The New Fluid World of Work and Life

In our last article, we outlined the current state of work and the changes that are occurring both in the workers’ mindsets and the business landscape they are returning to. 

These shifts began years ago — before the Great Resignation (or Great Reshuffle) that we talked about in the previous article — but they are being accelerated by a trait that the newer generations embrace, understand, and live their lives by: fluidity.

Fluidity is everywhere and it reflects the optionality and flexibility that millennials and Gen Zs expect to have in their day-to-day lives. And in fact, they have started to demand it in their careers.

‘AND’ not ‘OR’

During the pandemic, many of us experienced our work and home lives becoming increasingly and intrinsically linked. We were forced to constantly adapt our schedules so we could take those important meetings and work on those important projects, all while dynamically pivoting to manage our personal lives and, if we can squeeze it in, care for ourselves. There was definitely no single solution. We all had to go with the flow because we never quite knew what was coming next.

Work and life became one — they were no longer siloed and separate. But this blending of roles, experiences, products, and even skills had already been happening in many areas before the pandemic.

Think about the fitness industry. From workouts like P90x and plyo-yoga (combination of plyometrics and yoga) to equipment like the Peloton Bike, exercise disciplines that were once siloed and distinct are now mashed up. And we can see this mixing and matching to form unique and compelling combinations is also occurring in the food, fashion, travel, music industries — and of course, in every sector of the tech industry.

This ‘hybridization’ phenomenon is also occurring in our personal lives and careers. It’s not uncommon to hear about someone having a side hustle in addition to their primary job or even purposely creating that portfolio career so that they can manage job risk but also realize all their interests. Nor is it completely rare now to hear about a multi-faceted co-worker who is not only a talented writer but also a savvy digital marketer and skilled designer as well. Those skills and roles reflect that whole person and they are constantly switching between those states to showcase their full range of talents.

So fluidity is everywhere when it comes to what we do, how we do it and when we do it — but it’s also becoming reflective of who we are.

Fluidity and the modern worker 

So what does fluidity mean to today’s changing workforce? 

Fluidity is a mindset and approach that manifests as an ability to quickly shift and adapt between various states and roles. Today’s young professionals want to constantly test, learn, and adapt to determine what fits best; they are naturally talent stacking as a result of their inherent growth mindset. Nothing is ever going to stay in a steady state for long because they are yearning to continuously grow. In fact, they expect to continuously grow.

They also don't want to have any limitations. Everybody wants to bring their individualism and that breadth of who they are to bear. And at the end of the day, each individual job is now about acquiring knowledge and experiences.

That’s reflected in the prevalence of side hustles. 64% of millennials either have or have had a side hustle. Some are out of necessity, while others are out of a desire to pursue an interest or fulfill a passion. They’re looking for something that their day job may not provide, parallel pathing multiple roles towards their bigger career or personal goal. 

For this generation, work needs to fit into their life because there is no delineation between professional and personal. This is why it is so important for business leaders to understand fluidity.  

The Implication for business leaders

Today’s professionals are looking for more out of their job — or jobs, as it may be — and they want to bring more of themselves to their role and careers; they know that this empowers them to create the most value and impact. And if they feel limited, they won’t feel obligated to stay.

Given they see a world filled with choices coupled with a fundamental desire to find fulfillment which isn’t dictated by money, title or perks, retaining talent will be a core challenge. The pandemic experience has only added to that mindset shift to find what makes them happy in their life. 

So as a business leader, what’s key is finding alignment between your company's goals, objectives, mission and purpose with those of your team. Achieving that fit between your organization and your people is going to be iterative and adaptive vs. fixed and rigid. You will have to be fluid because change will be constant.

If you are a business leader and want to learn more about creating a fluid organization, there is an entire chapter in Building the Business of You dedicated to this topic.

In our next Future of Work article, we will explore the intrinsic link between technology and the rise of fluidity and the career mashup, and what it means for modern workers.