This week, in issue #71 of the TalentStories newsletter, “The Great Thinning Out of the Traditional Firm”, a visit to the city of San Francisco is cause to explore the massive dispersion happening at work. San Francisco happens to be on the cutting edge of work so you feel, acutely, the decentralizing effects of the pandemic, of shifting work norms, and of a decade of technological change. 

But here's the thing: it's not just employees who are decentralizing; who are leaving this city, and leaving bigger firms. The firms themselves are consciously and unconsciously thinning themselves out.

Today, our stories explore how and why. And taken together, they also prompt us to ask: if the supply of workers continues to shrink -- to decentralize, if not opt out of traditional work altogether -- and if technology simultaneously causes firms to reduce demand for talent by becoming smaller over time, what happens to the traditional firm, and the labor market? In other words, what happens to work itself? 

This week we explore how organizations provide for fundamental human needs like meaning, purpose, connection and belonging. It turns out those needs don't just disappear - poof! - when we get to work. On the contrary, people spend so much time at work, and derive so much meaning from it, that leaders and organizations are invariably asked to provide for these needs. Our Stories today serve as reminders of this responsibility -- but also of the unique opportunity and potential for impact that a leader can have on the people around them.

This week, in issue #69 of the TalentStories newsletter, “How will we work here? Job titles -- and job content -- go haywire in the new world of work”, we use our 3 Stories to ask: given the challenges and changes -- distributed work, technology, demography, connection -- and given the human and business stakes involved, do we need new and dedicated resources within our organizations to be able to define: how will we work here?