Proof of work is a concept used in some public blockchains to demonstrate that a program did the work required to propose a new block for the chain. It is commonly called a consensus mechanism because, eventually, network consensus is reached after there is proof the work was done honestly (in this case, "honestly" means there were no attempts to alter data).
But this is not what we are talking about here today.
I was talking with a colleague this morning about some work related topics, some of which I will dive into in more detail at later points. But one of the aspects was how the required skills for a job have changed, where we need more than we previously did. In the past, a manager would have had a secretary and a data analyst, as well as possible other support roles surrounding them. Now however, all of the specialized skill those roles carried, are the manager's responsibility on top of what else is required. New tools obviously help close the gaps in some respects, but what it means is that if we were truly going to be brilliant at our jobs, we would need to be renaissance people, with high-level, broad skillsets - like Da Vinci.
Let's face it - most of us don't come close.
However, another thing has changed in our working world for pretty much everyone who sits behind a desk at a computer - Knowledge workers often need to prove their work indirectly through reporting and other mechanisms, creating increasing amounts of work about work. This was not an issue with physical work, where thee work itself created the evidence of it being done.
A lumberjack cuts down trees, there is a pile of trees.
This means that there are tools required and processes to follow to create a trail of proof of work, to ensure that people are actually working. Pretty much every business these days requires evidence of tasks performed in some way - it is inescapable. So, making it as easy as possible, means making work visible, but that also means that there is more focus on variation.
Using the lumberjack analogy, if 90% of the expected wood was cut, even though the target wasn't met, it is still possible to get 90% sold at market. But, when there is no clear deliverable, it makes it hard to put a number on both the cost of incompletion, or the potential gains and in some cases, nothing can be gained unless the task is 100% complete. But when there is a shortfall, this gets essentially all focus, because what is missing stands out more than what is included, even if there is no clear reasoning as to what that piece is worth.
It is an interesting problem and many have noted the impacts of not having a clear deliverable in their daily work many times, even if it is somewhat via negativa. For instance, many who work at a desk will note how great manual work is that they do on the weekend, because they can see what is achieved, which highlights the opposite in their working life. The action and result are in a straight line. I mow the lawn, the grass is shorter. This is not the same for projects that can stretch potentially years into the future, or with tasks that look to shift behaviors, as they take six months at the minimum to see a significant shift.
What I was discussing with my colleague however, was how all of these things put added stress on our working lives, where we have to be good enough at many things in order to be in a specific role, plus have our expertise are to standout from the crowd, plus prove that we are not only doing the work, but the work we are doing is valuable, in an environment where we get to choose to some degree how we are going to use our brain to provide value.
This in itself requires multiple skill clusters to be able to manage the tasks, and manage the self to be able to cope in a diverse range of environments. It is no wonder that so many young people are struggling, because they haven't necessarily learned the lessons they need at either the practical skill level for the workplace, the social skill level for the interpersonal interactions, or the personal skill level for how to cope with it all.
“And don’t blame your mother for sending you away to boarding-school. Life is tough, and the sooner you learn how to cope with it the better for you.”
Boy - Roald Dahl,
This is from the book I am reading to my daughter, with the current chapters on the life Experiences of Roald Dahl when he was around my daughter's age, one hundred years ago. She is learning a lot about life back then, with boarding schools and canes, cars with no seatbelts and no driver's licenses, medical operations performed in the home on kitchen table, and the death of parents and children.
Up until relatively recently, life for children was much different than it is today, and there are many things that those of the past didn't have to face. However, the fact is that regardless of what has changed in technology, culture, society and process, there is one enduring aspect.
The sooner we learn how to cope with it, the better.
And what we are seeing in society now is a lot of people who are struggling to cope, struggling to deal with what they face, and they blame the situation. However, what if it is just that the right work wasn't done, and now what we are seeing is the Proof of lack of work? The conditions are what they are and while we can influence them over time, at a daily level, we have to manage them, which means,
Learning how to manage ourselves.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]