Dateline: September 11 2029
You’re young, or maybe not so young. You do most of your work online, even if you have steady clients. Perhaps you’re a digital nomad; perhaps you’ve lived in the same city all your life. Perhaps you’re a musician, perhaps you drive a truck.
Any which way, you’re part of the gig economy. Which essentially makes you a one-person business. You work for yourself, you’re your own boss. It’s a great way to make a living, if you can.
But one thing you don’t have is a salary cheque at the end of the month. Which kind of sucks, but you’ve got something better — a continuous stream of instant payments. You deliver in real time, so why not get paid the same way?
It’s fair, it’s transparent, and it’s efficient. Whether you’re selling products on eBay or doing bespoke designs or writing copy, when the customer or client gets the goods you get paid. Immediately. No waiting, no follow-up.
That makes it a win-win for everyone. It’s like buying an e-book. You pay, and you get what you paid for. When you’re part of the gig economy you deliver, and you get paid for what you delivered. Instantly.
Which means you’re free. Free to work as hard or as smartly as you can and want to, and free to chase the most lucrative opportunities, free to choose how much time you invest in leisure or personal growth.
Being tied to a desk and an employment contract still works for some people. They get the benefit of a salary and perks, perhaps a bonus. Maybe even stock options. Which is great.
But more and more of us are choosing to swap the pay cheque for immediate rewards for whatever we do, when we do it. And the freedom to choose. First published in Mindbullets September 11 2025
Taking the work out of jobs
And the busyness out of business
Dateline: May 1 2029
It’s almost amusing to think that just more than a decade ago people were worried that automation would kill off jobs, and leave workers destitute. At the same time, tycoons such as Jack Ma were supporting the “996" work ethic of ambitious young Chinese workers; that’s where you work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.
But then it dawned on management and staff alike that you can get more out of your talented employees with goal-directed work, with more time to reflect and refresh, than an exhausting schedule that often leads to burnout.
The tipping point was reached with automation; robots and smart programs can do the drudge work, leaving company members free to follow more challenging ventures. Everybody wins, or they should.
Which is not to say the transition was all painless. Many older staff were not keen to change careers and learn new tricks; often disgruntled, they shuffled off into early retirement. By the same token, young graduates found there were no jobs waiting for them, and were forced into entrepreneurship to make ends meet.
But in the middle, productivity soared, as shorter work weeks promoted creative thinking, and automation became increasingly reliable and accepted as the norm. With more leisure time and breathing space, purpose-driven employees can dramatically improve the innovation culture in a company.
Now company members at all levels are realising that work is not equal to jobs, and that being busy is not necessarily the key to good business. Finding and delivering value to customers is where real success in business lies, and the work necessary to achieve that can mostly be outsourced to machines.
That’s what robots are for — to take the work out of jobs. /First published in Mindbullets April 25, 2019
Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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