Categories
Learning Strategy Skills

How To Close The Skills Gap For Work

Ok, we’ve spent the previous edition in this series getting super nerdy about skills.

Find those here:

Now it’s time to get really tactical.

That means taking action people. We’re going to shift gears to unpack how you can close the skills gap not only in your company but in your skillset too. What a fabulous 2-for-1 offer!

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We know from our exploration so far that skills are the biggest barrier to business transformation for many companies. The same goes for each of us with our career opportunities.

If we don’t have the right skills, we don’t have access to the best opportunities.

Data from the World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs report in 2023 tells us that companies are focusing on the below practices to bridge skills gaps.

Let’s unpack the top 3:

  • Improve progression and promotion processes
  • Offer more money
  • Provide effective reskilling and upskilling

Only one of these is an L&D thing. I’ll let you guess which one.

Progression and promotion processes

This can be a very fickle conversation.

If you want a quick way to scare any line manager and HR partner at one time, ask about progression and promotion processes.

They’re almost like a secret central intelligence file that no one can view.

They exist, but how one navigates these is a mystery in most businesses. However, the pressure these days to be more transparent on just how the hell does one move from here to here has never been bigger.

In reality, we have a really easy fix here.

Just make it very clear and transparent on how all this works. As much as you can of course (calm down HR managers, I’m still looking out for you).

You’ll most likely solve 70% of issues here.

It’s never going to be straightforward but a bit of clear structure will go far.

Money, money, money

Let me be straight with you – I don’t have the answer to this.

I’ve been in the HR and L&D space for over 16 years. There’s never an easy answer to this.

It’s contextual to each person, company and moment.

I’ll leave it at that because this isn’t my zone of expertise.

Effective upskilling and reskilling

Finally, something we can get our teeth into.

We know how important this is for every human on this spinning blue rock to survive. So, forgive me for not covering this like many of the fluff pieces do.

Instead, we’re getting right into the components of a killer upskilling or reskilling programme.

7 practical steps to close the skills gap

I see too much junk on this topic online.

Too much focus on the how, aka the delivery of using ‘x’ tool to do this, and not enough on the what and why behind this.

You can’t have the former without the latter.

Here’s the basic principles to consider:

1/ Identify real business performance enhancers

Get clear on specific skills gaps within your organisations.

It doesn’t matter how you do it, just do it. This data is the bedrock from which you ensure your efforts are focused on the right things. Ignore the assumptions and biased opinions behind closed doors.

→ Engage with department heads and conduct surveys or focus groups with employees to gain insights.

2/ Understand employee aspirations

You don’t want to build stuff no one wants.

People often don’t know what they should focus on. Yet, you should still have your finger on the pulse of what the voice of the business is saying about the skills they value.

Employee surveys are useful data mines for this.

If you don’t have this, get out into your company to run mini-focus groups and surveys. You’ll be surprised what comes back.

Your goal is to align business and employees as much as possible.

3/ Establish clear objectives and outcomes

This should be obvious.

Yet, it seems to get lost in the excitement of the ‘how’.

Always know your measure of success. Without this, nothing else is worth much. You’re essentially throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks.

→ Work with key stakeholders to define and review these. It’s a team effort after all.

4/ Practical application

Every learning experience should have this.

It’s the measure of value with any experience. We all need a safe environment and an opportunity to put what we’ve absorbed into practice.

This could take many forms including:

  • Stretch projects
  • Digital and real-life simulations
  • One-time scenarios and events

Whatever it is, you want to work with teams across your organisation to create something that best fits the culture and context of the work people need to do.

5/ Create a supportive environment

This is where leveraging line managers works well.

Often, I find, managers don’t take enough accountability for the development of their team. Too many are confused about their job. It’s not about the doing, it’s all focused on the people.

We can only be successful based on the environment we create and that others do too.

It doesn’t matter how much ‘learning’ or training’ a company provides. Without this practical application, it’s money down the drain.

Ideas for this include:

  • Line manager coaching and mentoring
  • External mentoring
  • Group Slack and/or Teams communities, or go rogue and do a real-life group session

6/ Evaluate and improve

Setting goals that you don’t track is dumb.

