13 A world of innovation with few rules The Red World is a perfect incubator for innovation. New products and business models develop at lightning speed, far more quickly than regulators can control. Technology encourages the creation of powerful, like ‑ minded, cross ‑ b order social ‘bubbles’. Businesses innovate to create personalisation and find new ways to serve these niches. There are high rewards on offer for those ideas and skills that best meet what companies and consumers want. But in a world with few rules, the risks are high. Today’s winning business could be tomorrow’s court case. Agility and speed are essential Big business has been outflanked in a digital- enabled world that’s teeming with small entrepreneurial companies. Digital platforms match worker with employer, skills with demand, capital with innovator, and consumer with supplier. This allows serial entrepreneurs to reach far beyond their size in terms of influence and scale. Anxious to compete, larger employers fragment to create their own internal markets and networks to cut through old ‑ s tyle hierarchies and encourage and reward workers to come up with new ideas. The pace of development and testing of new products and services has accelerated, increasing the risk of brand damage and failure. What it means for workers Specialism is highly prized in the Red World and a career, rather than being defined by an employer or institution, is built from individual blocks of skills, experience and networks. Near ‑ z ero employee organisations are the norm. Organisations of a few pivotal people use technology, the supply chain and intellectual property, rather than human effort and physical assets, to generate value. The commercial value of learning takes precedence; a university degree is seen as less valuable than specific and relevant skills or experience. Workers know that the most sought ‑ a fter skills will mean the biggest reward package. Many move frequently and stay only as long as the project or business lasts. Contract negotiations are key and ownership of intellectual property and the freedom to work are as important as financial incentives. 60 % think ‘few people will have stable, long-term employment in the f uture’. PwC survey of 10,029 members of the general population based in China, Germany, India, the UK and the US