
Future Work World with Barry Winkless
From Inside Learning | Unlocking human potential by The Learnovate Centre, Trinity College Dublin
May 1, 2026 · 28 min · Season 5 · Episode 55
About this episode
Barry Winkless discusses how leaders can create organizations that attract and empower talent while adapting to the future of work.
In this episode of the Inside Learning Podcast from the Learnovate Centre, Aidan McCullen speaks with Barry Winkless, author of Future Work World, Chief Strategy Officer at Cpl, and Head of the Future of Work Institute. Barry explores how leaders can create organisations that attract, retain and empower talent while balancing the need for hyper-efficiency with the reality that organisations are also living systems. He explains why future-of-work change must begin with mindset, introducing three leadership roles from the book: the Destination Designer, the Societal Whisperer, and the Systems Architect. These mindsets help leaders build a shared language before they redesign work, talent, culture or technology. The conversation also explores the four-part journey of Future Work World: mindset, “meta waves”, the “mixing desk” of 16 innovation areas, and “move”, where immersive storytelling helps people emotionally connect with change. Barry shares how music, science fiction and nine fictional near-future vignettes shaped the book’s style. Aidan and Barry discuss “work type salads”, where organisations blend permanent employees, contractors, consultants, gig workers, temporary talent…
People in this episode
Host: Aidan McCullen
Guest: Barry Winkless
Topics covered
- future of work
- leadership
- organizational culture
- talent management
- innovation
- mindset
Keywords
- future work
- leadership roles
- organizational systems
- talent retention
- innovation areas
- immersive storytelling
- poly careers
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Cpl, Future of Work Institute
Books & works: Future Work World
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