Work without Jobs by Ravin Jesuthasan and John W. Boudreau - Summary of some key arguments

Work without Jobs - How to reboot your organisation's work operating system by Ravin Jesuthasan and John W. Boudreau 

The central argument of Work without Jobs is that traditional 'jobs' should be 'deconstructed' into their underlying components, such as tasks and projects; with the complementary result that jobholders are seen in terms of their capabilities and skills.

This shift essentially would see the end to the 'job description'; and C.V.s would focus more on capabilities and skills, rather than experience in the form of educational milestones and previous job titles.

The approach 'requires fundamentally rethinking concepts like work, leadership, culture and organization' (p.ix)

"The new work operating system will require a profound change in the mindset and behaviour of leaders. It requires managers to think in terms of how tasks and projects are accomplished, not how jobs are organized." (p.100)

The authors employ the analogy of computer operating systems:

• The old, traditional Operating System - categorises work into job and jobholders into worker through an employment relationship. It is characterised by job descriptions, job hierarchies and job qualifications.
• The new Operating System - 'deconstructs jobs into their components and allows work to be perpetually reinvented by recombining those granular elements' (p.xi). It embraces a wider view of how work gets done embracing 'the gig economy' and 'alternative work arrangements' such as freelancers, contractors and volunteers (p.xii). 'The new world of work is one "beyond employment".' (p.xv)

Jesuthasan and Boudreau believe that this tradition OS 'is too cumbersome and ill-suited to the future.' (p.xi) and 'work systems (e.g planning, sourcing, choosing, assigning developing, engaging, rewarding) must evolve to reflect this new language of work'.

The authors propose that organisations break down their deparmental silos and develop internal platforms that allow talent to flow to work (such as projects) - effecting creating the opportunity for work to be done by anyone skilled to do it, be they brought in from outside the organisation (external gigs) or within the organisation ("inside gigs").

"The key is optimally and perpetually reinvent work by combining options such as the following: (p.xxx)

1. Talent in fixed roles with regular full-time employees.
2. Talent who flows to tasks and assignments - perhaps because their enabling capabilities are required in short-term specific burst by several different work processes (e.g. a freelancer or project-basd data scientist who moves between projects in marketing, HR and operations as needed.)
3. Talent who are in hybrid roles that are partially fixed because of work volume or skills dedicated to a job, but who can flow to specific challenges as needed (such roles often emerge from internal talent marketplaces where regular jobholders take on additional project work).

Impact of Automation

Jesuthasan and Boudreau acknowledge that automation has a significant part to play in the future of work. Their approach is summarised by the following four principles:

1. Start with the work (i.e. deconstructed current and future tasks) - not with existing jobs;
2. Combine humans and automation (not replacing one with the other);
3. Consider the full array of human work engagements (e.g. employment, gig, freelance, alliances, projects, other alternative work arrangements);
4. Consider allowing talent to flow to work (this might be facilitated by an internal or external platform).

Tasks need to be evaluated according to the skill level that is required - basic repetitive tasks should be autotmated; "below license " tasks that cannot be automated should an unskilled, gig or trainee worker where possible; leaving highly skilled workers to focus on "top of license" tasks. (p.139)

Implications for education (pp.127-33)

Jesuthasan and Boudreau touch briefly on the implications for education, whilst acknowledging that a full discussion of the implications on education is beyond the scope of the book.  The new Work OS "means shifiting from a focus on worker education as degrees to focus on deconstructed learning and capabilities." (p.127)

The authors advocate a much more flexible approach to learning, arguing for "stackable credentials" ("part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time and move an individual along a careerpath or up a career ladder.") See 'More students are stacking credentials en route to a degree' Wired June 2, 2020.

Drawing on the work of Evelyn Glanzglass of the Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success, they highlight that the following challenges need to be overcome for this to happen (p.130-32):

1. Create a common langue for workplace and educational credentials;
2. Develop a common system of the transfer (portability) and value of credentials between institutions;
3. Bridge silos between and within educational institutions;
4. Overcome the disconnect between credit and noncredit course offerings;
5. Provide financial aid for deconstructed credentials, not only degrees;
6. Optimize and integrate the mix of learning in traditional classrooms, online, and experience.

