무릎팍도사가 풀지 못한 안철수의 고민에 대한 답 (프로테우스식 경력과 직업 정체성)

2009년 6월 16일 무릎팍 도사에 안철수 (전) 안철수 연구소 창립자가 출현해서 "계속 직업을 바꾸어오다보니, 제 평생 직업이 뭔지 잘 모르겠다. 직업이 너무 많아서 선택을 못하겠다?" 는 고민을 가지고 출연했습니다. 

안철수씨는 성공적인 의사였다가, V3 백신을 무료로 배포해 오다가, 결국은 안철수 연구소를 창립하고 성공적인 벤쳐기업가로 탈바꿈 한 후 회사가 안정궤도에 오르자, 모든 것을 훌훌 털고 미국 스탠포드에서 공부하고, 와튼 (Wharton) MBA를 마치고, 현재는 KAIST 에서 학생들에게 기업가 정신을 가르치고 있는데, 이렇듯 어찌보면 상관없어 보이는 직종으로 과감히 변경해 오면서 참으로 다양한 직업과 역할을 해오고 있습니다. 

정보화시대, 세계화 시대, 그리고 너무나도 빨리 변하는 기술발전의 시대에 접어들면서 안정적인 직업이 사라지면서 일생을 거쳐 많은 직업을 경험하게 되는 경우가 많아졌는데, 이러한 다양한 직업을 갖게되는 것을 인재개발 분야에서는 프로테우스식 경력 (Protean Career)이라고 합니다. 

프로테우스 (그리스어: Πρωτεύς)는 그리스 신화에서 네레우스, 포르퀴스등과와 함께 초기형태 ‘바다의 신’들중 하나로, 자신의 모습을 자유자재로 바꿀 수 있는 변신술이 있었다고 합니다 (Source: wikipedia.co.kr). 이렇게 무궁무진하게 자신의 모습을 바꿀 수 있는 것 처럼, 자신의 경력을 다양하게 개발하고 다양한 직업을 갖게되는 것을 프로테우스식 경력개발이라고 하는 것입니다. 

홀 (Hall, 2004), 주백규 박사의 연구에 따르면 "프로테우스식 경력에서 궁극적 목적은 고소득, 지위, 명성과 같은 외적 성공이 아니라 자아실현, 가정의 행복, 마음의 평안과 같은 심리적 성공이며, 심리적 성공을 달성하기 위해 개인이 다양한 경력개발을 시도할 수 있다고 보는 개인 주도적 경력개발 움직임이다(Hall & associates, 1996; 주백규, 2006)" 라고 하고 있는데, 이와 같은 정의에 따르면 프로테우식 경력은 눈에 보이는 외적 성공이 아니라 개인의 "가치-Value"를 적극적으로 개발하고 발전시키며, 이러한 가치를 전파하고자 하는 본인 주도의 적극적인 경력개발을 뜻하는 것입니다. 

따라서 무릎팍 도사에서 안철수씨의 고민에 대한 답으로 이러한 것을 어떨까 합니다. 

"안철수 교수님은 이젠 직업을 선택하거나 정체성을 고민할 것이아니라, 자신의 가치 (Value)를 전파하는 '가치 전도사 - Value Agent' 가 되셔서 자신이 품고있는 가치 DNA를 남들에게 전달하고 이러한 가치가 사회제도적으로 뒷받침 될 수 있고, 적극적으로 실행될 수 있도록 하셔야 합니다." 

리더는 매니저와 달리 "옳은 일을 하는 사람 - Leaders are doing 'right things'" 이라고 합니다. 진정한 리더는 스스로 형성한 "옳은 가치-Right Value" 를 자신의 영향력을 발휘하여 개인과 조직과 사회가 "옳은 방향" 으로 가도록 하는 사람이라 할 수 있는데, 안철수 교수님께서는 이러한 가치추구형 리더로 다시 한 번 자신의 경력을 개발하시면 어떨까 졸렬한 의견입니다만, 제 의견을 표해봅니다. 