Sorry. It’s true.

I see this all the time. The common situation is to track none of the agreed metrics through an experience, only to wait until it’s complete and realise none of them was achieved 🤦.

Feedback and/or retro loops in every meeting are useful to combat this.

This doesn’t need to be heavy.

Spare 5 minutes at the end of every update meeting to evaluate where you are today, and how everything is performing and review if anything needs to be adapted.

Those 5 minutes could save you months of work and lots of money!

7/ Building Partnerships to cement success

This is all about social proof.

Nothing sells and cements the reputation of an experience more than endorsements.

Here, I suggest leveraging your senior leaders and well-respected team members to become part of your endorsement campaign. Imagine it like a political race without all the crazy backstabbing.

Case studies and personal stories work well here.

Speaking of case studies. Keep scrolling for inspiration from some of the world’s largest retailers.

Two case studies on closing the skills gap

🛒 IKEA: Upskilling 8,500 employees to boost sales by $1.4 billion

This is the most popular case study on the blog.

You can read the full piece here. Get the TL;DR below:

  • 8,500 call centre workers were transformed into interior design advisors.

  • Billie, the AI bot, effectively managed 47% of customer inquiries.

  • Sales through remote interior design consultations amounted to 1.3 billion euros(~$1.4 billion).

🥐 Carrefour: Upskilling 320,00 employees for the Digital World

This French Grocery retailer is on a mission to future-proof its employees for the evolving digital world.

Get the full case study here. TL;DR below:

  • Carrefour aims for a digital-first retail model by 2026.

  • The ‘Tous digital!’ initiative equips all employees, notably frontline staff, with essential digital skills.

  • In 3 weeks they upskilled 60,000 employees, aligning with EU’s 2023 Year of Skills.

  • Future plans include an exploration of emerging tech like Generative AI.

Steal this framework for easy skill-building conversations

I’ve shared this before and I’m doing it again because the drum beat needs to keep going.

I find we never do enough skill health checks.

They’re the objects that grant us the power to improve our earnings and freedom, yet we don’t tend to them like you would a garden. Your skills need constant attention in the form of watering and pruning ya know.

Every quarter I recommend you do this:

  • Open a doc or grab a notebook
  • Create a 3-column table
  • Place these 3 headers – ‘expiring’, ‘evolving’ and ‘emerging’ in one of the column headers
  • Now, the good stuff. Reflect on your current skills and place each of them in the best column.

The power of this exercise enables you to:

  1. Chuck out the skills which no longer serve you and the world
  2. Double down on the skills that can give you a performance advantage
  3. Identify advantageous skills to add to separate you from the crowd

Be human skills-focused

As I say nearly every week, I’m all in for a human-powered future. Digital technology is a beautiful enabler, but it is nothing without humanness.

Your biggest advantage in this world is your human skills.

Technical skills are incredibly important, but your human capabilities are what makes the difference. I’m hoping this has come through in all the data and insights we’ve explored across November.

→ Unlock human capabilities at the heart of everything you build.

The Skills Trilogy: Today, Tomorrow and Always

Ok, we’ve reached the end of the first trilogy in the series.

Fret not, we have much more to come on the future of skills for 2024 before the year is out.

For now, feed your brain with the previous instalments.

  1. Today’s Skills: The 5 skills that matter most
  2. Tomorrow’s Skills: The skills we need to build to succeed for the next 5 years
  3. Always: How to build effective skill strategies (you’re reading it)

Bonus:

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

Categories
Artificial intelligence

Why Being Human Is Your Greatest Advantage In The AI Era

The question is no longer whether you can use AI for x.

It’s should you.

And if you do, where, when and how do you use it best?

I see about 100 ‘new AI apps’ weekly. They can’t all be AI-powered, but it’s getting harder to tell. There’s a weird blurry line where people are reaching to AI-first for anything, and I mean ANYTHING!

There’s a great deal, I believe, that you shouldn’t delegate to AI.

Especially for L&D.

I know this is a somewhat complicated statement from someone who has spent the past few years sharing the power, potential and promise of generative AI tools.

I love digital technology (which expands further than AI).

