Foreword

      A journey like the future of work requires more than a roadmap; it requires a trusted guide. A guide who doesn't jump to answers that don't really exist, but rather frames the questions that must be asked. A guide who has the sensibility—the combination of wisdom, humor, and curiosity—to give you confidence that although the mountain is steep, the ascent will be completely worth it. A guide whose love of exploration reminds us at every turn what is possible. For me, and for so many of our clients in the world of Human Capital, that guide is Jeff Schwartz.

      As the leader of Deloitte's Global Human Capital practice, the largest human capital consultancy in the world, I'm proud to have Jeff help spearhead our future of work efforts. And as a new mother, I'm comforted to have Jeff help me ask the right questions to prepare my son for the future—a future that elicits hope, fear, and excitement all wrapped into one. I met Jeff about 15 years ago, when we first worked together, launching a forum on the evolving Chief Human Resources Officer agenda. The discussions that emerged were dynamic investigations of the developing role of HR leaders as future-of-work strategists, risk advisors, cultural stewards, and business partners. My first impression of Jeff was that he fully leaned into “what's next.” This has continued to be true, whether he was establishing one of the first international management consultancies in Moscow or building a technology adoption practice for global SAP projects in Brussels. Jeff's curiosity and explorer temperament have made him especially well-suited to identify and illuminate promising paths and opportunities. He also enjoys sharing new ideas, as he has done for a decade as founder and global editor of Deloitte's influential Global Human Trends Report, a leading longitudinal survey on insights and trends for workforce, organization, talent, and HR issues.

      For those of you who have not met Jeff or read his musings on the future of work, this book is the perfect opportunity to gain an introduction to a man who didn't just jump on the future-of-work bandwagon, but rather helped put it in motion. For those of you who know Jeff, sit back and enjoy his famous stories and anecdotes that draw you in and bring to life concepts and theories that may have seemed too academic or conceptual to be put into organizational reality. This is what Jeff knows how to do so incredibly well and what has made him one of my personal guides as I have navigated a long, productive career in the Human Capital space.

Throughout Work Disrupted, Jeff becomes a twenty-first-century Sherpa, presenting us with the maps we need to thrive in the future of work. Like any great guide, he not only presents us with a view of the destination, but with the guideposts we need to follow along the way. He keeps us intrigued about the opportunities ahead, and by sharing the history of how we got here, he increases our own understanding of the future, giving us the gift of resilience by using his knowledge and experience to prepare us for what's coming. That's because, at his core, Jeff is a teacher—someone who has an unparalleled thirst for knowledge, and an even a stronger desire to share that knowledge. I'm just honored to have been one of many he encountered and stopped to educate along the way.

      As the future of work has turned from an idea discussed amongst futurists to a reality now accepted by even the most change-resistant organizational leaders, we need teachers and guides more than ever. It now feels as though there are more questions than answers, more unknowns than certainties, and more opportunities to shape the future in completely new directions without the constraints