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James Ware - The Future of Work...unlimited. Walnut Creek, CA, US

James Ware

Executive Director | The Future of Work...unlimited

Walnut Creek, CA, UNITED STATES

Experienced speaker and futurist; focused on the changing nature of work, the workplace, and the workforce. Change management specialist an

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Biography

Jim Ware works with committed change leaders to create flexible workplaces that leverage people, attract talent, and save money.

He is a former Harvard Business School professor who has spent his entire career helping clients invent their own futures by exploring and interpreting the changing nature of work, the workforce, and the workplace. He teaches senior executives about the future of work, facilitates strategic conversations, builds scenarios of alternative futures, and helps transform ideas and insights into bottom-line results.

He is currently the founder and Executive Director of The Future of Work…unlimited, a research and advisory services firm that creates visions of the future and helps clients achieve them.

Previously, Jim held senior management positions at several leading-edge professional services firms, including KPMG (now Bearing Point), Computer Sciences Corporation, Unisys Corporation’s Information Services Group, and The Concours Group, where he led a number of futures investigations and served as Executive Director of the HR Concours, a membership organization limited to Chief HR Officers.

A recognized expert in fostering collaborative inquiry that produces both learning and action, Jim has led more than two dozen sponsored research projects on topics such as managing distributed teams, establishing flexible work programs, defining electronic commerce channel strategies, designing web-enabling business processes, exploring executive leadership and staff development, building HR performance scorecards, and measuring workplace effectiveness.

Jim was a co-author and the lead editor for "Cut It Out! Save for Today, Build for Tomorrow," ( IFMA Foundation, October 2009). He also authored the chapter on change management for "Work on the Move: Driving Strategy and Change in Workplaces," (IFMA Foundation, October 2011).

"Corporate Agility" (2007), co-authored with Charles Grantham and Cory Williamson, addresses the need for organizations to integrate HR, IT, and CRE/facilities to compete in a flat, global economy. "Corporate Agility" was named one of the ten best business books of 2007.

Jim is also Editor in Chief and a principal writer for the monthly newsletter "Future of Work Agenda" and posts regularly on the Future of Work blog.

He holds PhD, M.A., and B.Sc. degrees from Cornell University and an MBA (With Distinction) from the Harvard Business School. He lives and works in northern California

Industry Expertise (6)

Corporate Leadership

Corporate Training

Writing and Editing

Think Tanks

Management Consulting

Business Services

Areas of Expertise (5)

The Future of Work

Organizational/Cultural Change

Managing People You Can't See

Talking About Tomorrow: Conversations About the Future of Work

Your Last Bad Meeting!

Accomplishments (1)

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Heald College (professional)

Served on the Board of Trustee of Heald College from 1998 - 2007. Elected Chair in 2005, served for two-year term

Education (3)

Cornell University: B.S (Engineering), Engineering 1965

Harvard Business School: M.B.A (With Distinction), general management 1967

Cornell University: PhD, organizational psychology, social psychology 1978

Affiliations (3)

  • National Speakers Association
  • International Facilities Management Association
  • The FutureWork Forum

Languages (1)

  • English

Testimonials (1)

Christopher Hood, Managing Director, Workplace Innovation | CB Richard Ellis

"Jim has staked out a reputation for deep, innovative thought and the ability to deliver the message of design thinking successfully. Many of us have enjoyed his newsletters, focus groups, and think tanks over the years. He has managed to provoke and inform us with wit, charm, and grace.”

Event Appearances (7)

Title

International Economic Development Council Conference  Indianapolis, Indiana

2011-06-06

Managing a Multigenerational Workforce

Facilities Fusion: IFMA Conference  Boston, Massachusetts

2011-03-25

From Flexible Work to Corporate Agility: Transforming the Workplace and Strategy at SCAN Health

Corenet Global Summit Conference  Chicago, Illinois

2011-05-02

The ReFormation of Work: The Future of Work is Already Here

CIETT Board Meeting  Detroit, Michigan

2011-01-20

Want to Be a Hero? Taking Charge of Your Own Future

Corenet Global Charlotte Chapter Meeting  Charlotte, NC

2010-08-18

Work on The Move: Author Roundtable

World Workplace (IFMA)  Phoenix, Arizona

2011-10-26

Managing People You Can't See

Webinar sponsored by Harvard Business Review and Citrix Online  Berkeley, California (with international audience)

2011-06-07

Sample Talks (5)

Managing a Remote Workforce: Proven Practices from Successful Leaders

Reports on the results of a 2010 research project that identified five specific best practices that successful organizations follow when implementing flexible work programs.

The Future of Business Collaboration

Focuses on the two dominant changes affecting the future of work: mobility and increased need for collaboration. Discusses how to collaborate effectively with people in other locations, with a particular focus on tips and techniques for using collaboration technologies effectively.

Managing People You Can't See

An overview of the challenges managing a remote/distributed workforce - along with principles and guidelines for building employee engagement and productive teams in a world characterized by a mobile workforce.

Managing a Multigenerational Workforce

Discussion of workforce demographics, with specific examples from each of the five generations working in corporate America today. Explores the organizational and workplace design implications of differing social values, career goals, and expectations of the five generations.

Want to Be a Hero? Taking Charge of Your Future

An exploration of the changing nature of work, the workplace, and the workforce - and the implications of the future of work for corporate real estate and facilities executives. A call for rethinking the role of the corporate services function in the context of dramatic change in how, where, and when people conduct their work.

Style

Availability

  • Keynote
  • Moderator
  • Panelist
  • Workshop Leader
  • Author Appearance

Fees

5000 to 10000 *Will consider certain engagements for no fee