Ep 14: Mindset, Skillset, and Toolset for the Evolution of Work with Gary Bolles

Bob has an engaging discussion with Gary Bolles, Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University, author of the book, “The Next Rules of Work: The Mindset, Skillset and Toolset to Lead Your Organization through Uncertainty”, keynote speaker, lecturer, and many other roles. They talk about his extensive background, including the ‘family business’ and all his endeavors related to human potential, career development, and of course, the future of work. Bob and Gary discuss the challenges of finding the right balance between innovation and regulation. They hit on the automation maturity curve and the need for individuals and organizations to adapt and transform in the face of exponential change. Gary emphasizes the importance of mindset and culture in driving successful transformation. The conversation explores the concept of collective intelligence and the combination of human intelligence and AI. They touch on the importance of asking better questions and the evolving role of leaders in guiding teams. Gary highlights the need for organizations to embrace new models of social cohesion and education systems to empower individual learning. Lastly is a discussion on the responsible and fair use of AI and the need to develop AI literacy in education.

Keywords

future of work, AI, trends, regulation, innovation, automation, transformation, mindset, culture, collective intelligence, human intelligence, AI, adaptability, growth, team metrics, cognitive diversity, AIQ, education, AI literacy

Takeaways

• Exponential technologies like AI have the potential to bring both tremendous benefits and concerns.
• It is crucial to have a proactive approach to regulation and scenario planning to anticipate the impacts of new technologies.
• Automation is a continuum. Rather than focusing on job displacement, organizations should re-architect job roles and empower humans with technology.
• Successful transformation requires a growth mindset and a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.
• AI has the potential to augment collective intelligence by providing insights and sparking new ideas.
• Leaders should focus on asking better questions and empowering individuals to find solutions.
• Organizations should embrace new models of social cohesion to leverage collective intelligence.
• Education systems need to shift towards empowering individual learning and teaching AI literacy.

Sound Bites

• "Exponential technologies often follow an exponential curve and accelerate each other along that curve."
• "The concern with exponential technologies is that they tend to create outsized players and monocultures."
• "Automation doesn't replace jobs, it automates tasks. The decision to eliminate jobs is a human decision."
• "So long as we help them to be able to continually adapt and grow, then you're going to be much more likely to have the organization have that capacity."
• "We're still in very early days, especially with regenerative AI and large language models."
• "We will define the organization by its level of social cohesion."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

05:20 Exploring the Intersection of Trends and the Impact of AI

08:52 Finding the Balance Between Innovation and Regulation

16:28 Navigating the Automation Maturity Curve

25:10 The Importance of Mindset and Culture in Transformation

29:08 Adaptability and Growth

31:46 Augmenting Collective Intelligence with AI

35:12 Asking Better Questions for Insights

44:00 Rethinking Organizational Models

51:11 Empowering Individual Learning

Gary Bolles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbolles

The Next Rules of Work: https://www.koganpage.com/general-business-interest/the-next-rules-of-work-9781398601635

LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/gary-bolles

Singularity University: https://su.org

For advisory work and marketing inquiries:

Bob Pulver: https://linkedin.com/in/bobpulver

Elevate Your AIQ: https://elevateyouraiq.com