Convenient Work, Is This What You Do?
Modern conveniences have made many things, well, more convenient. Is your job becoming more about convenient experiences? Is convenient work what you do?
Many people wonder about the future of machine learning and A.I. (artificial intelligence). Will my work be eliminated or will people embrace newer forms of technology?
The easy answer to both is, “Yes!”
Embracing Technology is Convenient
Certainly, there will be resistors to technology change. However, when technology changes make things easier or more convenient it is likely that people will participate.
The Keurig coffee maker is one about convenience. It has been popular and embraced by many. Not everyone, but many.
Streaming video for home television entertainment? Embraced.
The smartphone. Embraced.
It doesn’t take long to recognize we’ve shifted to areas of convenience.
Modern travel is a great example. You could take a train from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to San Jose, California, but why would you?
You could write down directions to get a hotel two States away when driving in your car, or you might use a navigation device built into your car or through your smartphone.
Traveling by air you can print your boarding pass, or utilize a QR Code on your phone. Once on the ground at your destination you can hail a cab, schedule a Lyft, Uber, or perhaps a shuttle. Most will do this with a smartphone app. The more information you provide to the app, the better your experience will be.
Convenient Work
There are at least two sides to convenience. There is the side that makes it better for you when you participate and there is the side that means someone else may be getting squeezed out of the picture.
Receptionists were once popular. In fact, some could earn a decent living and meet a lot of people in the process. Today, many of these jobs have been eliminated or minimized by technology.
In many places the same is true for the toll both clerk, the gas station attendant, and the store checkout cashier.
Is the work that you are doing replaceable by technology? Will technology change our lives?
Yes!
Jobs will change because we’ll participate. We’ll participate because it is convenient.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
