Collaboration for Good

The staff at ZeroDivide recently visited “The Hub”  located at Fifth & Mission in San Francisco. The Hub is a coworking space, event series, and professional toolset for changemakers. They are located in Berkeley, San Francisco, and 22 international locations across 5 continents. As we began the tour of the facilities, the term knowledge economy came to mind.

Popularized by Peter Drucker in his book The Age of Discontinuity the term knowledge economy refers to the use of knowledge technologies (such as knowledge engineering and knowledge management) to produce economic benefits as well as job creation.

In touring the facilities, you notice that greater workforce diversity is now the norm and for the first time in our history there are four generations in the workforce. Each generation has distinct characteristics that necessitate specific approaches in order to effectively engage them. Each group is redefining the workplace. They are expressing a desire for greater work/life balance as well as more career flexibility that lends itself to greater meaning in work.

The type and style of work has changed. There are many drivers but technology is an integral part of the equation. Work is becoming more team-based and more project-based. New organizational structures, leadership and management styles are emerging as a result of the change. Technology intensive and enabled work can be done from anywhere - like The Hub.

During the day, The Hub is a dynamic, collision-rich work and meeting space designed by its members for productivity and value exchange. They are addressing the issues of access, infrastructure, scale and impact. They have created a space where knowledge, connections, resources and capital can help transform ideas for change into reality. Entrepreneurs, freelance professionals, artists, funders, students, mentors, and community leaders gather to create collaborative workspaces (both physical and online) to create an environment, a habitat, for change.

They assemble people who generate new ideas for change. They then combine tools and resources to transform those ideas into action. In working collaboratively, they share best practices to inspire and grow. They build and scale together, forming a values-driven, high-performing system that works toward a better world.

To learn more about The Hub.

Let us know what you think are the major factors that will shape the future of work in this century and how those factors are likely to evolve over the next 5 to 10 years. We'd love to hear from you.