the great pivot: to do meaningful work
TRANSCRIPT
The Great Pivot:
Freeing People
to do Meaningful
Work
Dan SmolenThe Green Suits, LLC
October 23, 2017
The State of
the American
Workforce
• BLS 9/2017: 4.2% rate
of unemployment
best since
11/2007…BUT
• Gallup Good Jobs
Rate remains low
44.7%
• 30-40% of workforce
in Gig Economy
• Broken ‘Social
Contract’
• 21.9% of workforce is un/underemployed (ShadowStats 9/2017)
• 1:6 men 25-54 out of work (Financial Times 9/2016)
Outsourcing +
Displacement
• 2013: 14 million jobs
moved offshore (Bureau
of Economic Analysis)
• 2013-15: 3.2 million
workers displaced, 66%
found new work (BLS)
Employee
Disengagement
• Gallup poll: only
31.5% of
employees are
engaged at work
• BLS: Median
tenure: 4.2 years,
but only 2.8 years
for 25-34 segment
Drop in Union
Representation• Economic Policy
Institute: Unionized
male workers: 34%
(1979) vs 16% (2017)
• All male worker
earnings in 2013 would
have been 5% higher
had union membership
remained at 1979 levels
The Gig Workforce
• McKinsey: 30% of US
workforce (47 million)
• A need or a choice?
Automation• PwC Study (2017)
McKinsey (7/2016): 45% of work that people do will be automated
1. Self-Transcendent
2. Poignant
3. Episodic
4. Reflective
5. Personal
Meaningful Work
Source: MIT Sloan Review, Bailey & Madden
(6/2016)
Changing Work
Motivations
LESS SO:
Money, Title, Status
MORE SO:
Challenge, Purpose, and a
Life (not consumed by work)
• Pew Research (1/2017): 92 percent of respondents describe
American Dream as Economic Stability, not Upward Mobility
• 55 percent struggle with monthly cash flow (B/E or negative);
41 percent cannot weather major emergency expense
• Broken ‘Social Contract’
The American Dream Has Changed
• Freed from quest for upward mobility, many shall seek work
to DO WELL but also DO RIGHT (Meaningful Work)
The American Dream Has Changed
The Great Pivot to
Meaningful Work
Has Begun
1. Self-Transcendent
2. Poignant
3. Episodic
4. Reflective
5. Personal
Meaningful Work
Source: MIT Sloan Review, Catherine Bailey,
PhD & Adrian Madden, PhD (6/2016)
Meaningless Work
1. Disconnects workers from their values
2. Takes workers for granted
3. Pointless
4. Unfair treatment
5. Disempowered and disenfranchised
6. Isolates, marginalizes workers
7. Physically and emotionally harmful
Source: MIT Sloan Review, Catherine Bailey,
PhD & Adrian Madden, PhD (6/2016)
• Millennials (majority of
workforce) seek purpose more
than paycheck
• Preference growing among Late
Boomers, Gen X, as well
• Plurals will pivot into meaningful
work
‘Four Gen’ Appeal
• Lowered barriers to entry for meaningful work
• More talent becoming eco-entrepreneurs
• Gig work becoming more of a choice than a
necessity
‘Four Gen’ Appeal
High-Opportunity Sectors to Scale
Economy + Create Meaningful Work• Gap Analysis: some jobs don’t need more workers
(e.g., full-time corporate sustainability managers)
• Create work in sectors with established proof-of-
concept
• Empower people with good project management skill
Sector #1: Net-Zero Energy (NZE)
and Water• Residential/commercial building retrofits
• Emergency solar micro-grids
• Water infrastructure/wastewater reclamation
• Residential/commercial building retrofits
• Emergency solar micro-grids
• Water infrastructure/wastewater reclamation
Sector #2: Mobility as a Service (MaaS)• Electric vehicles + charging infrastructure
• High-speed rail
• Commuter rail
• Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
• Pedestrian + bicycle-friendly infrastructure
• Biofuels/ hydrogen/ batteries
Sector #3: Circular Economy• Paper/plastic/metal recycling
• Tool-lending libraries
• Biomass collection/processing
• Remakeries
Sector #4: Regenerative Agriculture
and Food-Waste Mitigation
• Grow/sell more LOCAL FOOD, scale community gardens
• Establish food hubs (eliminate inner-city food deserts)
• No-till farming/carbon sequestration/soil conservation
• Market/process UGLY FOOD
• Feed needy with leftover restaurant food
Sector #5: Ecosystem Restoration
• Urban reforestation
• Wetland protection
• Pollinator programs
• Native wildlife reintroduction
• Urban reforestation
• Wetland protection
• Pollinator programs
• Native wildlife reintroduction
Meet the New
Job Creators
• Agents of the Great Pivot to Meaningful Work
• Reinventing the idea of work as a positive part of one’s daily life
• Designing and creating meaningful work role for themselves
• Financing, promoting meaningful work for others
• Helping people and planet, promoting workforce policy
• What environmental problem are you trying to solve +
what is your favorite sustainability topic?
