As the American economy continues its movement from the manufacture of objects to the manufacture of ideas, the question arises: what do we call the people who work there?
Drucker called them "knowledge workers."
Davenport and Prusak called them "idea practitioners."
Ray and Anderson called them "culture creatives."
Richard Florida called them the "creative class."
I’m stuck. I prefer "culture creatives" as a term, but Florida’s treatment as an account.
My compromise is to suggest that we call them "Floridians" in honor of Florida’s treatment. Plus there are many similarities between creatives and people who live in Florida, including casual clothing, an excellent club scene, and eccentric driving habits.
No, but really, I’m serious.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
References
Davenport, Thomas H., and Laurence Prusak. 2003. What’s the Big Idea? Creating and Capitalizing on the Best New Management Thinking. Harvard Business School Press.
Drucker, Peter. 1992. The Age of Discontinuity. Transaction Publishers.
Florida, Richard. 2003. The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. Basic Books.
Ray, Paul H., and Sherry Ruth Anderson. 2001. The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World. Three Rivers Press.
Stewart, Thomas A. 1998. Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations. Crown Business.
As someone that has found themselves temporarily shipwrecked in Florida, due to familial circumstances, my jaw dropped when I saw this post.
Really? Maybe I’ll peel my eyes open a bit more and give the thought a try.
In all honesty, when I first got here, and I was still undergoing an immediate culture shock, I thought to myself, “Channel Grant, I’m sure he’d find something interesting, even here.” 🙂