Over a quarter of century ago Charles Handy introduced the
concept of portfolio work and career. This being where a portfolio is defined
by diversity of industry and role. Careers don’t follow traditional paths of
rank progression in a particular function or company. Portfolio careers may
contain more part-time, contract or temporary positions and are commonly used to
ensure a more sustainable work-life balance. In many instances some individuals
may also have more than one job at a time.
We are all portfolio
careerist now
Portfolio careers have become more popular in recent years
as achieving a better work-life balance has become more of a mainstream goal. Various forecasters believe that by 2020
almost 50% of individuals who work for commercial organisations will work for
three employers at any one time. Some might argue today that the zero hour
contract is the employer’s modern day extension of this concept. For the
record, I’m not so sure, as whilst I believe the concept of will become more
prevalent the original vision was one where the individual had more power over their
work and the zero hour contract seems to be one where the terms are accepted
out of necessity.
Careers in the networked
age
A more recent interpretation of the portfolio career comes
from Reid Hoffman, the network philosopher, and Ben Casnocha, The Start up of You. They again tackle
the challenge that the job for life and company loyalty are very much things of
the past. At this time of challenging slower
growth and austerity we are not guaranteed a smooth career progression,
particularly if the analysts are correct when the say, by 2025 the majority of
commercial organisations’ will only directly employ 15% of their current
workforce. The authors views are very much to think and act like entrepreneurs.
Be nimble, self-reliant, innovative,
network effectively and stand out from the crowd. No easy task, but the behaviours and core
competencies that can underpin the use of 21st century piecework, such
as YunoJuno, Freelancer and TaskRabbit.
Working in an Age of
Longevity
When you now consider that a baby born in the west today
will more likely than not live to 105, as called out by Lynda Gratton and Andrew
Scott in their new book, The 100-Year
Life. They offer up a scenario when a fundamental redesign of life is
required. In their analysis, if I wished
to retire on a liveable pension (which I do) then I’ll need to work till about
when I’m 80. This could be a scary concept but opens many more transformations.
I could have fourth, fifth and even a sixth act.
Age of entrepreneurial
retirement
In the past, the innovator often hit their career peak at
about the age of 40. Previous research by Vivek Wadhwa studied 549 successful
entrepreneurs in 12 high-growth industries found that the average and median
age at which they started their company was 40.
However if we recognise the challenge that we are all living longer and
that 60
is the new 40. This legitimately
presents a view that entrepreneurialism and start-ups will not solely be a
young person’s game. If you disconnect
age from stage of life, suddenly you could be at university when you’re 70. You could be doing a portfolio when you’re
20. You could be creating a start-up when you’re 60 or when you are 30.
Changes are happening at every level of individual, we will
see lots of experimentation as people, individually and collectively begin to
build lives that are sustainable for the long term. Exciting times are here to stay.
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