Question #1
Question #2
• If you could start a project that would create 10 meaningful
jobs, what would it be?• Creating tool lending libraries in 5 towns
• Installing solar on low-income housing
• Doing net zero energy retrofits on commercial buildings
• Planting trees on deforested land + selling carbon sequestration services
Question #3• What are the costs of the problem you are trying to
solve + what are the benefits of your chosen project?
Mobility as a Service
Costs Benefits
Vehicle: car payments, gas, insurance,
maintenance, repairs, licensing
Save money
Productive time lost in traffic congestion More productive workforce, emotional health
Health costs from air pollution Reduce health care costs
Disruption of climate change Stable climate
Question #4
• Who are the beneficiaries + potential benefactors of
this work?
Planting Trees and Selling Carbon Sequestration Services
Beneficiaries Benefactors
Humans Fossil fuel companies
Future generations Auto manufacturers
Environment Government
Question #5• Who should fund this project, which financial instrument
would you use + what level of funding is needed?• VC, bank, government, individual company, family + friends, public
• Seed funding, grants, referendum, loan, microloan, crowdfunding
• Level of funding required to create 10 jobs
Craft a 3-Minute Pitch• What is the problem your project will solve?
• What is your proposed project?
• What are the benefits?
• How many jobs will be created?
• What is the investment + return on investment (financial,
social benefit)?
• National average Wage Index (2015): $48,100
• Employ 10% of un/underemployed (3.5 million workers) in
meaningful work opportunities
• Raise earning power of US households by over $168 billion!
Meaningful Work: A Game-Changer
• Impact on un/underemployed would be significant
• Increased life-expectancy, reduced impact on healthcare
• Reductions in criminal behavior, recidivism
Meaningful Work: A Game-Changer
Meaningful Work: A Game-Changer• We need a new ‘Social Contract’
• Benefit portability
• Stronger, reimagined stakeholder table
• And we must all become activists for positive change
The Great Pivot: Freeing People
to do Meaningful WorkA book by Justine Burt & Dan Smolen
(Summer 2018)
Photo & Image Credits
1. BizJournals.com; Galveston, Texas Lyft Driver; accessed October 22, 2017
2. Burt, Justine; Rooftop Solar Project; April 15, 2017
3. Burt, Justine; Ugly Produce; accessed May 1, 2017
4. EdinburghRemakery.co.uk; Edinburgh Remakery; accessed April 30, 2017
5. Getty Images; American Flag composite; April 30, 2017
6. Getty Images; Automation; accessed May 1, 2017
7. Getty Images; Farm Field; accessed May 1, 2017
8. Getty Images; Forest; accessed October 20, 2017
9. Getty Images; Four Millennials at a Work Table; accessed October 20, 2017
10. Getty Images; Gardeners; accessed April 29, 2017
11. Getty Images; Gig Worker on Bike; accessed April 29, 2017
12. Getty Images; High Speed Rail; accessed April 30, 2017
13. Getty Images; Job-Seeker with Robots; accessed May 1, 2017
14. Getty Images; Laid off Executive; accessed April 30, 2017
15. Getty Images; Man Behind Work Truck; accessed May 1, 2017
16. Getty Images; Man Gazing at Lower Manhattan; accessed May 3, 2017
17. Getty Images; Man Pushing Rock Up Hill; accessed October 20, 2017
18. Getty Images; Man, Woman, Young Child in Field; accessed October 20, 2017
19. Getty Images; Picketing Hotel Workers; accessed April 29, 2017
20. Getty Images; Recycled Bottles and Cans; accessed October 20, 2017
21. Getty Images; Young Latina; accessed February 12, 2016
22. Getty Images; Woman in Stress; accessed May 1, 2017
23. Getty Images; Woman with Alarm Clock; accessed October 20, 2017
24. Getty Images; Woman Woodworker; accessed May 1, 2017
25. Keefe, Bob; People’s Climate March, Washington, D.C.; April 29, 2017
26. ShadowStats.com, September 2017 Unemployment Graph, accessed October 17, 2017
27. Smolen, Dan; Honeybee/Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Composite, May 19, 2013
28. Smolen, Dan; Eagle Beach, Aruba; March, 2015
29. Smolen, Dan; Sir Richard Branson at People’s Climate March, Washington, D.C.; April 29, 2017
30. Smolen, Dan; Vader Piet Wind Farm, Aruba; March, 2015
31. USGBC.org; LEED building; accessed April 30 2017