Co-Author of Excellence in People Analytics | People Analytics leader | Director, Insight222 & myHRfuture.com | Conference speaker | Host, Digital HR Leaders Podcast
The ability to navigate and be comfortable with ambiguity, and uncertainty, and change, is going to be the number one skill required for years to come
My guest on this week's episode of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, April Rinne, believes that: "The pace of change has never been as fast as it is today, never mind the pandemic, just in general, and yet it is likely to never again be this slow."
Think about that for a minute and then consider does this mean that we are supposed to just run faster and faster to keep up? Thankfully, April thinks not, and in her brilliant new book - FLUX: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, she lays out how we can think differently about our relationship to change: "We need to radically reshape our relationship to change and uncertainty in order to have a healthy and productive outlook."
In the book, April distils eight superpowers that help you to thrive in constant change, which as she explains "go against the grain of what society often tells us we are supposed to do." The eight superpowers are shown in Fig 1 below.
April has an impressive background and array of skills that span numerous areas including being a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and is ranked as one of the “50 Leading Female Futurists” in the world by Forbes. I learnt a lot from our discussion, and I know that listeners will too.
Having a flux mindset means, being able to see all change, good or bad, expected or not, as an opportunity to learn and to grow and to improve
You can listen by clicking on the image below or by visiting the podcast website here.
Throughout this episode, April and I discuss:
Eight superpowers to help individuals and organisations successfully navigate change, as well as April’s number one piece of advice to organisations going through change: "If we want to manage change, we cannot manage change well without bringing mindset into the mix. So, my number one piece of advice is remembering that mindset drives strategy, not the other way around and start there."
The power of portfolio careers for workforce planning, for the individual to have a meaningful and satisfying worklife, and… on a societal level – to provide unparalleled access to opportunities: "People who have a portfolio career, naturally find a sense of more meaning in what they do because they know that no one can take one's portfolio away from them versus someone who gives you a job can take that job away, whether you want that to happen or not."
The shifting relationship between employee and employer, and how the concept of a “job” is swiftly becoming extinct: "The language that we use around employment, I think that is up for an upgrade, a refresh. Talent acquisition and talent retention are extremely employer centric terms. They speak to a one-way relationship where the employer has the power, and the employee does not."
April and I also reference Heather E. McGowan in our discussion. If you enjoyed listening to April then you will also enjoy hearing from Heather: you can check out our Digital HR Leaders Podcast episode too on: How Covid-19 is accelerating the future of work.
Thanks to Karen Burns, Vicky Holdsworth, Todd Tauber and the Degreed team for sponsoring Series 17 of the podcast, and also Ian Bailie, Manpreet Randhawa, Caroline Styr and the myHRfuture team for creating the Digital HR Leaders podcast and video series.
GET INVOLVED
If you enjoyed listening to this week's podcast episode, I'd be grateful if you could take the following steps:
David is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 70 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222 and taking up a board advisor role at TrustSphere, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value will be published in the summer of 2021.
SEE ME SPEAK AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work at a number of upcoming events:
14-15 March 2022 - HR Core Lab (Barcelona, Online)
Global Change Futurist 🌍 | Transformational Speaker 🧭 | Career Portfolio Guide 🎨 | Author of FLUX: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change 📚 | Powered by Joy & Gratitude 🤸♀️
LinkedIn Top Voices in Company Culture USA & Canada I Executive Advisor | HR Leader (CHRO) | Leadership Coach | Talent Strategy | Change Leadership | Innovation Culture | Healthcare | Higher Education
3yThanks David Green
Global Change Futurist 🌍 | Transformational Speaker 🧭 | Career Portfolio Guide 🎨 | Author of FLUX: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change 📚 | Powered by Joy & Gratitude 🤸♀️
3yThank you so much for having me, David Green, and for your enthusiasm for FLUX. I loved our conversation!