Preparing Knowledge Workers of the Future
I believe we are at the beginning of a major shift in how knowledge workers will need to approach their roles.
Where the value of their work will increasingly be measured by the speed and effectiveness with which people proactively identify and solve new challenges and generate ideas that drive innovation and improvement.
It’s a big leap beyond the old model of executing assigned tasks efficiently and waiting for direction from authority to try new things.
Here's why I think this.
Aging population and global competition
AI adoption is accelerating at an unprecedented pace for a new technology. In 2023, about 33% of organisations were using AI tools. By the end of 2024, that number had jumped to 72%. ChatGPT alone now boasts nearly 800 million weekly active users, roughly 1 in 10 people on the planet. While ROI on AI investment at an enterprise level is still in the early stages, it’s clear the use of this transformative new technology is only going to increase and become more embedded in the fabric of how we work.
In advanced economies like Australia, it’s vital to help balance out the productivity slowdown from rapidly aging population.
Globally, the share of people aged 65 and over has doubled in the past 50 years, rising from 5% in 1974 to just over 10% in 2024. In Australia, it’s grown from 9% to 18% in that time.
By 2041 Australians aged 65+ will grow a further 54%, while the working-age population (15–64) is forecast to grow by only 14%.
Fewer workers will be supporting more non-working-age people for many years to come. It will be the new normal.
Meanwhile, low-income economies such as India are expected to have roughly 20% more of their population in the working-age range by 2034 than advanced economies like Australia.
This means the value and productivity of Australia’s working-age population will need to rise substantially to not only offset a higher proportion of non-working age people they will be supporting, but to also keep our economy remaining competitive as the global balance of labour and innovation shifts to lower income economies.
The most effective solution I see won’t be opening up the immigration channels far wider than we have now.
It will be making the transition to cultivating teams that equally hunt for problems and innovate continuously as much as execute well on what’s required of them.
To reconnect with our uniquely human strengths, problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration, and leverage them, alongside AI, to drive faster innovation individually and collectively.
The biggest mindset barrier to progress
At workshops I facilitate with businesses looking to make this shift, one question keeps getting asked,
“What do you believe is the most common mindset barrier that prevents people from becoming effective problem hunters, and how can leaders help their teams overcome it?”
It’s a great question that cuts to the heart of how we need to start to make this shift.
Our mindset is influenced heavily by the beliefs we hold. Neuroscientists estimate we have over 100,000 of them by middle age. Beliefs act as the macros of our mind. Running in the background and guiding our thoughts and actions.
The biggest mindset barrier I come across that prevents people from adopting a problem hunting mindset is the belief that problems = danger. That they are to be avoided at all costs.
You can see this in how people talk about things when they go wrong. If it’s a big drama and lots of energy goes into talking about how bad it is and trying to attribute blame elsewhere, it means there’s a belief that problems will lead to criticism, loss of control and potentially career impacts.
These three fears then prevent people from proactively hunting for problems to solve and innovate from.
You can also see it in how proactive people are in putting their hand up to say “I got this” when something goes wrong.
Unlocking a problem hunting mindset
If a team has these symptoms, the first thing to do is to reframe the value of problems in the workplace and how finding them and taking steps to solve them proactively is how everyone makes the work they do more valuable. Finding and solving problems = progress.
The next step is to begin to reframe hunting for problems as a normal part of everyone’s role and create a way to do that that fits with how your team operates.
These three foundations then help make the mindset shift to becoming proactive problem hunters much easier:
Build psychological safety – Encourage open discussion, celebrate learning from mistakes, and show that initiative is valued over perfection.
Foster curiosity and experimentation – Reward creative approaches, pilot small ideas with AI or without, and normalise learning through action.
Simplify problem hunting – Provide frameworks, communities of learning, and visible ways to capture and solve challenges collectively.
When you start to shift people’s mindset in this way, you open up a bottle of energy stored deep within. It creates work that’s engaging because we start doing what we are all meant to do. Create change that improves ourselves and our communities.
Why it matters
In a global survey conducted by best-selling author Seth Godin of 10,000 people across 90 countries, he asked people to tell him about the best job they’ve ever had. The top three things that made a job stand out were: they surprised themselves with what they could accomplish, they could work independently and the team build something important.
In other words, the best jobs they’d ever had made them feel significant. Significance gave people meaning, made them feel optimistic and more human.
Where does significance come from? It comes from making a change. To ourselves and for others.
When everyone is empowered to hunt for meaningful problems, innovate, and contribute their unique skills, the result is organisations becoming more competitive, productive, and human in a rapidly changing and technology dependent world.
The opportunity
Knowledge workers will bear the brunt of changes in the workplace over the decades to come and will need support to make the transition happen at the right pace.
But the rewards for business, society and most importantly for knowledge workers themselves of shifting to a problem hunting and innovation culture will be immense.
If you’re ready to help your team thrive in this new era, I can show you how to create a culture where problem hunting and innovation with AI can become part of everyone’s role.