BOOMERVILLE: Getting Off the Corporate Merry-Go-Round

Book excerpt: As millions of baby boomers head toward retirement and to new ventures, the world in which we live and work is shrinking rapidly. Many more countries attempt to become an economic player and US competitor as the global economy emerges. Rapidly expanding technologies and communications are enabling more countries to become borderless within a global economic community of creative destruction—competitors on a global stage and 24 hour global clock. There is a convergence of five powerful forces— BIG data captured and retrieved by virtualization digital storage, mobile computing, expanded use of social media, cloud computing, and SaaS applications—as businesses move closer to achieving the possibilities of the new gig economy, where all five forces are mature, implemented, and truly integrated rather than precariously bolted on. These five forces offer a new set of tools for business, opening the door to a new set of rules for operations, performance, and competition, making just-in-time freelancing and free-agent contracting more attractive. These are uncommon times to have five powerful forces—all newly emerged, all evolving, all technology-centric—already impacting businesses. It is an opportunity for IT to deliver extraordinary value via modest investments on top of a strong legacy technology footprint. These tectonic changes advance at a time when our worldwide talent pool is shrinking, increased migration from rural to larger cities, and global cohorts entering their senior years adding to the financial burden for elderly care globally. To survive this chaos, work is continuously being redefined, business models can change on the fly, and a new form of business structure, leadership, management, and workforce emerges in the new gig economy. Millions of retiring baby boomers getting off the corporate merry-go-round will play a crucial role as freelancers and free agents in bridging the gaps in skills, talent, business wisdom, and sustainability