Warm Up *How is “work” evolving today?

Discussion *What big changes have happened to “work” in your lifetime?

Business of Innovation: The Future of Work

Listening Comprehension
1. How many cities will have more than 20 million inhabitants by the end of this century?
2. Who is James Surowiecki?
3. Who is Gordon Bethune?
4. Who is Dr. Leon Botstein?
5. Why is Detroit unique in its culture?
6. How has work affected sense of community?
7. What does Botstein mean by “knowledge inequality”?
8. What is Augmented ID?
9. Who is Bradley Horowitz?
10. How is Google dealing with the privacy issue?
11. What is the message behind the IBM commercial?
12. What is crowd-sourcing?
13. What does Proctor and Gamble call it?
14. What solution was P & G looking for?
15. What was the payout for curing ALS?
16. What is InnoCentive?
17. Who is Bruce Bueno De Mesquita?
18. What does Dwayne Spradlin believe is the key to the success of crowd-sourcing?
19. How is IBM helping Repsol?
20. How much money is being allocated globally to develop railway networks over the next 5 years?
21. What is the speed record for trains?
22. Why does Michael Dukakis believe US trains have fallen behind Europe and Asia?
23. Why does Botstein think Americans like cars more than mass transit?
24. How is “Sugar” related to the Real Time Crime Center?
25. What was the US ranking in science and math out of 30 countries?
26. What mountain was featured in the Learning Game?
27. What does Botstein think about avatar teaching?
28. IBM Commercial: How many people are lost due to medical errors daily?

© Voice One Limited 2009. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
Discussion Questions
How has the relationship between worker and company changed over the years? Should companies be
loyal to workers and vice versa? Do you think we are moving to a mobile, project-oriented workforce?
What implications will this have? How will it affect your work, your company and your country?

What do you think life will be like in a city with 20 million? What are the challenges and opportunities of
these mega-cities? How will it affect work and living?

In 1968, Dr. James Calhoun produced a famous experiment with NIMH dubbed the “Mouse Universe”
where he allowed mice free reign to reproduce in an enclosed space with no predators and no limit on food
& water. For a time, they reproduced rapidly and co-existed peacefully. Eventually however, there was a
complete social breakdown from roaming gangs of mice attacking individuals to decreased reproduction to
isolation of individual mice (dropping out of society). Over the years, many have drawn comparisons to
overcrowded human situations such as cities and jails. Do you agree that we may face this in the future?
Will we have enough space, food and patience for others in an overcrowded society?

Detroit was mentioned in the discussion. Currently, Detroit is in major economic decline because of its ties
to the car industry. Is this any indication of the future? Is production a thing of the past in Western society?
What effect does this trend have? Are you worried? Are countries, communities, or individuals still reliant
on one industry or company? How diversified is industry in your country? What effect would it have on
your country if your largest 1, 2 or 3 companies went bankrupt?

Do you agree that we are developing a “knowledge inequality”? Will this lead to social inequality? Should
we try and mitigate or eliminate these developments?

The Zogby poll that was mentioned found that people valued work less. Do you agree people with the
findings? Why? How important is your work to you and your sense of identity? Could you change
professions tomorrow and still be you? (You can brainstorm different alternatives.) Does the workplace
give you a sense of community? Where do you feel your community lies?

What do you think about augmented id? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How concerned are
you about these social media developments? Is it a privacy concern?

What do you think of crowd-sourcing? Is it a valuable new tool or another means of cheap labor? Would
you participate in it? Would you use it for your business? What are the advantages or disadvantages?

How important is education today? How important will it be in the future? Do you agree we need to be
educating ourselves 24 / 7? How much choice do people in your country have with regards to education? If
you could study anything, what would you study? Do you agree the future of education is tied to
technology and business? What is the relationship of business to education in your country?

© Voice One Limited 2009. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
Answers
1. 19
2. Writer for New Yorker, Author of The Wisdom of Crowds
3. Former CEO of Continental Airlines, Author of from Worst to First, turned around the company, 2009
Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award
4. Youngest President ever, Dean of Bard College, 2009 Carnegie Academic Leadership Award, Principle
Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra
5. Entire city built around labor.
6. In the past, work used to create this sense of community. Today, people are less loyal as companies are
less loyal. People are seeking community elsewhere.
7. Not everyone can learn calculus.
8. New tool where someone can add business info to their real picture. Personal branding strategy. Give
personal info to a world of strangers.
9. He’s the VP of Product Management at Google. He’s responsible for social app product.
10. They are making sure that people know how their information will be used.
11. If we adopt the best ideas from all over, we all become better. Benchmarking.
12. It is using the intelligence of a group of people.
13. Open innovation or connect and develop
14. Soap that changed color when there was enough soap added. They used Innocentive.
15. $1 million.
16. A crowd-sourcing company
17. Senior Fellow at Stanford University. A professor of politics at New York University. He uses Game
Theory to help businesses solve problems. His book is The Predictioneer’s Game
18. diversity
19. Supercomputer to process seismic images
20. $300 billion for global railway development over the next 5 years.
21. 357 mph (575 kph)
22. After 1950s, Americans collectively chose cars and airplanes instead.
23. He thinks they want to be alone.
24. It was his tattoo and nickname.
25. 24th and 25th respectively.
26. Mount St. Helens
27. Education is like sex it has to be done in person.
28. A 747 full of people

© Voice One Limited 2009. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.