The Next Economy will be driven by 10 key technologies. Underpinning all of them is artificial intelligence. Though people believe that truly intelligent computing already exists, it’s not true. Rather, current techniques such as machine and deep learning give us automation; not intelligence.
Intelligent machines scare people to the core for many reasons. Already, there is some automation happening in the world that will change the way we work. To adapt, reskilling is a key challenge for the Next Economy. We can somewhat control the pace of change, what we can do is equip our employees and workforce with skills to deal with that going forward.
Given automation, the top three skills of the future are creativity, emotional intelligence, and an aptitude for learnig. Yes, learning is a skill which you can become better at; but like eveything you have to develop a habit for learning.
Lifelong learning is a habit; not a task
Though the talk of reskilling is getting lots of attention, for me, an incoming crisis and threat shouldn’t be an excuse to begin considering the implications and start acting.
With that said, how do you never stop learning?
Hubspot, marketing automation provider, has a weekly chat where it invites people to answer questions; last week was about learning.
Question 10: How do you never stop learning? #HubThoughts pic.twitter.com/sVS1B3JDyw
— HubSpot (@HubSpot) June 19, 2018
My response is: perpetual curiosity, drive for constant improvement and self-awareness.
Let’s break these down:
- Perpetual curiosity. The leader of the future is an obsessive learner, not just about topics but also people. Leaders are learners, they understand learning is a skill that helps them solve complex problems of all types, anticipate the future, shift perspective, and look beyond the obvious.
- Drive for constant improvement. As stated in the previous point, if you’re an obsessive learner you know that if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. A “get better” mindset is a keystone of people who can adapt to any circumstance, flowing like water.
- Self-awareness. Knowing and understanding yourself is a key sign of intelligence. So being aware of what one knows and doesn’t know is extremely important. If everyone were to do a personal SWOT analysis of her/himself, I guarantee you that getting better at learning would not come up in their areas of opportunity; it’s not something people see as a skill. Truth is: we can all get better at learning.
Additionally, I like this response from a fellow tweeter:
By taking on more and "never arriving" .
As @PeterVoogd23 says, "take on more to become more. When you challenge your limits, your limits expand".
— thewineandfoodreview (@Jeanwandimi) June 19, 2018
Bottom line: The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways. A love for learning is a key sign of a growth mindset, whick is key to future-proof yourself.