AI is incredibly useful (hence why I write about it so much). But I don’t want it to replace some of the most fundamental experiences that make us human.

Parts of the workplace learning experience fall under this banner.

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On the topic of working smart

AI tools have great capabilities.

Yet those capabilities are only truly unlocked in the hands of a competent and confident user. In my experience, we have very few of them.

We’ve covered a look into this before in my article on “The Hidden Impact of AI On Your Skills“.

The TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) being AI can help and hinder, and that choice is yours.

I know AI tools can help us work smart, yet the jury is out on how much is meaningful and if we learn how to amplify this in other spaces without AI.

Learning is an everyday behaviour, whether you realise that or not.

We call upon an ecosystem of tools, both digital and organic, to help us learn and put that into action. My fear (which is being confirmed more by the day) at present is that we have an over-reliance on AI tools.

This leads to less investment in the power of our mind, and thus moves us away from what makes us human.

Don’t get me wrong, a certain amount of cognitive offloading is great. You don’t want to outsource the whole thing, though.

You can’t apply AI to everything

Pick the right tool for the right job.

Solid advice, no matter the time or place in the world you find yourself.

It’s natural to get giddy about modern tech and experiment to see how it can help. Sometimes this can go in the wrong direction. Especially when leaders are misinformed or not educated enough on the tech.

I have an example of this in my work.

About a year ago, I worked with a client on an onboarding program, which, in their words, needed “a digital makeover”. At the time of outreach, I wasn’t sure what that meant. I had a few ideas, though.

One of those turned out to be true.

Their Chief People Officer (CPO) had seen an ad for a new AI-powered (allegedly) tool. The promise was to automate all the things that humans hate doing and provide a conversational mechanism for newbies to get answers through a ChatGPT-like interface.

They didn’t want to buy it, just create their own in-house version.

This is where I came into the picture. The ask was to build this product alongside them. However, they had made the most fatal of mistakes I cannot ignore.

They fell into the tool before the problem trap.

No one could tell me what was actually wrong with today’s onboarding process, or if there even was anything wrong.

All they knew was the CPO had seen this AI tool, and they needed to make it a reality.

Nothing new here, right?

It doesn’t work that way

With further conversation, I got a clear picture of the madness.

The CPO had convinced themselves they could use their AI-powered solution to fully automate the onboarding process and remove humans entirely.

Despite the fact that this wasn’t even possible, my questioning came to “Why would you want to do that?”. I never really got an answer to this, btw.

In the end, the project fizzled out due to money and time.

So, we never got to unpack whether it was wise to do this. My point here is that we have an already foggy view of what these tools can actually do, and a knee-jerk reaction to automate rather than collaborate with us.

This is where it goes wrong for any tech-assisted solution.

We race to discover ‘how can this tool do x thing for me’, rather than ‘how can this tool enhance what we do?’.

Human + AI

It’s funny how quickly we forget what makes AI work.

HUMANS.

I’m baffled by the AI-first rubbish I see on social feeds (I’m doing my best to cut down on feeds of late, fyi). I’m fond of the human-powered, AI-assisted or possibly AI-native.

However you look at it, we would be wise to seek collaboration.

That’s what brings me to the advantage both you and I have – our humanity. It’s the unique attribute or skill that enables you to leverage AI intelligently.

It’s well documented that left to its own devices, many generative AI tools can get themselves into all sorts of hot water. Without a human to provide guardrails and a sense check, tools can often cause more harm than good.

If I had a dollar for every time a poorly designed “AI automation” created lots of clean-up work for teams, maybe I’d be well on my way to my first million.

You are the essential ingredient in making AI work well.

The human in the loop

If this were one of those Marvel films, this would be the time when the superior spandex-laden superhero appears to save the day.

You might have heard of the concept ‘human in the loop’.

It’s commonly used to describe the essential human involvement required with any technology. Did you think all of those cool tools worked on their own?

If you haven’t, the term refers to human input into the development, training, and operation of AI systems. It’s about collaboration between man and machine, not one or the other. I believe this is the best way to work with these tools.

That’s why when I’m asked, “Will x take my job?”, I reply “It depends”.

It depends on whether you’re building a human in the loop (HITL) with AI-assisted tasks, and the answer is – you should!

