Gary A. Bolles is Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University, co-founder of eParachute.com, and Author of “The Next Rules of Work: The Mindset, Skillset and Toolset to Lead Your Organization through Uncertainty”. After a first interview in April 2020, Gary returns to the show to report on how he sees the Future of Work progressing and our ongoing adjustments for it. He shares insights about important work trends, mindsets, behaviors, and balance. Gary describes how concurrent waves of old work rules, transitional models, and the next rules of work are impacting leaders and our multigenerational workforce with its shifting weighting of employees and non-employees.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:20] Revisiting our first podcast discussion at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Gary recalls his article about the Great Reset.   [03:54] The helpful visual of multiple waves to understand the evolution of work.   [05:10] Some leaders have bungeed back to old rules of work while others have embraced new rules and operating systems.   [07:02] The effect of perceived incentives and disincentives on changing habits and rules.   [08:05] How to benefit from pandemic learnings and accept the messiness of adapting new practices.   [10:50] Zooming out to shift your mindset about how to solve problems across your ecosystem.   [11:36] Imagining leading without ego and with trust in order to alter leaders’ approaches.   [14:53] How media’s mischaracterizations don’t help as three waves of work try to co-exist.   [15:32] The inevitable trend of continuous co-creation which young people especially seem to embrace.   [16:30] The power dynamic had tilted towards employers which flexible work is rebalancing to some degree.   [18:29] Picture ourselves as icebergs. We employ entire people, not just the tip of the iceberg which we recruit.   [19:32] In the new era of work, leaders are responsible for workers, their lives, and communities.   [21:43] Sophie anticipates smaller core employee groups and more non-employee workers in future.   [22:50] Future employee “agency” achieved through a “worknet” - a flexible flow of talent with varying degrees of organization membership.     [24:05] How to help increase degrees of membership in your company, enable people to feel connected, co-create effectively, and be rewarded.   [25:00] Cybersecurity provides a similar framework for the worknet model.   [27:00] Using words and concepts that reflect people’s sentiments and realities helps us reach balanced understanding and outcomes.   [29:10] Aren’t young employees manifesting the Future of Work rather than disrupting work norms?   [30:15] How young people are responding to new market signals as new work practices endure.   [32:09] Why older leaders are bereft at Gen Z’s behaviors and miss the opportunity of co-creation.   [33:23] Why aren’t younger employees’ deciding their careers now, and other related outcomes?   [34:45] How the precarity of the world is driving youth to hedge their bets with a portfolio strategy.   [35:32] Looking at the three stages of life horizontally not vertically (sequentially) as proposed by Gary’s father who wrote “What Color is Your Parachute?”   [36:47] Parents ask “Why won’t my kid get a real job?” It’s a hedge strategy. It’s ensuring optionality.   [39:00] How culture can be a journey, defined by a mindset and behaviors that are reinforced.   [41:30] What is the process and ongoing actions that empower agency and co-creation?   [43:46] Gary defines empathy as lived experiences. He focuses on caring for coworkers.   [47:19] The sea change ahead as more capable tools come online.   [48:08] Work involving synthesis is greatly enhanced by AI-boosted tools.   [49:46] Leaders need to focus on helping workers be upskilled and utilize the tools to solve current problems.   [51:18] Starting with a growth (vs fixed) mindset and focusing on flex (or soft) skills for today