Page 117 - Built Expressions - Online Construction Magazine - November 2014 Issue

Managing The Mindset run, developed for the military, and a computer program that inferred Newton’s second law of motion from the movement of a double pendulum—a device that creates a chaotic pattern to the human eye. cemnet.com Although no one can confdently predict how this new age will unfold, most economists take an optimistic view—they believe that the positive economic effects will offset the inevitable disruption of employment: Those in traditional blue-collar occupations are The obvious historical transition of farm to factory offers facing dislocation as computers take hope, but it misses a less obvious transformation that over jobs like truck driving, factory work, call center support, and even occurred over the last century. A fresh look at the U.S. burger fipping. But just as our rural, census data reveals that the big shift in the 20th century agrarian society eventually settled into wasn’t all about labor. an urban, manufacturing economy, this disruption will ultimately yield a stronger economy and better standard of living. The obvious historical transition An examination of the Gilded refected a critical economic transition of farm to factory offers hope, but it Age offers two lessons for the coming from the 1910 census. Merely a misses a less obvious transformation disruption. First, managers must decade earlier, more U.S. workers— that occurred over the last century. become entrepreneurial again: Number- 12.7 million, representing nearly a A fresh look at the U.S. census data crunching computers will replace third of the population—had been reveals that the big shift in the 20th number-crunching managers. Second, employed in agriculture, forestry, century wasn’t all about labor. In fact, the new generation of managers and animal husbandry. But during there was a huge shift into managerial must address the social challenges of the second decade of the 20 century, th occupations. And today it’s not just the the emerging disruption. Unlike the manufacturing employment grew working class that faces disruption, but entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age, they 21% in the United States while the the managerial class as well. should incorporate a social mission more traditional agriculture- related Businesses today are drawing into their defnition of business success, segment dropped 13%. Of course, we upon smart machines using statistical rather than making philanthropic all know that over the following century models to cull valuable insights from gestures following the achievement of U.S. employment in manufacturing the exabytes of new digital information success. continued to grow, then ultimately created daily. Machines such as IBM’s waned as the U.S. economy shifted to Jeopardy-winning Watson is being The Rise of the Manager services in the 1980s. trained to displace highly trained experts The 1920 census of the U.S. That’s the conventional wisdom, as disparate as medical diagnosticians, documented the occupational mix of but it misses an important reality. A fnancial advisors, and professional its 41 million working citizens within look at the latest occupational census chefs. Smarter machines will reduce a hierarchy defned by industry and data shows a more fundamental the number of traditional management role. For example, 12.8 million people shift. The modern U.S. economy jobs in the second machine age and were employed in the “manufacturing isn’t based so much on service as force a change in both the practice and mechanical industries” and it is on management. At 38% of and philosophy of management for the nearly 11 million were employed in total employment, ‘management, millennia’s poised to become the next “agriculture, forestry, and animal professional, and related occupations’ generation of managers. husbandry.” Those results already was the largest occupational Vol: 3 Issue: 11 November 2014 Built Expressions PG117