The HITL approach leverages the collaboration angle I mentioned to improve accuracy, reliability, and adaptability of tech tools. You (the human) are the key ingredient in working with any technology. If you’re human skills suck, AI and other tools won’t help you much.

As humans, we provide key context.

Tools like Generative AI can do many wonderful things, but they can’t apply them contextually.

Not right now, anyway.

So, if you’re sitting there worried about AI taking your job – Don’t.

Until SkyNet rises and starts building Terminators, you have a clear place in the flow of work.

But ‘x’ tool said it can do blah blah

Maybe you’re not quite sold on this concept.

Here’s where humans enhance the tech partnership:

  1. Accuracy and reliability
  2. Context and understanding
  3. Ethics and accountability
  4. Continuous improvement
  5. Trust and adoption

Without you, technology can’t benefit from any of this.

That means it’s not much use in the long term.

How to use your human skills to amplify work with AI

Instead of repeating a bunch of what I’ve said over the years, here’s a curation of my most useful thoughts on this:

Final thoughts

I believe conversations like these are important.

As Ed Sheeran said, “I’m thinking out loud”.

If you fancy sending thoughts back, I’ll be here.

As we each continue to establish best practices with Gen AI use for work, getting clear on the level of human skills required to make this effective in any business is essential.

This image I shared on LinkedIn sums up the reality most of us face today.

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

Categories
Learning Strategy Skills

The Skills To Thrive For The Next 5 Years

Survival is the game of the human race.

At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to figure out how to survive. Skills are the currency of that game. They’re how we position ourselves in the marketplace of employability.

That was a rather philosophical line.

Last time, we focused on the 5 skills that matter most, and why too many companies are ignoring the most important skill of this year in AI delegation.

Today we’ll unpack how these skills co-exist with each other and the next 5 year outlook for our skills.

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The Skills Brain

This viz is from the Microsoft Work Trend report. I’ve adapted it for purposes of clarity.

Newsflash: Learning isn’t keeping up with the pace of work.

You probably knew that already.

It’s not just AI skills that leaders are looking for employees to develop. They want those that will enhance an AI-powered future too. As we covered last time, the future is human-powered.

Human + AI skills are the winning combo.

You’ve probably seen that line in some form on social media. I believe it’s the future we’re currently building. Look at generative AI as a tool. Like any tool, it has a time and place for use, and its real power is in the hands of a skilled operator.

If these are the baseline skills, what else can we expect to craft in the next 5 years of both reskilling and upskilling programmes?

Let’s dive deeper down the rabbit hole, friend.

Back to the future…or 2027

Like many other reports, WSE drops their 10 skills for the reskilling and upskilling scene:

  1. Analytical thinking
  2. Creative thinking
  3. AI and big data
  4. Leadership and social influence
  5. Resilience, flexibility and agility
  6. Curiosity and lifelong learning
  7. Technological literacy
  8. Design and user experience
  9. Motivation and self-awareness
  10. Empathy and active listening

The takeaway: Skills are always being disrupted. It is the nature of life.

Are you seeing the pattern here?

Human + digital technology together. These are the perfect combo to navigate the career game.

In the year of AI, is it any surprise companies rank analytical thinking as the #1 core skill for work?

Human thinking on any level is something generative AI can’t do.

In an evolving workplace where we’ll likely partner with AI tools, the ability to think like a human will be a prized asset. That’s why it’s no surprise, critical thinking came in at #2 on this list.

The social skills pandemic

Digital technology is beautiful.

I’m a huge fan of what it’s contributed to and enabled in society. Yet, I’m also aware of what we’ve lost.

I feel like we struggle to talk with and engage with each other more as the years pass by. I heard from organisations recently how their next generation of talent struggles to do simple things outside of a screen.

More data on this is now coming to light.

That’s why it’s no surprise this report’s top 10 skills for the future are stuffed with social skills like:

  • Leading: As workplaces become more collaborative and less hierarchical, the ability to lead and influence others is no longer restricted to the C-suite.

  • Empathy and Active Listening: With remote work and digital communication becoming the norm, the need for empathy and active listening skyrockets. These skills are vital for effective communication and teamwork, particularly when face-to-face interactions are limited.