Squaring the Circle - The Greatest Educational Challenge

"One of the greatest challenges facing leading schools in this country is how best to prepare you, young people, for what is an increasingly competitive market place for top jobs. To some extent it was ever thus, but the difference between your generation and that of those of us who are parents is that you are competing in a truly global marketplace. You are not just competing with the best in the UK – you are competing with the best in the world. There are more A* and outstanding pupils in China than there are pupils in Britain, so if you are going to be the movers and shakers of the next generation then you will need to raise your game.

It is not so much “Berko’s Got talent” or even “Britain’s Got talent” – but it’s “The World’s Got Talent”. How will you compete? And how will your education here at Berkhamsted prepare you for that world? Britain has long since abandoned any pretence of having an economy based on making things. As Richard Sykes of Imperial College, formerly Chief Executive of Glaxo-Wellcome puts it:

 'We can’t compete against the manpower of India and China: we have to use our brains.' 

"Independent Schools like Berkhamsted have a long and distinguished history in producing world-class leaders in their various fields and they have an important role to play if UK PLC is going to remain competitive on the international stage. In the global employment market, you have a number of advantages – you are native speakers of the new global language and you have relatively cheap and easy access to some of the best universities in the world, but this is not enough – you need more – you need world-class schooling.

"The problem that we face in schools is that there is a growing dislocation between the standard school curriculum and the world of work. I believe that the exam system is the greatest obstruction to preparing young people for the world of work because it is completely out of kilter with what people actually do in the workplace. At no point in any job do people ever work alone, in silence, without technology or collaboration; and no one ever writes a handwritten essay. 

"Changes in working patterns and the increasing use of technology in business combined with subtle shift in our A-level system are making this dislocation even greater. In the past somebody who had a bit of flair could write an essay and be given an ‘A’ for it even if it was not the approach the examiner expected, because they had written it in an interesting way. But in recent years exam boards have tried to automate their marking processes and that approach has been drummed out of the system because examiners do onscreen marking with a checklist of all the key words which need to be there. The consequence is that we are coming up with a generation of people who are very accurate and don't make mistakes, but who also don't take risks. 

"So, at a forward-looking school like Berkhamsted we have to try to square the circle: we need to teach young people to pass examinations so that they can get the grades to gain places at top universities to have the start that we want them all to have in life; but we also need to nurture young people who can think for themselves, who are creative, who can solve problems, who can think out of the box, who can be an effective part of a team, who have passions and interests, who make connections, who are articulate, who are good with people, who have a sense of community and of service; and who, above all, develop the values that will enable them to make a difference in the world.

"Education is about so much more than passing examinations. It is not about cribs and shortcuts. It is about broadening the mind. It is about making connections. It is about abandoning the motorway and taking the scenic route. It is about making discoveries. It is about a deeper understanding that comes from really knowing something well. It is about kicking around ideas with like-minded people. It is about taking yourself out of your comfort zone. It is about taking risks. It is about taking time. I am not arguing this out of a romantic view of how education was in the past. I believe that these things are important for individuals and for us as a nation. Britain’s traditions in the creative arts, in science and innovation have been fed by an education system has led the world. Schools like these and our top universities have led the world by teaching young people to “think”. If all that teachers do is to teach to the exam, and if all pupils do is to learn what they need to know to pass the exam, then we are failing to educate. If we fail to educate, we will lose the Nation’s greatest asset. That is how we square the circle – that is the Berkhamsted vision for Education."

Part of my address at the Berkhamsted School Speech Day on Thursday 3rd July, 2014

Why go to University? MOOCs will change everything. Higher Education beware!

There are many reasons for going to university but, arguably the most important three reasons are:

1. To have a life experience: making the first steps to independence by living away from home, living with like-minded people.
2. To gain an Internationally recognised qualification, which will open doors into the job market.
3. To study - to learn skills and engage with a body of information.

British Universities have had it good for a long time, with successive Governments encouraging ever greater student numbers, but I suspect that the tide is about to turn. The arguments for going to university are not nearly as strong as they were in the past.

Going away to university is a luxury that not everyone can afford

There was a time when going to university was a privilege for a minority that was earned by gaining a good A-level grades and was paid for by the Government, who saw fit to invest in our 'brightest and best'. Those days are gone. Universities are now businesses operating in a competitive market place and they are far from free. According to the National Union of Students the true cost of being a student outside London is £22,189 each academic year (£10,133 for course costs £12,056 for living costs - for the full breakdown of these figures see the NUS website). Today's undergraduates are likely to leave university with £50,000+ debt (BBC Website: 'Average UK student debts 'could hit £53,000' 12/08/2011).