제 개인적으로도 자동차와 로보트 태권 V를 좋아하던 평범한 공대생에서 자동차 브레이크 설계하던 Engineer로 그리고, 각종 기술 프로젝트를 하던 프로젝트 매니저에서 MBA를 마치고 전략 컨설팅으로, 그리고 늘 궁금해 하던 "인재와 리더"를 어떻게 개발 할 수 있을까 하는 궁금증을 풀기위해 공부하는 학생으로 어찌보면 참으로 다양한 직업과 경력을 가져왔던 프로테우스식 경력개발을 경험한 사람으로서, 일생에 걸쳐 스스로의 가치를 끊임없이 추구할 수 있는 기회를 가지는 것에 대해서 존중은 둘째치고, 제발 비난이라도 하지 않았으면 좋겠습니다. 

프로그램 말미에서 안철수 교수님이 지적하셨던 것 처럼, 실패의 요람이 될 수 있는 사회구조로 전환을 위해, 그리고 이러한 사회구조 안에서 수없이 많은 "가치"를 추구하는 인재들이 마음껏 자신의 뜻을 펼칠 수 있도록 하기위해 보다 더 많은 프로테우스식 경력을 가진 안철수 교수님과 같은 "가치추구형 리더와 Agent" 들이 더 많이지기를 바랍니다. 

 

2009년 6월 17일 

미국 일리노이에서 

최정환. 

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Source: 직업능력 개발원 커리어넷. 

http://careernet.re.kr/career/data/fusion2009/a00_job_go/a50_intro.html

▶ 프로테우스식 경력(protean career): 자아실현, 일과 삶의 균형을 추구

기존의 전통적 직장인들은 회사에 충성과 헌신을 하고 이에 대한 보답으로 장기적인 고용안정을 보상받았다. 즉, 전통적 직장인들은 개인의 삶을 희생해서 회사의 목표를 달성하고, 그에 따라 승진, 고소득, 고용안정과 같은 외적 보상을 받는 것을 당연하게 생각했다. 그러나 세계화에 따른 무한경쟁의 심화, 급속한 기술발전, 기업 간의 인수합병 등은 충성과 헌신을 바탕으로 한 회사와 직장인간의 거래의 규칙을 깨뜨렸다. 그 결과 직장인들은 더 이상 한 회사에서의 평생고용을 꿈꾸지 않으며, 고소득과 승진을 위해 개인의 삶을 무조건적으로 희생하려 하지 않는다. 프로테우스식 경력은 개인의 경력이 직업환경의 변화에 의해서만이 아니라 개인 자신의 관심, 능력, 가치관의 변화 등에 의해서 달라질 수 있다고 본다. 프로테우스식 경력에서 궁극적 목적은 고소득, 지위, 명성과 같은 외적 성공이 아니라 자아실현, 가정의 행복, 마음의 평안과 같은 심리적 성공이며, 심리적 성공을 달성하기 위해 개인이 다양한 경력개발을 시도할 수 있다고 보는 개인 주도적 경력개발 움직임이다(Hall & associates, 1996; 주백규, 2006). 다시 말하면, 한 직장 내에서의 수직 상승만을 가정했던 기존의 경력개발과 달리, 프로테우스식 경력은 개인이 다양한 직장경험과 경력개발을 통해 자신의 자아를 실현하고 동시에 삶의 균형을 추구해 나가는 과정을 의미한다. 직업세계의 불확실성이 더욱 심화될 미래에는 직장에서 제공하는 금전적 보상이나 승진에만 의존하는 수동적 경력개발이 아니라, 개인의 심리적 만족과 성공을 이루어줄 직장과 경력을 찾아다니는 개인 스스로에 의해 주도되는 프로테우스식 경력개발 움직임이 더욱 활발해질 것으로 전망된다.