  • Emotional Intelligence: High EQ, represented by these social skills, is increasingly seen as a predictor of success, sometimes even over IQ. It’s not just about being smart. It’s about being smart with people.

Evolving & emerging skills

I find we never do enough skill health checks.

Which is weird, IMO.

They’re the objects that grant us the power to improve our earnings and freedom, yet we don’t tend to them like you would a garden. Your skills need constant attention in the form of watering and pruning ya know.

  • Every quarter I recommend you do this:
  • Open a doc or grab a notebook
  • Create a 3-column table
  • Place these 3 headers – ‘expiring’, ‘evolving’ and ‘emerging’ in one of the column headers
  • Now, the good stuff. Reflect on your current skills and place each of them in the best column.

The power of this exercise enables you to:

  1. Chuck out the skills which no longer serve you and the world
  2. Double down on the skills that can give you a performance advantage
  3. Identify advantageous skills to add to separate you from the crowd

To help you with the last two columns, here’s what the World Economic Forums identified as the most pressing evolving and emerging skills across industries:

Skills are the biggest barrier to success

This is true for both you personally, and organisations.

We cannot understate the importance of skills in life and work. We each partake in the career marketplace. The currency in this market is skills.

→ The better skills you have, the better opportunities you can unlock.

You will see the reverse of this on the company side. For any company to succeed, they need the people with the best skills. And, those with the best skills can command the best opportunities.

Are you following me? Good.

We see this backed up in more data from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report. The single biggest barrier to businesses evolving is skills.

We have two big opportunities as L&D operators and leaders here:

1/ Focus deeply on your skills

As those often responsible for helping others improve, we tend to forget ourselves.

Don’t make this mistake.

You play in the career marketplace with the rest of the world. Spend time investing in the skills explored above with the how-to frameworks shared last time. These will be your route to being a high-performing operator with opportunities knocking at your door and a strategic L&D leader, should that be the path you want.

Pair these human skills with the 7 skills L&D pros need today and you will be unstoppable.

2/ Crafting the right skills strategies

Let’s be real, most companies have no clue what skills they have or need.

I see a lot of posturing online but very few have a real grasp on this. In next week’s chat, I’m going to share ideas and examples to help you close your company’s skills gap. For now, I’ll say this.

Lean on your internal and external market data to focus on the right skills, not more skills.

Too many of these fancy skill-based organisation strategies are focused on opinions rather than concrete evidence.

Questions to consider right now are:

  • Do I have a view of the key skills my organisation needs to succeed today
  • If not, how can I get this? (talent management data, HR and L&D systems etc)
  • Are these skills aligned with my organisation’s goals?
  • What are the skills we need to be successful in the next 3 years? Future-proof your workforce
  • How do I get the answers to these in the simplest and most minimal way? This is very important ←

You can learn more about skill-based organisations in this piece from Degreed.

Final thoughts

In sum:

  • Don’t forget to invest in your own skills
  • Focus on the right skills, not more skills
  • Skill strategies are worthless without the right data

Also read: The 5 skills that matter for work and how to build them

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

Categories
Artificial intelligence

Don’t Ignore This Skill: The Art of AI Collaboration

It seems like the biggest skill of the year is also one of the most ignored.

→ AI collaboration.

It’s the word of the year, no doubt. But are the companies that don’t educate their workforce on this technology today causing more harm than good?

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Educate on AI, don’t ignore it

You can’t put the genie back in the lamp.

This is a recurring conversation between me and L&D teams. You need to educate your workforce to be smart and safe.

You can mitigate bad habits and practices by being proactive now.

Otherwise, you will be the person creating that terrible compliance solution on being safe with generative AI tools.

Your company can ban tools it wants, but you can’t stop evolution.

According to an August 2023 BlackBerry survey of 2,000 global IT decision makers, 75% are currently considering or implementing bans on ChatGPT and other generative AI applications in the workplace, with 61% saying the measures are intended to be long-term or permanent

BBC: The employees secretly using AI at work

Life finds a way

Yes. That title is a direct quote from Jurassic Park by the legendary, Jeff Goldblum.

