Knowledge workers are yesterday’s hot commodity
We have moved past the Information Age – the knowledge worker is yesterday's hot commodity. I read a book over my 4th of July break that crystalized something that I had been on the verge of realizing for a while. In A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future Daniel Pink argues that we've mastered the Information Age and today's top thinkers need to add creativity to their work. They need to see big picture (he calls it symphony), add design, stories, meaning, empathy, and a sense of play to the things we are creating and communicating. Think about it. We have all the basics. All of our everyday needs are covered. Things are relatively cheap. I can buy a whole new outfit for my 10 month old for $4 at Walmart – that's half an hour of work at minimum wage! I can buy a meal for even less. Most of us own more things than we know what to do with. (Just look at how the storage business is booming.) What we are looking for is experience and meaning – the experience of Starbucks over just a cup of coffee, designer furniture over just a table and chairs, luxury cars over one that just runs. Kathy Sierra's design blog has a huge following. And don't forget meaning. There's a reason Steve Pavlina's self development blogs is one of the highest earning blogs out there – people are looking to develop themselves and find meaning in life. A purpose.
Daniel Pink argues that we've mastered the Information Age and today's top thinkers need to add creativity to their work. They need to see big picture (he calls it symphony), add design, stories, meaning, empathy, and a sense of play to the things we are creating and communicating. Think about it. We have all the basics. All of our everyday needs are covered. Things are relatively cheap. I can buy a whole new outfit for my 10 month old for $4 at Walmart – that's half an hour of work at minimum wage! I can buy a meal for even less. Most of us own more things than we know what to do with. (Just look at how the storage business is booming.) What we are looking for is experience and meaning – the experience of Starbucks over just a cup of coffee, designer furniture over just a table and chairs, luxury cars over one that just runs. Kathy Sierra's design blog has a huge following. And don't forget meaning. There's a reason Steve Pavlina's self development blogs is one of the highest earning blogs out there – people are looking to develop themselves and find meaning in life. A purpose. Daniel Pink argues that in order to find that meaning and purpose we need to move into the Conceptual Age. We've valued attorneys and computer programmers and accountants – people who traditionally use "left brain thinking" to process information in a logical manner. Now we need to add "right brain thinking" to that. Computer programmers are often designers now – just check out any Web 2.0 application.
| Agricultural Age | Industrial Age | Information Age | Conceptual Age |
| (farmers) | (factory workers) | (knowledge workers) | (creators and emphasizers) |
| 18th century | 19th century | 20th century | 21st century |
I think open source software is enabling computer software developers to become computer software designers even faster than those that work on proprietary software. They are already their own product manager, design engineer and programmer all in one. They are free to add design elements in their own creative fashion. Open source software developers are already designers – they are already in the Conceptual Age.
