That handsome man above turns six years old today. His name is Lincoln, and my family and I rescued him from a kill shelter in Mississippi in the summer of 2016. Nearly everyone that sees him for the first time remarks that he resembles a fox; his wild mix of pit bull, golden retriever, chow-chow, and border collie (confirmed via “doggie DNA” test!) resulted in the fox-like features.
Before the Future of Work Exchange launched in July 2021, its top-secret code-name in the Ardent Partners offices was “FOWX” as it went through months and months of development before we went live. Naturally, as we launched the site and its research arm, the “FOWX” vernacular made it into daily conversations with our gracious sponsors, the workforce management solutions industry, and, of course, the HR, procurement, talent acquisition, IT, and other business leaders that read this site every day.
So, making the transition back to our boy Lincoln and the wild animal he resembles: the dominant fox species (the common red fox) is currently living and thriving on all continents minus Antarctica due to their incredible adaptability, amazing flexibility, instinctive intelligence, and advantageous speed. They live and thrive in urban environments, rural areas, and rough terrain all across the world. From a 1998 Deseret article:
“Both the growing numbers of the foxes and their assurance in the presence of humans are signs of a remarkable ecological success story of global dimensions. In an age when so many wild species are under threat, their populations dwindling and their futures insecure, the red fox is thriving like few other wild predators. In fact, biologists say, it has become the most widely distributed wild meat-eating mammal on Earth, thanks to an evolutionary heritage that has enabled it to adapt superbly to the presence and activities of people.”
Let’s re-read those characteristics: adaptability, flexibility, intelligence, and speed. Sound like the hallmarks of an agile enterprise, doesn’t it? It seems like kismet that our beloved Future of Work Exchange’s acronym (FOWX), its cute logo, and the animal it was based on all revolve around the concept of agility (not to mention that fact that my sweet Lincoln resembles a fox). Agility has become the foundation of the Future of Work, and rightfully so:
- Businesses were essentially forced to be adaptable over the past two years given the shift towards more remote- and hybrid-based work, changes in safety and health standards, and renewed focus on DE&I, empathy, and other non-technological aspects of talent and work.
- Intelligence is at the center of all talent- and work-related strategies, as businesses leverage data and information to execute more strategic workforce planning, optimize how work is done, and continue to prepare the business arena’s continued evolution in the months to come.
- “Flexibility” has become the literal nexus of the Future of Work, with workers craving flexible work options, leaders becoming more flexible in how they manage their staff, and flexible work models becoming the ideal means to get work done in a revolutionary world of talent, technology, and business transformation.
- The relative “speed” of an organization in its response to real-world challenges and pressures (and let’s be honest: there’s been a bunch over the past couple of years, right?) contributes to how truly dynamic the enterprise can be during these transformative times.
What’s in a name? FOWX or fox…it’s all about agility and just how dynamic, flexible, and adaptive a business can be in 2022 and beyond.