I believe it fits this narrative well. I see that fear and lack of understanding are leading to the stereotypical human reaction of demonising. This is dangerous.

Especially when we know that employees who use these tools will have an unfair advantage over others.

This has a huge effect on skill development too. Consider for a moment the companies who teach their employees to wield these tools to their advantage vs those who do not.

Who do you believe will have a more well-rounded skillset?

Make AI a partner, not the problem

Do you think your company would prefer employees to learn how to leverage these tools in the dark levels of a Reddit forum or from your local L&D team?

Perhaps that’s the one-liner you can use in your next strategy meeting.

The point is they’re getting this knowledge from somewhere. You can bet it doesn’t mix well with your ways of working and the best practices you’d want.

I spoke about this with an L&D function at a leading telecoms company recently.

Here’s 3 simple things you can do to support your workforce:

1. Educate yourself

Curate resources to educate and inform your workforce on Gen AI. A little knowledge can go a long way.

Here’s some resources to help you:

1️⃣ Generative AI explained for humans

2️⃣ 4 simple resources to accelerate your AI in work knowledge

3️⃣ A beginners guide to ChatGPT

2. Get clear on what’s useful

Social media tells us 1000’s of new AI tools are released daily.

Truth is 95% of these have nothing to do with AI. They’re sub-par products riding the hype wave. It’s your job to find what’s real and works for you.

Here’s my recommendation:

  1. Pick one popular app: ChatGPT, Claude or Google Bard
  2. Experiment with this one tool for 6 weeks
  3. Pick one other tool that’s specific for your industry. For example, writers might choose copy.ai or Jasper
  4. Experiment with both for 6 – 8 weeks. If they don’t fit, try others.
  5. Keep it minimal. Always have 1 general tool + one industry specific

→ Suggested reading: How to assess when to use AI tools.

3. Identify use cases

You should never use any piece of tech just because market expectations are high.

You always need a use case. You might find current generative AI tools don’t have any use cases for you, and that’s fine.

Here’s an exercise to try:

  1. Open a doc or a notebook
  2. Write down the max 10 tasks you do weekly
  3. Review each and ask, “from what I know about current generative AI tools, can they help with this task’?
  4. If so, investigate how and learn to use in your work.

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

Make AI Your Partner, Not The Problem 🤝

Get lifetime access to the only AI Crash Course designed for L&D Professionals. Join 500 + students to future-proof your skills and work smarter.

👉 Get started with my AI For L&D Pros Crash Course.

Categories
Skills

The 5 Skills That Matter For The Future of Work And How To Build Them

Everyone is scrambling to stay relevant.

We’re often led down the road of ‘quick hacks’ from social gurus in pursuit of being ‘future-proof’. It’s so hard to know what future-proof looks like in this era.

I could be a full-time gardener next year if AI does what all the ‘experts’ say it will.

I digress.

To shape the future, I look for the skills we need to both thrive and survive the road ahead. Over the past few years, I’ve analysed nearly 20 reports on the future of skills.

Yes, riveting, I’m aware.

Let’s unpack what I discovered in this mountain of research.

Contents

The 5 skills that matter for the Future of Work

I hate presentations where you wait an hour or two for the answer.

That’s not how I work, so here’s the headline data you need to know.

These 5 skills appeared in the top 10 of every report. It’s a consistency that’s hard to ignore.

I think of these as the essentials for navigating the next few years of work. Which we all know are going to be transformative (cough *AI*…cough). I’ll take you through what each skill actually entails, why it matters, and how to cultivate it for real world impact.

If you take only one thing away from today’s conversation, let it be this:

The future may be uncertain, but these skills will ground you no matter where the market goes.

And… maybe an even more important takeaway, the future is human-powered, not AI-first.

Trust but verify: The data behind this

I have a Sherlock Holmes case load worth of investigative material.

I won’t list every report. It’s my job to make it easier for you after all. I doubt you’ll explore them. Unless you have several months to digest 200 (ish) + pages, of course.

Here are the sources that formed the backbone of this analysis:

The great disruptor: Generative AI

2023 – 2024 will go down as the year/s of AI.

