The rise of working remotely and the need for skill guilds
wfhbrian.com
wfhbrian.com
So much complexity hidden in a single sentence. How? Who attests to the expertise? What's the incentive / mechanism for helping other members "with their work" -- what type of work? Professional work?
"The rise of poverty and the need for income equality". Here's why, and these are the benefits. Here's 0 on how we achieve it.
If we're at the inflection point of changes in how we work, which I think the explosion of remote work may suggest, then we have to completely reconsider what we "know" about work.
So, to answer your question, "how?"
We need to question every current assumption about work. The system is currently in a malleable state, but that won't last. More questioning assumptions, means more experiments, means more developments.
I have my hypotheses, and I'm working on those experiments. I hope to bring together more people that are interested in the same.
These are weasel words. I'll take you at your word that you're still thinking about it.
Here's some random thoughts loosely related to a guild:
We miss some things when we're fully remote. A short list for me:
- Ad-hoc exposure to new ideas, techniques, and technologies. Glancing over your co-worker's shoulders when you're stopping by and asking what's that is powerful.
- Mentoring. I find junior engineers are reluctant to initiate conversations, ask for help, even know how to ask for help in a fully remote environment. Social cues, body language, all these things matter, and without these hints people often won't risk intruding.
More on social needs: I don't have a strong connection to colleagues who are fully remote that I've never met in person. Until I meet them in person, it's harder for me to gauge when they're joking, when they're serious, and when they're frustrated. This causes me to keep them at arm's length, and be very measured in every response. I miss casual, in-person connections with like-minded smart professionals.
Here's what I want: Something in-person that can address some of the above needs and more -- I'm happy to pay for. It's a bonus if being part of it provides better job opportunities or a stronger signal to employers, though to be frank: There's already a guild for the latter and we call it being an Xoogler / Ex-FANG employee.
Maybe a guild per large city with organized events and strong vetting. I guess what I'm talking about is a more formally structured type of meetup++.
There is nothing wrong with having specialized skills, but blindly believing that those skills will stay relevant forever is risky. And it's easy to fall into that trap when you find yourself an echo chamber of like-minded specialists.
"Brian, lizard, come to our guild; we are all cool here, stop that silliness of keeping your eggs in your belly until they hatch. An asteroid is coming? Nah lizard, our guild is insured, full coverage, we will be fine, the market for the stomping trees skill-set is booming!"
I didn't mean to suggest that a single skill guild is sufficient for any single person.
I believe the answer is somewhere in the middle of where we are now, groupings like subreddits, and what you're talking about.
Something where participation takes real effort, but in a way that complements other guilds such that members can "cross-pollinate" and grow as an individual opposed to growing into a mold.
"We need a forum with accountability from people we work with and see regularly"
I know employers are already doing this.
Alternatively,
"We need a forum where locally connected people share the same avatar"
An additional layer of accountability being the theme in both.
This topic is something I will write many more blog posts about. I have lots of notes on various topics, but they aren't in a publishable state. If I were in a better financial position, I would hire a ghost writer to help me work out the drafts. But, I'm not, so GPT-3 helps me with that.
How is it better than paying $5 for a content writer, giving them a topic, then posting it on HN?
The content is certainly better than me writing alone. So I'd say your premise is flawed.
If only I could have GPT-3 help me stop responding to flame bait, though.
Themed co-working spaces, interconnected by a virtual space.
Author here. This is a false assumption. I'm only posting content I deeply care about, so the quality matters to me. Nothing is automated at all, it's an iterative process, all done by hand. And lol at "farm karma." Like, why?
I will also be writing more about how I use GPT-3 to help me write, so I wouldn't discount my content because I use GPT-3 just yet.
Where would you meet the people to start that consultancy?