Daniel Pink - What Talent Wants

How many political speech writers also write books on business and use Japanese Manga as a medium for career development? Yeah, Daniel Pink.

For an opening keynote Mr. Pink delivered a brisk and energetic speech. Beginning with a humorous overview of his life and career track in all its meanderings, he moved into a talk on the shifts and emerging drivers of the world of work. At the core was the intersection of economics and values.

Economic forces are so "baked in" that they are uninteresting and below the radar of recent college grads. The first of the three is the demise of corporate paternalism. Second, changing economics of production. Third,

1. Demise of corporate paternalism - culturally it was expected and assumed corporations would take care of their employees. Implication? Shift from loyalty/security transaction between employer and individual to talent/opportunity transaction. The axis goes from vertical to horizontal.

2. Changing economics of production - Marx stated revolution would come when the workers controlled the means of production. Did not work in the industrial era, but has become possible in the new tech environment. Factories are big, expensive, and difficult for one person to operate. "Talented people need organizations less than organizations need talented people." Daughter's web comic - www.squirmtheworm.com cited as example of new knowledge and production equation.

3. The emergence of the meaning gap - per capita GDP has tripled over 50 years with no recognition, simultaneously the rate of satisfaction has remained level. Prosperity has liberated us, but not elevated us. More people are now pursuing fulfillment through other channels now available via that prosperity. What does this do our understanding of the nature and inherent value of work itself?

Autonomy, authenticity, mastery, and purpose are the 4 drivers of young contemporary workers. People want autonomy over their time (results oriented work), tasks, techniques (let me do it my way as long as its right), team (do not underestimate the interest of good people to work with good people). They want authenticity, to feel they are themselves in their work. No masks. No Stepford Workers. Mastery or the drive to improve. Give me my feedback so I can get better and master my work. Millenials especially are accustomed to regular, almost continuous, feedback systems. Gaming, E-Bay, Digg It, etc. "They crave it." Finally, purpose is the drive to have transcendence, meaning. Jeff Immelt - "If you want to be a great company, you have to be a good company. The reason why people come to work for GE is that they want to be about something larger than themselves." Increasingly grads want to do work that has a positive impact. Cycles back to autonomy of tasks. "Honoring these values is essential", if companies want to recruit good talent.

The experiment in reaching college students and recent grads - "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need", Pink's manga-styled career guide.

Tactical vs strategic information: which is what and how do we deliver it? Tactical info is gleaned online, students do not seek it from books or campus offices. It is timebound and grows stale quickly. Strategic information is where career service offices can excel by being curators, guides to the tactical information.

What is the animating question for the early 21st century worker? "WTF?!" - Daniel Pink.