Each report analysed takes in the rise of Gen AI and how it influences our modern skills. I don’t believe we can talk about skills this year without those two little letters in AI.

The way we live and work is obviously affected by this.

It’s happening whether we like it or not.

The real question is how does it impact the skills we need to succeed?

From my analysis so far, my bet is firmly on doubling down on your human skills. Each new report I sink my brain into only solidifies the need to build a strong foundation of human capabilities.

Deconstructing the 5 skills

I’m not going to leave you high and dry with no actionable takeaways.

I’ll unpack each skill and how you can nurture these in your career. Note: don’t forget the role of context in this exploration. You don’t need every skill and micro-skill on this list.

It’s up to you to find the right mix for your context.

Life is always moving in uncontrollable ways. So, look at what I share as a compass that adapts to it’s environment rather than the map (I hope that makes sense).

1/ Analytical Judgement: The art and science of making smart choices

Often exchanged with critical thinking.

It’s about evaluating information with a blend of logic, creativity, and judgement that can make or break strategic decisions (no pressure).

It’s composed of:

  • Critical Thinking: A skill often mentioned yet rarely unpacked to its full potential.

    It’s about examining issues from multiple angles, challenging assumptions, and identifying biases in the information at hand.

  • Problem-Solving: This is a combination of creative thinking to generate solutions and analytical thinking to evaluate them.

  • Logical Reasoning: The ability to structure information in a way that allows for confident outcomes. It often involves the use of frameworks or models to make sense of a complex situation.

    Basically, it makes the complex sound simple.

  • Decision-Making: Ultimately, analytical judgement is aimed at making informed decisions.

    You synthesise all the information you’ve gathered and weigh against the potential risks and benefits, to choose the best course of action.

→ How to Improve

  1. Engage in critical thinking exercises: Seek out different points of view. Be intentional in how you assimilate information to make your conclusions. Never outsource your thinking!

  2. Get comfy with data: Not every role demands deep data expertise, but knowing how to interpret trends and outcomes sharpens your decision making.

  3. Explore frameworks: Frameworks like SWOT analysis and Eisenhower’s Decision Matrix add structure to complex decisions.

2/ Creative Thinking: Fresh ideas…

I get this one can always sound a bit ambiguous.

It’s easy to dismiss creativity as a bonus skill, something only a few naturally excel in.

It allows you to break free from conventional thought patterns and explore new ways of solving problems. And…it can be learned.

Here’s what it covers:

  • Divergent Thinking: Open the floor for multiple solutions to a single problem, rather than forcing everything into one “right” answer.
  • Innovation: Creativity is closely tied to innovation.

    It’s not just solving problems but doing so in new and unique ways that add value. An emphasis on ‘value’.
  • Imagination: Imagination allows you to explore ‘what could be‘. We had a lot as children, we lose it somewhere along the way. Find a way to rediscover it.
  • Flexibility: The art of switching between different types of thought processes and perspectives. Aka, not being afraid to change your mind when given new data.
  • Risk-Taking: Life is risk. This is not easy, but can be rewarding. I’m not endorsing a reckless approach, rather, a calculated one to trying something new.

→ How to Improve

  1. Collaborate with Others: Different perspectives can spark new ideas, so don’t pass up the chance to connect with your fellow humans.

  2. Set aside time for unstructured thinking: An hour a week for “free thinking” can spark breakthroughs you won’t find in the structured grind.

  3. Learn from experiments, even failures: Document what works and what doesn’t. Creativity often thrives on these insights.

3/ Digital Intelligence: Get smart with tech

I hope this is a straightforward one.

We live in a world dominated, connected and integrated with digital technology. The best way to survive and thrive in it is by understanding how to leverage its tools.

You can’t stick your head in the sand anymore. That sand is now a digitally connected landscape.

Your digital intelligence is a blend of tech proficiency, digital citizenship, and cognitive skills.

Here’s a more nuanced look at its various components:

  • Technical proficiency: Understand how the platforms your most used apps are built on work, from basic software to more specialised tools. I’m talking the basics here.

  • Digital literacy: Beyond just knowing how to use tools, digital literacy involves understanding the “language” of these tools.