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Source: Sloan Work and Family Research Center. 

http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=249

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Protean Career (2004)

Authors: Douglas T. Hall, Boston University School of Management, and Brad Harrington, Boston College, Center for Work and Family

Date: 3/21/04

Basic Concepts & Definitions

As organizational transformation is taking place on a global scale to make firms smaller, smarter, and swifter in their response to market conditions, the workplace has been similarly transformed. Now employees must be equally flexible and adaptive. This new orientation that is required of the employee has been termed theprotean career (Hall & Moss, 1998; Hall, 2002). The term Protean is derived from Greek mythology. Proteus was the Greek God of Sea that could change forms at will in order to adapt to oncoming threats. Hall first noted the emergence of the protean career in 1976, as he saw the beginnings of a shift away from the organizational career to this new orientation. He defined this orientation as:

The protean career is a process which the person, not the organization, is managing. It consists of all of the person's varied experiences in education, training, work in several organizations, changes in occupational field, etc. The protean person's own personal career choices and search for self-fulfillment are the unifying or integrative elements in his or her life. The criterion of success is internal (psychological success), not external. (Hall, 1976, p. 201)

Psychological success means attaining outcomes that are highly valued when measured against one's own personal goals, as opposed to externally defined goals. The protean core values are freedom and growth, mobility is high, and the main success criteria are subjective (psychological success) vs. objective (position, salary). The differences between the profiles of the organizational career and the protean career are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Elements in the protean career (Hall, 1976)

Issue	Protean Career	Traditional Organizational Career
Who's in charge?	Person	Organization
Core values	Freedom Growth	Advancement
Degree of mobility	High	Lower
Success criteria	Psychological success	Position level Salary
Key attitudes	Work satisfaction Professional commitment	Organizational commitment

Importance of Topic to Work-Family Studies

The shift to a protean career challenges many fundamental assumptions about careers and work and their relationship to work-family. For example:

1.

Careers are no longer viewed as having a strong connection with growth within a particular organization. This means that the notion of seeing one's career as linked to a particular organization has become outmoded. This has implications for issues such as job mobility, job security, training, and benefits such as healthcare, work/life related programs, educational assistance, and retirement, attached to working for a particular employer.

2.

Protean careers have attributes that will likely have both positive and negative repercussions for individuals and their families. On the positive side, for example, individuals who are highly competent, have a clear sense of identity, and are able to be adaptable are likely to pursue roles that are more congruent with their priorities and values. They are likely to see their careers in the broader context of their lives and identify work that fits in this broader context. Moreover, because professional identity may no longer play as dominant a role for such individuals, they are free to focus on other subidentities, such as family, community, or other personal interests. As a result, they may look for flexible workplace arrangements such as job sharing, reduced hours, and part-time work (see Encyclopedia entry, Reduced Hours Work/Part-time Work), that enable them to have more time to focus on other highly-valued commitments. They may also be more likely to consider making trade-offs with their spouses in terms of pacing their careers to fit the demand's of their families. On the negative side, stability, security, and predictability of one's work life and one's career development could be adversely impacted by this loss of the more stable patterns of the past.

State of the Body of Knowledge

In our view the protean career has become a more widely understood view of an orientation to the career over the last five years. Although the concept has been in the literature for more than 25 years, its use as a way of understanding career phenomena is relatively recent.

It is important to point out that the protean concept describes a particular individual orientation to one's career. Not everyone has this orientation to the career. One can envision a continuum to describe a range of orientations, with the traditional organization orientation at one end and the protean view at the other. Thus, some people are still very much oriented toward having a long career in a particular organization and are concerned with maximizing their chances for achieving promotions, higher pay, and greater power within that context. Individuals with a more protean orientation are less concerned with these organizational rewards and are more motivated by autonomy, personal values and psychological success.

What is our current understanding of these new career processes? Denise Rousseau (1995) has documented the changes in the employment contract, with the move from a longer-term relational understanding to a shorter-term transactional arrangement. Hall and Moss (1998), in a study of 17 organizations which were at different stages of organizational transformation in the 1990s, found that there was a clear shift in the "psychological contract," or the mutual expectations in the employer-employee relationship. There was also a time lag between when organizations changed the nature of the psychological contract and when employees became fully aware of that change and developed a new career orientation. At first there seemed to be a denial and uncertainty about the scope of the change. Next there was an awareness of the dimensions of the change but not a personal acceptance of what it meant for the individual employee. Finally, there was a stage of being more comfortable in the new career environment, even if the person did not like it. Hall and Moss found that it took on average about seven years for organizations and individuals to complete their adaptation to this new protean career contract.

