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Professors who operate as free agents are How does the concept of free agency operate in Europe and Asia? How is it different from the way it works in the United States? Free agency is a little stronger in the U.S. for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I just think our cultural DNA is mapped much better to the whole free agent way of think- ing. Individualism, lighting out for the territories, making a fresh start—all that is very American. In addition, our laws, as prohibitive as they are, enable this style of work- ing to a greater extent than the laws of most other coun- tries. The labor laws are fairly flexible; and, for better or for worse, we have a much less robust social safety net, so people are forced to make their own way. By contrast, in Europe there's a bit more of a cultural transition. In addi- tion, many of the laws and policies make it even more dif- ficult to pursue free agency. That said, free agency is tak- ing root in England and to a certain extent in other parts of Europe. In Asia, it's been really interesting. Japan has had a tra- going to be more HIGHLY REWARDED. They're going to want to work on their own terms. Older Americans don't have to overcome the largest single obsta- cle to becoming free agents: a lack of health insurance. Because of Medicare, they all have health insurance. Speaking of older workers, you predict that many of them will be going back to college—not after they retire, perhaps, but sometime in mid-career. I do think you'll see more older people on campus. I think you'll see students going to college at different points in their lives, instead of once. It'll be somewhat like the way people go to the doctor. It's not as if you go to the doc- tor once and then everything is fine. You go to the doctor, then you go back for a checkup, and then you go back when you're sick. I think it'll be more like that. dition of "the salary man," which is analogous to the "organization man" in the U.S. Japan also has a tradition of lifelong employment, a sort of disdain for entrepreneur- ship, and the philosophy that the nail that sticks up gets knocked down. Partly because of those kinds of attitudes, Japan is groaning under the weight of a ten-year recession right now. I think Japan is struggling to put more free agents in the workplace. There's also the problem of the general aging of the population in Japan, isn't there? That's somewhat true in the U.S. as well. I think what will eventually happen is that we'll have to raise the retirement age. The Center for Disease Control in the United States reported recently that the average life expectancy for Americans is 76.7 years. In the first part of the century, the life expectancy was 40. When President Franklin Roosevelt signed the bill in 1935 to make Social Security into law— when they made 65 the retirement age—life expectancy in America was only 62. However, I don't think today's baby boomers are going to want to retire at age 65. Do you think people who've spent the majority of their lives working for an organization are going to choose to become free agents after they retire? Absolutely. First of all, we're essentially going to run out of working age people, so there's going to be a terrific demand for talented older workers. Second, I don't think talented older workers are going to want to work full-time. An aging student population may be one change on college campuses in the next five to ten years. What other changes do you think will occur? I think—I hope—that colleges will be under more pressure to bring their prices in line with their value offered. Inflation in the cost of education has been greater than inflation in the cost of health care. What sorts of changes do you see for the profession of teaching? I think you'll see professors needing institutions less than the institutions need them. A great professor won't neces- sarily have to affiliate exclusively with a particular institu- tion. She can go out on her own and offer her own busi- ness course. I think professors who operate as free agents are going to be more highly rewarded. Right now, at most universities, professors seek tenure, which is the antithesis of free agency. In general, what advice would you give college students pursuing a business degree in a world where so many options are open to them? I think it's the same advice I'd give to anybody else who's in college, which is: Do what you love. Don't do what's expected of you. I think work can be a source of meaning and joy and purpose, and people shouldn't necessarily think of it as a form of drudgery. Students should aspire to do great, meaningful things and not listen to all the naysayers who tell them those things can't be done. I would say the same thing to someone who's majoring in humanities—although someone majoring in business probably needs that advice more. ■ z BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2002 49