Michael I wrote you an elaborate response but as luck has it Medium didn’t save it and it got lost. I look forward to chatting to you in May about this all. A few points to summarise what I had written back:

Thank you for your provocations. I love your point that flips it round and instead of work needing to be created its the growth and the needs that will have to be created. Spot on. I have since edited the article.

You’re right, I don’t give evidence to why many will not have work at all. I base this not on fact but on opinion. I think contributing factors include unparalleled population explosion and the continued rise of automation (and the increased importance of critical thinking and creative problem solving that humans will need to demonstrate). We can discuss more in May

Funny, I actually didn’t say that American’s just want the assurance of a paycheck — that was a response to one of my questions. I actually think the average American wants more than that. They also want to find meaning. And in many ways — seeking the security of a paycheck is the wrong way to look at it. I’d say it should be about identifying, creating and seizing opportunities. Again a big one to tackle.

And to the distinction between jobs and work. I think this is the most interesting point and one I actually think we agree on. I view jobs as a term that has status and security embedded within it. I think jobs as we once knew them have gone the way of the dodo bird. I see work as much more expansive, and has, as you say ‘endless possibilities’.

I’m urging for us to reframe work. Instead of thinking about job titles and job functions we should be thinking about adaptive role design and work that is distributed in much more fluid and better ways. Yes it might just be semantics, and is really just job sharing on steroids. More than one human may be best suited to handle a scope of work that currently rests with one person. This is the premise behind self-management, and the new breed of organisations that are orientating themselves around work to be done as opposed to people that happen to hold a particular job (and happen to be on hand). It’s much more networked, increasingly responsive, and ironically — more human.

Look forward to meeting soon,

Jonas