Going away to university to have a life experience increasingly is going to be an luxury that young people cannot afford. Although there is no evidence of this beginning to happen yet, it is likely that we will see more young people living at home, at least for part of their course.

Graduate Employment patterns are changing: almost half of recent graduates are working in non-graduate jobs:

According to the Office of for National Statistics, Graduates now comprise 38% of the adult population (up from 17% in 1992). The positive news is that graduates are more likely to be employed and less likely to be searching for work:

However this ignores a key factor that 47% of recent graduates are in employment, but in non-graduate roles:

The graduate employment market is increasingly competitive, with job prospects broadly being determined by the following three factors:

Whilst there remain significant rewards for those with First Class Honours (and even Upper Seconds) from top institutions, the reality is that a 2:2 in a Humanity from a middle ranking university will mean that your employment prospects are very limited. All of this begs the question if there will be any 'graduate premium' for a significant proportion of our university leavers, let alone whether or not it will be of a significant level to justify the investment of taking on the inevitable debt that will be incurred.

MOOCs will change everything

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are set to transform Higher Education. Imagine have Open University courses available free taught by the world's experts. The leading Universities around the world are making their courses (not just lectures!) available in online versions.  EdX brings some of the best courses from Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, McGill et al (full list of institutions here); Coursera a similarly distinguished body (full list of institutions here).  The following YouTube video gives a basic introduction to EdX:

At present the range of courses is limited, but it is only a matter of time before complete undergraduate programmes are available online.

MOOCs: Accreditation will be the battle ground of the next few years.

The only problem with MOOCs at the moment is that, although you can get a 'statement of accomplishment' for reaching the standard in each unit, the courses themselves are not accredited and don't count towards degrees. MOOCs are in effect the wedge that will separate a university's role as a provider of education and their function as a degree awarding institution. Hitherto these functions have been related - the university taught the course to its students, it examined them and it awarded them a degree. MOOCs change everything. MOOCs mean that an online student can do a course, learn the skills, assimilate the information and even be assessed. It rather begs the question why they can't be accredited for the work that they have done. 

FAQ from the Coursera course 'An Introduction to Financial Accounting'

We might even envisage a situation where a MOOC student has completed the first two years of a degree course online and then applies to transfer as a resident student into the third year of the undergraduate programme.  How will that university react?  How can it argue that the student hasn't reached the requisite standard? 

MOOC courses, Employers and Professional Bodies

A further complication is that employers or even Professional Bodies might accept MOOC courses, even though they are not accredited by Universities. Take, for example, the Coursera course 'An Introduction to Financial Accounting' taught by the University of Pennsylvania. Employers and the Institute of Chartered Accountants are likely to be more concerned that an applicant has mastered the principles of financial accounting than they have a shiny degree certificate. Indeed it is easy to see that they may be more impressed with the self-starter from a humble background who has shown the motivation to complete an online course over and above the resident undergraduate.

Conclusion The laws of supply and demand will hold sway and is that we are likely to see the top universities continuing to get stronger and the lesser universities falling by the wayside. I predict that

• there will be a flight to quality. Degrees from the top universities will always have a currency in the job market and there will always be sufficient numbers who will be willing to pay for that experience, education and qualification. Increasingly savvy students are likely to consider that it just isn't worth the debt studying esoteric courses or studying at lesser universities.
• increasing numbers of students will study living at home, perhaps going away to university for a year to have the experience
• an increasing minority will head to the big name universities in Europe which have lower entrance requirements (EE at A-level), lower fees (Universities are free in Germany) and which are increasingly offering courses delivered in English (in order to attract the Far East market). This is certainly the best option for the CCC candidate where the British alternatives are overpriced for the end value of the degree that they have to offer.

Accreditation of MOOC courses is going to be the real battle ground of the next couple of years and it is set to split Higher Education:  MOOCs pose no threat to universities who are in the top 50 in the world rankings. There will always be demand for these institutions' courses. Indeed these universities will drive the expansion of MOOCs to enhance their reputations worldwide. However MOOCs will pose a real threat not only to the Open University (why pay if you can study online from HarvardX for free?), but also to lesser British universities, who are likely to guard their degree-awarding powers jealously lest their residential numbers plummet.Ultimately this is out of their control. The top 50 universities will do what they will do - it is a competitive marketplace after all.  There is little doubt that MOOCs will be a significant catalyst for change in the whole structure of Higher Education around the world.