The end of the classic career: rise, descent, change?

career and Job are in the digital age Transformation even less “plannable” than before. That opens up new perspectives.

Different degrees of digital maturity

The traditional success model of a steep managerial career up to the top floors has become fragile. Previously impressive hierarchical titles are no longer meaningful and offer no guarantee of success. Instead, there are evangelists who even step down from a CEO position. A disruptive change in our way of thinking about careers and success is necessary.

The Working world 4.0 breaks with almost all the basic rules of previous management and organizational theories, but above all with our thinking about "regulated work". This topic has been with us for a little over 2-4 years. But where do we actually stand in this process? We are still a long way from inbound and outbound networked organizational structures, from self-organization to democratic corporate management.

The end of the rigid structures

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Rigid structures with fixed hierarchical levels, which are still common in most corporations, are only slowly changing towards more agile Projects– and decision-making structures. This requires letting go of old patterns that have been trained over decades.

Not much has really happened yet, but the awareness is awakened: The digital maturity of German Companys fluctuates considerably - from a few surprisingly hierarchical, even patriarchal-led companies to a multitude of different forms of digital penetration Communication and cooperation in teams with a participatory management style up to a very few companies with democracy, such as Haufe-umantis AG, where Executives and roles are chosen by the employees themselves.

The need for change is being seen happiness

With over 7000 companies surveyed in 130 countries, the Deloitte Human Capital Trend 2016 found that the redesign of the organizationalStructure and thus the adaptation to the needs of digitization and the New Way of Work comes first with 92%, followed by 90% for fixing Leadership Gaps and surprisingly high at 86% with a focus on corporate culture. The study shows the central problem areas in the change to innovative organizations

• The rethinking and re-design of the management strategy and culture
• Focus on corporate culture and commitment
• The coordination and orientation of self-organized teams
• The recognition and appreciation, the motivation of employees, even without incentive of a manager position, without more power and status.

The Top 3 Innovation Preventers: Fear, Power, Faith

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Mind you, this was a global study covering 130 countries. The Innovation Trend Index 2016 shows a different climate in the German Economy. More than 35% of the German innovation heads surveyed admitted that they had Innovation from Anxiety to have boycotted. More than half, 54% of the Employees German companies fear a loss of power and only 10% of those surveyed were able to state that innovative ideas were able to overcome the hurdle of power at all.

This clearly shows: In 90% of German companies, innovation fails at the hurdle of power, for fear of power and Status-Loss and only slightly 11% lack of belief in the possible Implementation.

The quest for excellence - our only career model

Why isn't this surprising? Why is it so understandable and understandable that you don't want to give up power and status? - For decades, indeed centuries, our striving, our model of thinking has been shaped by the striving “upwards”.

You were successful if you completed your training, exams or diploma as one of the best and then got hired as quickly as possible in a well-known company that takes care of the rest Education like development of staff cared. At best, the classic career progressed linearly upwards, loyally and with integrity step by step up the career ladder in the same company.

Top managers - the “crème de la crème” of business?

With the position of top manager, perhaps still a DAX company, you are still one of the “crème de la crème” of the German economy. This cannot be topped, this is success, not just a career, but also life-success, because everything else in life had to be geared towards this top position.

This clear model, which is clear to everyone, is now slowly breaking down, but there are still no crash barriers or lighthouses, such as we can define success and career.

Manager versus expert

For decades, managerial careers were played off against technical expert careers in performance and talent management. A professional career as an expert was respected and valued, but always only second Choice.

Being a senior manager not only paid off more financially, it came with more power and status. Therefore, many have chosen the path to a managerial career, even though they did not feel called upon to do so. If you wanted to be successful, make a difference and also want to be well-respected, you had no other option. This success was not only professional, but also in the family and circle of friends Significance.

Executive with bad grades

The fact is that the Gallup 2015 survey showed bad grades to executives: 47% said they had been promoted because they were very successful and very experienced in their previous position without leadership. Leadership competence was hardly decisive for this.

This system is now taking its revenge. Because both the selection to high potentials, the career models, all job descriptions such as performance management are based on these principles. Only the performance of the individual is measured, not that of one or even several teams.

Help, a descent

The change from a line position to a project responsibility is still seen by many headhunters and HR managers as a "descent" that has to be justified, even if it concerns globally relevant projects of a company. It is still judged by the range and depth of leadership.

At Microsoft, managers from other companies have long had to accept that they don't get a great title or status label. “It's more of a decline in my positioning: don't I lose my image there?” were frequent objections. But at Microsoft, managers of global projects are often “more important” than colleagues with a more traditional leadership designation.

Thinking models of the past of success and career

Not only is the digital transformation happening too slowly and too cautiously to cope with the rapid changes in the market, but also our models of success and career, Guide and management get stuck in the past.

Unfortunately, most executives don't have that Courage still have a concrete idea of ​​how they can implement the radical change in corporate culture that is being propagated everywhere. One may also doubt whether they even want to. Most large corporations are almost always managed by traditional types of managers from the last few decades. you would clear in power verlieren and contradicting the status they fought their way up to for years. “Disruptive innovation for the sustainable benefit of companies and the Society – that is by no means anchored in all leaders”. (Stephan Grabmeier, Chief Innovation Evangelist, Haufe-umantis AG)

Works councils prevent positive change

But even if managers want to, they often have little chance in corporations and some industries. Trade unions and works councils obstruct almost every one change, have so far not dealt with the necessity of digital transformation at all. They are stuck in the past and boycott job rotation even today, necessary ones Further Training in digitization and continuous change:

They spy on employees to see whether their actual job exactly matches their job description and snub the responsible manager with the statement: “The man is a mechanic. Why does he have to digital Tasks carry out. He has nothing with him IT to do. It has nothing to do with his job description. That must not be;" or culminates in the statement at the Presentation of a necessary change program: "But that is the last change".

What prevents change

As long as essential action committees in our economy handle our business capacity, and also "employability of the individual", however carelessly and thus dangerously, neither radical nor rapid change can happen.

Here, we are all asked to work on a new, modern success and career thinking.

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