Arthur, Inkson, and Pringle (1999) showed how workers in a rapidly transformed economy (New Zealand) have taken charge and transformed their careers. An interesting comparative study in France by Cadin et al. (2001) revealed the important ways in which the environmental context affects the way these career processes play themselves out (e.g., more traditional organizational career patterns in France; more self-directed and mobile careers in New Zealand.)

Using data on internal and external labor markets, Peter Cappelli (1999, 2002) makes a compelling case for the increase in the free agent model. This model is evidenced by companies investing less in education and training and using technology to make internal markets more efficient for employee and employer alike, through tools such as electronic job boards. Monica Higgins (2001) shows us how relational influences, such as career networks - the emergent form of mentoring that consists of informal groups of people that support and promote each other's careers over time - are serving as key resources for protean employees. And Lynda Gratton and her colleagues (2002) caution that we still have some organizations, and some individuals, with the traditional organizational career model. And certain groups (such as young males under 40) may be experiencing more freedom and mobility than women and other groups; she also finds that coaching and mentoring help these less advantaged groups.

Gratton et al.'s work also suggests the need to distinguish between the protean career and a related term that has been used to describe the new career contract, the boundaryless career (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996.) The boundaryless career has been defined as not bounded, not tied to a single organization, not represented by an orderly sequence, marked by less vertical coordination and stability. "Put simply,boundaryless careers are the opposite of "organizational careers"-careers conceived to unfold in a single employment setting" (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996, p. 5). Thus, the boundaryless career refers to the objective moves that a person makes as he or she moves across organizational boundaries (e.g., functions within an organization, entry and exit from organizations, movement across industries and sectors.) The protean career, on the other hand, represents the subjective perspective of the individual careerist who faces the external career realities of the boundaryless career (Briscoe & Hall, 2002).

Hall and his colleagues (Hall, 1986; Hall, 2002; Hall & Moss, 1998) are finding that there are two career "metacompetencies" that help equip individuals to be more protean: identity (or self-awareness) andadaptability. For example, Briscoe and Hall (1997) have found that the current stress on competency models in many companies may be misplaced, as the world changes too fast for companies to assess people and develop them against a fixed set of competencies. Rather, it is better to develop greater self-awareness and adaptability (i.e. metacompetencies), as they will equip employees to learn from their experience and develop other new competencies on their own. Karaevli (2002) is testing the hypothesis that the greater the variety in the career experiences of the members of an organization's top management team, the higher the adaptability of the overall organization will be.

Implications for Research and Practice

There are a number of implications that the shift to a protean career model will have for research and practice. These include:

1.	Career research should incorporate other, non-work related elements of a person's life: A protean view of careers would see work in the context of the person's life as a whole - more of a "systems" view of looking at work and career. This would suggest that researchers consider the "whole person" when discussing one's career and not simply focus on what is happening in the individual's work life. How work is impacting issues such as personal feelings, the pursuit of personal interests, spousal relations, parenting, and community involvement should all be of interest to career researchers and may therefore bring career research and work/life research more closely in line with one another.
2.	Career success as a subjective measure: Research on career success often uses organizational measures as surrogates of "career success" (e.g., salary level, job title, position in a hierarchy, etc.) If success is defined by the individual and is based on a psychological rather than an organizational view, the notion that one's "real" success and "perceived" success are different may be outdated. It may be more appropriate to speak in terms of subjective vs. objective measures of success.
3.	Career research related to organizations: Organizational career studies should focus on how and to what extent organizations have responded to work/family pressures through flexible work arrangements (e.g., part-time work, compressed work weeks, job sharing, etc.) and alternative career tracks (e.g., lateral vs. vertical advancement)? How do such arrangements effect employee productivity and work/life stress? Similarly, what is the ease in which such practices are adopted by management at these organizations?
4.	Career stage theory: An important question that needs to be explored is whether the concept of career stages still relevant when (a) most careers are no longer associated with a long-term relationship in a particular organization and (b) individuals are expected to change careers more frequently? Is the idea of an individual having one, linear, career path that mirrors the stages of adult development (i.e. establishment stage, maturation stage, etc.) still relevant in light of the more dynamic career pattern suggested by the protean career? Additionally, given that traditional career stage theories tended to focus primarily on men's rather than women's careers, it is important to investigate how stages of family development intersect with career stage theory. This may be particularly relevant since women's (and increasingly men's) career choices are influenced by a desire to better integrate their family and work responsibilities.
5.	Protean careers impact on organizational investment in individuals' development. Finally, research on how the shift to a protean career has impacted organizational investment in employee development is worth further investigation. Have all the changes in the "new career contract" lessened organizational commitment to employee development and diminished investment in training and development and career development programs?