    You can call this the ‘why’ behind using tools.

  • Protect your data: This is just common sense, imo. It terrifies me how little the average human knows about protecting their personal data.

    Most are just bleeding data without knowing it.

  • Be thoughtful: While digital tech is amazing, it comes at a price. Understanding the ethical implications of your digital actions is wise.

    Think about copyright laws and understand the societal impact of algorithms. Never forget, “With great power, comes great responsibility”.

  • Move fast (but don’t break things): New tools and platforms emerge daily. Don’t be afraid to experiment and be an early adopter.

→ How to Improve

  1. Experiment: Try new tools and don’t be afraid to fail. You gotta find what works for you and enhances your life and work. Ignore the market.

  2. Engage in digital conversations: Blogs, social media and newsletters (like this one) can keep you in the loop of the latest, greatest and most useful stuff you need to know.

  3. Prioritise data safety: Get serious about data protection. I know I sound like everyone’s Dad, but read up on best practices, manage passwords securely, and understand basic cybersecurity. Thank me later.

4/ Adaptability: Change with the times

I know this is a overused word.

Yet, we can’t deny its importance. Essentially, it’s being a chameleon and moving with change rather than resisting it. A real mind-f**k for our biology.

Although it sounds simple, it’s a complex interplay of several attributes and attitudes:

  • Emotional resilience: This is the bedrock of adaptability. The ability to stay steady under pressure, even as challenges mount.

    Let’s be real, this is super hard and to be quite honest, I don’t have all the answers to it. We each have our own methods.

  • Learning agility: Be willing to quickly learn new information and skills, especially in the face of new challenges.

  • Open-mindedness 
    Listen to others’ perspectives.

    Being willing to change your own views and approaches when presented with new information is hard, yet, it can be a great unlock.

→ How to Improve

  1. Embrace Change: Mix up small habits in your daily routine to become more comfortable with change. Take different paths when you go for a walk or go to the gym at a different time. Make the mind build new experiences.

  2. Broaden your experiences: The more diverse your experiences, the more adaptable you’ll become. Say ‘yes’ to that next project.

  3. Listen closely: Spend more time actually listening to people rather than considering your response. You’ll be amazed at what you can pick up.

5/ Social Influence: Be more human

Don’t get confused.

This has nothing to do with having a large online following or being popular. This is a nuanced skill about building trust, showing credibility, and moving people toward positive outcomes.

Here’s a more in-depth look:

  • Communication: The cornerstone of social influence, and our existence. It’s more than talking to fellow humans. It’s about actively listening and being able to read between the lines (a skill in itself).

  • Emotional Intelligence: Essential for navigating interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence involves both self-awareness and the ability to read and respond to others’ emotions.

  • Leadership Skills
    This isn’t about authority but inspiring and motivating people to achieve a common goal.

  • Credibility
    To influence others, you need to be seen as credible and trustworthy. This means shaving a track history of actually doing the things you talk about.

→ How to Improve

  1. Get comfortable talking: Whether it’s through public speaking, talking to a friend or watching others. Confidence here will increase your social influence.

  2. Build Emotional Intelligence: Practice empathy and active listening to understand others better. Easier said than done, of course.

  3. Be consistent: Do what you say you will do and live by your actions not just words.

Final thoughts

Looking ahead, one thing’s clear.

While technology will keep evolving, it’s our uniquely human skills that’ll make us indispensable.

The skills we’ve dug into here aren’t trends. They’re the backbone of a resilient, future-ready career.

Here’s how you can put these into action right now:

  1. Start small: Pick one skill (you need) to work on. Tackle it in bite-sized ways. Apply critical thinking to a work decision, spend 15 minutes daily on a new digital tool, or run a creative brainstorming session with your team.

  2. Reflect, adjust, repeat: At month’s end, check in with yourself. What progress have you made? What didn’t work? Reflection is a powerful exercise.

  3. Ask for input: Get feedback from colleagues or mentors.

  4. Stay curious: A curious mind is your best ally. Whether it’s a podcast, a conversation with someone outside your field, or reading about on a new insight. Curiosity is the fuel you need.

Next time, we’ll explore the next 5 year outlook for the skills economy.

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