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)
Management Consulting
Business Services
Corporate Leadership
Corporate Training
Writing and Editing
Think Tanks
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)
Harvard Business School: M.B.A (With Distinction), general management 1967
Cornell University: PhD, organizational psychology, social psychology 1978
Cornell University: B.S (Engineering), Engineering 1965
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)
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
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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
Sample Talks (5)
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.
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.
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 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.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Author Appearance
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