Focused on the Future

This isn't you, Bill. This isn't the quality of work I've come to know, and I'm deeply disappointed … and frankly confused." In one of my favorite Confessions From the C-Suite columns yet, Bill Treasurer lets us in on a leadership consultation gone awry and admonishes us to learn from his mistakes. Can you relate to his experience?

Looking back enables us to grow and improve, ultimately teaching us to keep our eyes focused on the future. It seems like everyone is talking about the future of work these days, and the talent development profession is no exception. In the Spotlight feature, learn how Samantha Hammock, chief learning officer at American Express, is thinking about enterprise talent through a predictive lens. By conducting internal research on the future of work at American Express, her team is examining how smart technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics will influence the organization and its people.

"We expect to leverage technologies to take over repeatable tasks and free up our colleagues to do higher-level work," she explains. "We expect people's relationship with technology to become more collaborative over time." This issue of CTDO explores additional trends in the future of work landscape, including what to do about the growing number of gig workers (Angst Index); the need to integrate talent development and HR into one strategic people function (View From the Top); and how to create an optimal workspace (Career Hacks).

And what about design thinking? It's a concept infiltrating most industries today, but should we as talent development leaders take it seriously? Hear both sides of the argument in Debate

For 2019, I am committed to growing the CTDO magazine readership while ensuring that the content reflects your professional interests and provides insight for your challenges. I invite you to share your thoughts by taking the CTDO readership survey, which will reach subscribers' inboxes in a few weeks. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback about this issue. Which article was your favorite? Which column is most beneficial in helping to inform your role as a talent development executive? Please contact me at any time with your thoughts.

Ann Parker

Senior Content Manager

Senior Leaders & Executives

[email protected]

Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.