Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow's Workplace

You know you can do more with your career. And the future is going to demand more of you.

The problem is you are so busy keeping up with the day-to-day that you can't prepare for tomorrow. Stretch: How to Future Proof Yourself for Tomorrow's Workplace gives you the confidence and knowledge you need to achieve your goals in an ever-changing world. Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick—established experts and the collective winners of dozens of awards in the field of personal development and learning—offer evidence-based guidance on obtaining the skills you will need to thrive in tomorrow's workplace. Built on solid, global research and dozens of personal interviews with people who have achieved new and inspiring goals, Stretch offers advice, valuable insights, anecdotes, and recommendations to make achieving your goals practical and within reach.

If you are like other professionals, your biggest worry is becoming obsolete at work. Shifting technologies, fierce competition among corporations, and recruitment occurring on a global level would give anyone concern. To remain relevant in spite of change, you need to know how to:

• Learn in any situation
• Open your thinking to a world beyond where you are now
• Connect to the people who can help you make your future happen
• Seek experiences that will prepare you for tomorrow
• Stay motivated through the ups and downs of a career so you can bounce forward

Stretch: How to Future Proof Yourself for Tomorrow's Workplace offers five practices to help you start, enhance, and lengthen your career by anticipating the needs of tomorrow's work environment. Don't become obsolete. Instead, stretch to achieve your potential.

Foreword ix

Preface xi

Part 1: Introduction 1

1: The Stretch Imperative 3

Part 2: It's All on You 31

2: Learn on the Fly 33

3: Be Open 61

Part 3: You Need Options 91

4: Build a Diverse Network 93

5: Be Greedy About Experiences 123

Part 4: You Have Dreams 153

6: Bounce Forward 155

Part 5: Charting the Path Forward 183

7: Stretch into Your Future 185

Supplemental Materials 209

Acknowledgments 211

List of Figures and Tables 215

Appendix A: Research Methodology; Key Workplace 2020 Survey Findings 217

Appendix B: Essential Books to Learn More 223

Notes 225

Index 245

KARIE WILLYERD is the Workplace Futurist for SuccessFactors, an SAP company. She is the coauthor of the bestseller, The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop & Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today. Her articles and blogs appear regularly in Harvard Business Review and in the HR and Learning press. She has been a Chief Learning Officer for five Fortune 500 companies.

BARBARA MISTICK is the President of Wilson College. Recently, she made history pioneering the nation's first loan buy-back program for college students. She is a seasoned entrepreneur and was named a Distinguished Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Her public service advocacy on behalf of entrepreneurs has won numerous awards from the US Small Business Administration, Ernst and Young and The Girl Scouts of America. Dr. Mistick was the first woman to serve as president of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. She holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, and received her doctorate in Management from Case Western Reserve University.

"Rapid advances in technology, global economic change, and record unemployment have fueled a concern about falling behind and becoming obsolete in the workplace. According to global research by coauthors Willyerd (coauthor, The 2020 Workplace) and Mistick (president, Wilson Coll.), the concern is widespread. The megatrends shaping tomorrow's workplace will require new skill sets. This work outlines five key strategies to acquire the needed knowledge and connections; they can be summed up as: learn in any situation, maintain an open mindset, connect to people who can help your future, seek out experiences that will prepare you, and stay focused and motivated. Anecdotes, insights, and research-based conclusions highlight the practical relevance of each strategy and are entertainingly informative. The authors' research was sponsored by Oxford Economics and SAP (Systems Applications Products) and includes their megatrend analysis as well.
VERDICT: Thoroughly researched, approachable, with wide general appeal; the authors provide actionable guidance to help the reader grow for the workplace of tomorrow while engaging them in the occupation they have today. Extensive notes and an annotated further reading are included."
—Library Journal

"If you're waiting for your organization to train you to succeed in the unclear future of work, you're at risk of losing control of both your career and your current job. On average, according to the Center for Creative Leadership, only 10 percent of learning comes from formal training. Thus, even the most talented workers can have a 'sell-by date,' often one they don't see coming, say authors Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick in their book Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow's Workplace.
Their research of 5,500 employees and executives in diverse industries confirms that the urgency for people to take charge of their own careers has never been greater. The question is how—and be specific, please.
Fortunately, the authors are. They start by sharing three Stretch Imperatives—it's all on you, you need options, you have dreams—which they break into five Stretch Practices: 'bouncing forward,' learning on the fly, building a diverse network, being 'greedy about experiences,' and being open to the 70 percent of on-the-job learning that happens informally. Thirty strategies to execute these practices help you 'stretch' steadily and measurably.
The strategies emerge from personal stories of research participants, along with supporting data from the authors' studies and other trends, such as the rise of 'unintentional de-skilling' and the growth of co-located workplaces.
Keep a pencil ready for the 30 Stretch Breaks of short self-assessments and reflection questions. Your answers build momentum for the Plan Your Future tool at the end. Not an optional assignment for any serious professional."
—AssociationsNow.com

"No matter what stage you are at in your career, this book will help you to develop and progress." (PQ Magazine, November 2016)

"This book is very well presented, with rich contents. Don't become obsolete – take the first step to stretching your skills to future proof yourself for tomorrow's workplace. Use the tools provided." (CMI, August 2016)

"Stretch provides ample diversity of information and ideas for HR Professionals, careers advisors and those working with young people, as well as the 'self-improvement' crowd to get their money's worth out of the book." (Career Matters, June 2016)