References

Arthur, M. B., Inkson, Kerr, & Pringle, J. K. (1999). The new careers: Individual action & economic change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. M. (Eds.) (1996). The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. New York: Oxford University Press.

Briscoe, J. P., & Hall, D. T. (1997). Grooming and picking leaders using competency frameworks: Do they work? An alternative approach and new guidelines for practice. Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, 37-52.

Briscoe, J. P., & Hall, D. T. (2002). The protean orientation: Creating the adaptable workforce necessary for flexibility and speed. Contribution to symposium, Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Denver, CO, August 13, 2002.

Cadin, L., Bender, A. F., De Saint Giniez, & Pringle, J. (2001). Individual odysseys in France and New Zealand. Paper presented at the EGOS 17th Colloquium, July 5-7, Lyon, France.

Cappelli, P. (1999). The new deal at work: Managing the market-driven workforce. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Cappelli, P. (2002). The path to the top: The changing model of career advancement. Paper presented for Harvard Business School Conference, "Career Evolution," London, UK, June 13-15.

Gratton, L., Zaleska, K. J., & de Menezes, L. M. (2002). The rhetoric and reality of the "new careers". Paper prepared for the Harvard Business School Conference, "Career Evolution," London, UK, June 13-15, 2002.

Hall, D. T. (1976). Careers in organizations. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Hall, D. T. (1986). Breaking career routines: Midcareer choice and identity development. In D. T. Hall and Associates (Eds.), Career development in organizations (pp 120-159). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hall, D. T. (2002). Careers in and out of organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Hall, D. T., & Moss, J. E. (1998). The new protean career contract: Helping organizations and employees adapt. Organizational Dynamics, Winter, 26(3), 22 - 37.

Higgins, M. C. (2001). Changing careers: The effect of social context. Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Karaevli, A. (2002). Degree of successor insiderness/outsiderness, executive team change, and firm performance growth. Dissertation proposal. School of Management, Boston University.

Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Other Recommended Readings on this Topic:

(Click on titles to link to citations/annotations in the Literature Database.)

Arthur, M. B., Inkson, Kerr, & Pringle, J. K. (1999). The new careers: Individual action & economic change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. M. (Eds.) (1996). The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. New York: Oxford University Press.

Briscoe, J. P., & Hall, D. T. (1997). Grooming and picking leaders using competency frameworks: Do they work? An alternative approach and new guidelines for practice. Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, 37-52.

Cappelli, P. (1999). The new deal at work: Managing the market-driven workforce. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Hall, D. T. (1976). Careers in organizations. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Hall, D. T. (1986). Breaking career routines: Midcareer choice and identity development. In D. T. Hall and Associates (Eds.), Career development in organizations (pp 120-159). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hall, D. T. (2002). Careers in and out of organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Hall, D. T., & Moss, J. E. (1998). The new protean career contract: Helping organizations and employees adapt. Organizational Dynamics, Winter, 26(3), 22 - 37.

Higgins, M. C. (2001). Changing careers: The effect of social context. Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Locations in the Matrix of Information Domains of the Work-Family Area of Studies

The Editorial Board of the Teaching Resources section of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network has prepared a Matrix as a way to locate important work-family topics in the broad area of work-family studies.(More about the Matrix…)

To download the matrix, click here: 
http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/downloads/Protean_Career.pdf