Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #149
How differently should we think about work?
I enjoyed reading this piece by Daniel Miessler.
I can’t say that I agree with all of it, but I do find it an interesting thought experiment about what work means for the knowledge-based economy.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. For each issue, I’ll share information about careers and workplace culture, mental health in the workplace, talent development, and important information about privacy, security, and legal tech.
You can find out all about me here - Mike McBride Online.
To summarize (poorly), Daniel argues that any business's ideal number of employees is zero. If they could do the work necessary to sell what they offer customers without hiring anyone, that’s the least expensive option. They only hire other people to do the work they can’t do themselves, but as AI takes over more and more of that work, they will hire fewer and fewer people.
It’s not that AI is as good as you; it’s cheaper and less complicated, so if it can do some of the work they can’t do themselves decently enough, that is the direction the job market will head.
But he doesn’t think that’s a bad thing, necessarily. One, because those jobs suck anyway. Two, it opens up the possibility of everyone moving to create their own business because we can create and sell things ourselves, using AI to do the work we can’t do ourselves.
It is an interesting juxtaposition to those telling us that AI will create jobs instead of replacing people, which I think is wrong. It will be used to replace workers because more and more employers are looking to get the number of employees as close to zero as they can, and our economy is not designed or prepared to deal with that.
How can we get there when health insurance is tied to having a job, for example? If there were fewer jobs, there would be far more uninsured people. We must rethink everything we think about how work fits into our lives and culture. We aren’t ready to do that, and as much as I may not agree with Daniel’s optimism, I do agree that our current idea of work is about to be outdated.
The same corporations that designed the system to ensure we stay employees, tying healthcare, wealth, and even our sense of self to our careers, will also not hesitate to take that all away if it suits the bottom line. We’ve been watching it happen for the last few years.
We should be thinking about what that looks like going forward. What better time than Labor Day?
Careers and the Workplace
Domestic Violence as Workplace Safety
Imagine, if you will, a workplace where management knows an employee is trying to escape domestic violence and has a process in place to identify the person they are trying to escape from, prevent them from accessing the building, and notify law enforcement of a violation of a restraining order. Would that make a difference? Or do we remain clueless about the situation, let the violent partner into the building, and create a volatile situation right there? Because that's what we mostly do now. Almost nothing.
Of course, it’s still kicking. It’s too good not to. - Why remote work has staying power: It's 'still kicking,' economist says.
I’ve seen many attempted mentoring programs fail because no one ever defined what it meant to mentor or be mentored. Maybe read this first - The Art Of Mentoring And Paying It Forward.
Artificial Intelligence
Linked - At ILTACON, Anticipation for the Shiny Object
I think that nails it on the head for many of us. We see the possibilities, we are eager to see it do more, and we anticipate how our work world will change in the near future. On the other hand, we are seeing just a small part of what has been promised. We've been promised earth-shattering changes that haven't appeared yet. AI tools are being promoted as world-changers when all they do is help us accomplish some tasks a little quicker. That's nice, but that's not why the big tech companies and venture capitalists invest billions of dollars in the technology. They're looking for something else; we just haven't seen it yet.
You might as well use AI to help with the job search - How to use ChatGPT to write your resume.
This seems exciting and creepy simultaneously - Spellbook Launches Associate: ‘First Full-Fledged’ Legal AI Agent.
Training and Development
When you get a request for training, some red flags might indicate that the effort is doomed to fail: - When stakeholders request training: red flags to look for 🔺
Not having a change management process can be messy, so this makes sense - Mastering Change: How Effective Change Management Transforms Organization.
Mental Health in the Workplace
Linked - Is There A Mental Health Crisis In Digital Forensics?
It's a job. Even if you love your team, it's a job. When it no longer serves your life, you can leave. When it's overwhelming to you, you can take a break. If the rest of your team is overwhelmed because you took a day off or left shorthanded because someone left for a better job, that's management's problem. You didn't create this "do more with less" strategy around hiring. They did.
Linked - The 3 Most Kind Things You Can Say with Someone
"I believe in you."
"You make a difference."
"I appreciate you."
COVID forced me to get some rest. It should require that. - You Need an Off Day Too: The Power of Rest in a Busy World.
This article offers some interesting insights: Mental Health in the Workplace: Insights from CEOs and Gen Z on Mental Health Issues.
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
The photograph is now meaningless as evidence. We are not prepared.
Any eDiscovery post that uses the “what not to do” description will be a mess. This is no exception - eDiscovery Lessons for In-House Counsel: A Case Study in What Not to Do.
Speaking of things still kicking around and helpful - What Is RSS and What Can You Do With It?
I don’t know what to tell you if you're not using one. - The best password managers of 2024: Expert tested
That’s all, folks. If you found something interesting in this week’s newsletter, please share it with your friends. It’s the best way to help support the effort I put in each week to share this with you.