The Story of the Future of Work

By Jason Sosa | 2018-06-15 | Future of Work, AI, Community, Leadership

A three-part exploration of how AI, automation, and distributed teams are reshaping small-town America and what leaders can do to build a preferred future.

This piece consolidates a three-part series I originally published on Medium exploring the future of work, from the impact on small-town America to what a preferred future looks like.

The Impact on Small-Town America

When we talk about the future of work, the conversation tends to center on Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and other urban hubs. But the most profound impact of automation and AI will be felt in small-town America, the places where a single factory or employer often sustains an entire community.

Automation isn't coming. It's here. Self-driving trucks threaten 3.5 million trucking jobs. Automated kiosks are replacing cashiers. AI-powered diagnostics are changing healthcare delivery. For communities built around these industries, the disruption is existential.

The gig economy offers a partial answer. Platforms like Uber, Upwork, and Fiverr allow people to monetize skills without relocating. But gig work alone isn't a solution, it lacks benefits, stability, and often fair compensation. It's a bridge, not a destination.

The real challenge is retraining. Workers displaced by automation need pathways to new careers, and those pathways need to be accessible, affordable, and relevant. Community colleges, trade schools, and online learning platforms will play a critical role. But so will employers who invest in their people rather than simply replacing them.

Small towns have something cities don't: tight-knit communities where people look out for each other. That social fabric is an asset. The question is whether we leverage it or let it fray.

Building a Preferred Future

There's a difference between a predicted future and a preferred future. A predicted future is what happens if current trends continue unchecked. A preferred future is what we actively choose to build.

Building a preferred future requires intentionality in several areas:

Lifelong Learning

The idea that education ends at 22 is obsolete. In a world where skills have a half-life of five years, continuous learning isn't optional, it's survival. Organizations need to create cultures of learning where curiosity is rewarded and growth is expected.

This means investing in training, providing time for skill development, and recognizing that the most valuable employees are the ones who never stop learning.

Diversity as a Strategic Advantage

Diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. This isn't a politically correct talking point, it's backed by research from McKinsey, Harvard Business Review, and countless other sources. Diversity of thought, background, and experience leads to better decisions, more creative solutions, and stronger organizations.

Building a preferred future means actively creating inclusive environments where different perspectives are not just tolerated but sought out.

A Fail-Fast Culture

Innovation requires experimentation. Experimentation requires the freedom to fail. Organizations that punish failure get compliance. Organizations that embrace it get breakthroughs.

David Bowie said it best: "If you feel safe in the area that you're working in, you're not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting."

Community Vision

The preferred future isn't built by individuals alone. It's built by communities, groups of people who share a vision and work together to realize it. Whether that community is a company, a city, or an online network, the principle is the same: collective action toward a shared goal.

Every community has the ability to define its own future. The tools are available. The talent exists. What's needed is the will to imagine something better and the courage to build it.

The future of work isn't something that happens to us. It's something we create.

Originally published as a three-part series on Medium. Related: Old Rules vs New Rules for Work