Imagine that your boss has sent you to an all-day workshop at the local Hilton. His last minute invitation meant you don’t even know the workshop topic. As the speaker begins, you are surprised to see the presentation is about “How to improve your relationship with your work robots”.
Does this sound far-fetched? It likely isn’t – at least if we look to the near future. A recent interview with technology market leaders reminded us that an emerging training priority is “the need for leaders to prepare their people to coexist and collaborate with machines in the decade ahead” (Boston Consulting Group). We have slowly been getting used to machines filling our soft drink cups at McDonalds, replacing our favorite bank teller with an app and self-scanning our passports at US Customs (see The Move to CX). This is just the beginning of a shift towards an increasingly technological work day. During the industrial age we had to learn to co-exist with machines. In the years ahead, we will have to learn to co-exist with the technology which is invading our workplaces. This means we will have to stop complaining about our robots and the digital assistants that are assigned to make us more productive. Instead, we will have to learn to thrive alongside them.
In addition to working more effectively with technology, here are 10 other skills that the experts think we need to be developing in order to succeed in our careers in 2022.
History teaches us that nothing stays the same. The pace of change is staggering. It also means that we will have to adapt our skills to fit an ever-changing world. What skills would you add to this list?
Jeff Suderman is a futurist, consultant and professor who works in the field of organizational development. He partners with clients to improve culture, leadership, teamwork, organizational alignment, strategy and organizational future-readiness. He resides in Palm Desert, California. Twitter: @jlsuderman Email: jeff@jeffsuderman.com
Image Credit: FastCompany
1 Comment
Very interesting shift in perceived skill sets required to fulfill job descriptions. How Creativity increases and Negotiation drops. Good word, as always, Dr. Suderman.