21st Century workers: How will they be organized?

The study posits an organizational structure that shows how creative workers will lead in the 21st century. The growing importance of this group shifts the locus of analysis from a product/output physical perspective to a problem defining/solving creative one. The analysis next clearly identifies who is responsible for wealth creation, i.e., creative workers, and how to differentiate value among them, i.e., problem identifiers and solvers are most valuable. It next addresses how these workers are organized (finders, minders and grinders) looking at an emerging knowledge structure rather than the traditional 20th century hierarchical organizational structure. Finally, the firm as a unit of analysis is evaluated in the context of a free agent/creative workers structure and a problem-centric world.

Research highlights
► The study posits an organizational structure that shows how creative workers will lead in the 21st century.
► The analysis clearly identifies who is responsible for wealth creation, i.e., creative workers, and how to differentiate value among them.
► The paper shows how these workers are organized (finders, minders and grinders) in an emerging knowledge structure.
► The study uses the firm as a unit of analysis and evaluates it in the context of a free agent/creative workers structure and a problem-centric world.