mental models when traveling in unchartered terrain. We need to understand not only the path but also the changing conditions along that path. The 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster illustrates the tragic consequences of misjudging the conditions along a chosen route. Eight people perished while attempting to descend the mountain during a blizzard. After several unexpected delays, many of the climbers had not yet reached the summit by 2 p.m., considered the last safe time to turn around to reach camp before nightfall. By midafternoon, snow started to fall, and the light was diminishing. Soon, the climbers found themselves in a full-on blizzard. Visibility was reduced and fixed ropes were buried under snow. Some climbers developed frost bite, others fell unconscious.³⁵

Much as Sherpas did for me in traversing mountain paths and basecamps in the Himalayas, I hope to help you make your way through the noise and confusion surrounding the twenty‐firstcentury landscape of the future of work, jobs, and careers in a way that clarifies your options.

Lives were lost due to the sudden onset of a severe storm that caught the mountaineers by surprise and, perhaps most importantly, the decision to exceed the normal turnaround time back down the mountain. The climbers failed to realistically view the environment and their ability to change the forces of nature. My goal is to help travelers in the new world of work understand new routes and the changing conditions they are likely to encounter along the way. Your understanding of what's ahead and your choice of partners on your travels are critically important to your future success.