Since the industrial revolution, everything we do has been timed by artificial (man-made) time to fit the production of a business. The rhythms and routines we’ve adopted were to suit the turning of the wheels of progress. We’ve been trained from school age to live our lives by these routines so that when we are adults, we can enter the artificial timing of commerce. The machine we’ve built has helped improve the standard of life for some and at the same time, many have abused others and the planet to achieve it. We’ve given up our freedom for the sense of security that a large corporation provides. As long as we show up to work, we get paid and can support our families.
This time has passed and is quickly disintegrating. There are much larger natural rhythms at play that we are unaware of until we can look back and can see what happened. We are at the cusp of a change that is creating an entirely new way of working that we are seeing glimpses of now. And we’re not going back to the way it was. We are entering the era of the Individual in 2027. COVID was a global shock that ushered everyone into this change. Looking back, we can now see the impact COVID made, and we tend to point to that as the ‘thing’ that forced us to change. While this is true, there is a much larger mechanism at play, and COVID was the shock that started the new beginning. BG5 is a system that predicted this change and has insight into what else is coming.
The biggest change is that individuals will no longer rely on large organizations or institutions that we've depended on for survival because we’ve grown past that. We no longer ‘need’ that security yet a majority of us may be afraid to walk away and step fully into our own power. This has been a theme in personal growth for decades now in preparation for this time. After 2027, it will be much more difficult for large organizations to hold their people together. There will be a natural downsizing and letting go of services the company isn’t really good at providing finding partners to work with to provide specific services. This coming together of many smaller organizations to provide services together is a theme that is already emerging.
The real shifts that need to happen for organizations to survive are:
- The Bargain is fading. The ‘you do this for me and I’ll give you X’ is already failing. Bargains are made and broken or ignored altogether. You offer someone a job thinking you’ve got that position filled and they don’t show up for work. This is a sign of these times. It’s no longer about the bargain. Now it’s about ‘how will doing this work help me feel fulfilled’?
- Shifting from ‘Playing the Game' to win to ‘Finding the Spirit’ in what you do. In other words, a business can no longer be only about making a profit and seeing who can make the most money. This is already shifting for pioneering companies to focus on the difference they can make in the world and people’s lives. This is a must to attract Millenials and Gen Z workers now and in the future. Creating a new culture for work is all about 'caring' for and about each other. People can no longer be viewed as a number or a role.
- Management is being forced to shift their thinking and practices from leading from the ‘top-down’ where a manager ‘controls’ their workers’ schedules and workload, to a ‘bottom-up’ approach, where the manager provides ‘service’ to their workers creating an environment that is flexible allowing workers to set their own schedules and do the work they are interested in. This requires more management agility and soft skills than ever before. This will likely cost more as it will require more resources and perhaps more part-time, or job sharing. Or it may mean more contracting for specific projects, time periods, or services.
What the people really desire now is their own freedom. Freedom to work at their own pace, doing the things they enjoy 'in the timing' that works for them. Almost like being retired and we’ll no longer have to put in 25 years in order to live this way. Setting your own schedule, doing what you want, when you want to, and committing your time and energy only to those things that really feed your spirit. This presents a scheduling nightmare for managers. It also requires that people get to know who they really are and what they really want so they can set clear boundaries. I can see AI emerging to help with scheduling and project management and perhaps this even becomes self-serve for workers. This requires working together so everyone gets their needs met and the business gets what it needs to thrive.
There will be chaos as we go through this change. It’s the exact opposite of what we’ve all been conditioned to do. Any transition or change brings out fear in people, fear of the unknown. What will it look like? How will that impact our bottom line? How does this change our industries? We are all connected and part of a much bigger puzzle. And we all have a role to play that is uniquely our own. We have been homogenized for generations to be what the larger group needed from us. Sacrificing ourselves for the tribe was the theme. There will be no need for that moving forward. Now we all must discover our own unique contributions so that we can add our perspectives and talents to the bigger picture.
Fear is natural and makes us smarter about how we go through this change. We can either let the fear consume us or use it as a signpost to help us move forward. Discovering who you really are and what you’re here to contribute is what a BG5 Consultant can help you with. This is for everyone especially leaders so you can know what you bring to the table and what you need your team to provide so you can function effectively.
We can also provide analysis services to look at how the people in your organization are being utilized. Are you getting the most from your people by allowing them to be themselves? Or are you still using the old model of stuffing people into pre-set roles that fit no one and limiting them thereby squashing their potential?
We can also provide analysis services to look at how the people in your organization are being utilized. Are you getting the most from your people by allowing them to be themselves? Or are you still using the old model of stuffing people into pre-set roles that fit no one and limiting them thereby squashing their potential?
