A Practical Futurist Living in the Moment, with Andrew Grill

In this episode of the Smart Community podcast, I have a great conversation with Practical Futurist, Andrew Grill, who you may remember from Episodes 38 and 136. This podcast episode is another audio from the YouTube series I've been doing catching up with previous podcast guests during the pandemic. In this chat, Andrew and I discuss how the pandemic has not only brought in a whole lot of new rules and social norms, but it's also accelerated his futurist predictions. Things that he was predicting to change such as in the future of work, have come to pass incredibly quickly. Andrew tells us how the disruption is a huge opportunity for change but is also exposing the weak points in every ecosystem, and increasing the digital divide. We talk about that digital divide particularly in the education space, where already disadvantaged students are being further disadvantaged, and teachers who were already comfortable with technology are more advantaged and able to be more effective than their colleagues. Andrew also tells us what has an hasn't changed for him, including the information he is learning and sharing, the types of work he does, and the mode of delivery and tools for engagement in his work. We talk about the pros and cons of working from home, the mental health impacts and what managers are learning now that they're in it with their employees, plus using business tools like Zoom for personal social connections and the need for digital hygiene due to the digital fatigue we're all feeling. Andrew then shares his predictions on the future of work, including the emergence of a third word space that is neither home nor office, and the increase of professional gig workers. We finish our chat with Andrew's three practical tips for coping while working from home and potentially physically isolated. As always we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community Connect with Andrew at Andrew.London or on Twitter @andrewgrill Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.