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The oldest buildings on the Stanford University campus are clad in gorgeous sandstone. The sandstone is no longer available. There are few, if any, craftspeople that can create a new version of the lovely old facades. When renovation is needed, the inside may be completely re-done, but the outside remains the same.

In the natural world, we call that kind of change a "sea change." The term comes from a song in Shakespeare's Tempest.

Since you've been wrestling with the challenges of a turbulent economy, you may have lost track of the fact that the world of work is undergoing a "sea change." While the outside looks the same, the inner workings are changing slowly and steadily.

The changes are easy to miss because they're gradual, but they're powerful and transforming. As you enter the second decade of the century, here are some challenges you face.

The Challenge of Promotion

Today most people are "promoted" to management. In most companies the event is seen as an upward move in career development, and not as a choice of the kind of work.

 New bosses are chosen based on their performance in some other kind of work. They may be great salespeople or first rate engineers and top notch analysts. There's very little assessment of the potential for doing a boss's daily work.

Most people who are promoted to management today are selected for promotion by someone above them on the org chart. Democracy has no place in most workplaces.

That may have served us well in times when the manager was expected to know how to do the work of everyone on the team. It's dangerous in a knowledge economy where team members know more than their boss about many things. And it's dangerous to give people work to do without at least a cursory judgment of whether they can do it successfully and joyfully.

Challenge: What can we do differently to do a better job of selecting good bosses?

The Challenge of Performance Appraisal

Just about everyone thinks that the current system of infrequent, formal performance appraisal needs an overhaul. Managers and team members hate the ritual. Research tells us that such appraisals rarely have an effect on performance or behavior.

Challenge: How can we change the system so bosses to do performance evaluation routinely, frequently, and more effectively?

Challenge: How can we change the formal discussion part of performance appraisal so it will focus on the future, on the development of the team member, and on decision rights?

The Challenge of Technology

Whether you use the term "Web 2.0" or "social media" or something else, technology is once again transforming the world of work. Email is losing some pride of place to text messaging. Social networks, like Twitter, are becoming important ways to connect and manage impressions and an alternative way to find information.

Challenge: What can we do to make sure we use the new technologies effectively, efficiently, and profitably?

Boss's Bottom Line

A sea change consists of many different changes. When it is over, the world is different. The challenge we face now is to make changes that make things both different and better.

What are you going to do differently and better in 2010 and beyond?

Additional Resources

Here are three resources to help spark your thinking. Ann Bares' blog post on the future of the job is probably the most provocative when you reflect on the implications.

From Time: The Future of Work
"Who knows what jobs will be born a decade from now? Though unemployment is at a 25-year high, work will return eventually. Here are 10 ways your job will change."

From Winning Workplaces: Top 10 Workplace Trends for 2010
"Based on what Winning Workplaces is seeing among applicants for both Top Small Workplaces 2009, which was held in the first quarter of this year, and Top Small Company Workplaces 2010, for which we're seeking applications by January 22, 2010 – plus employee engagement research and news I've written about here this year – here are 10 workplace trends to watch for in 2010."

From Compensation Force: The Job: Still Relevant?
"Today, the notion of a job serves as the cornerstone of most HR programs and practices - from compensation to recruiting. But will the job remain relevant going into the future or will it go the way of the dinosaur, replaced by programs and practices that emphasize the person, rather than the role they fill?"

Note: The original version of this article appeared in Team Management Systems Learning Exchange.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.