The one essential skill for the future of work


Two weeks ago I spoke at CEBIT in Sydney on the subject of why the future is not AI (more on that in another post). At the end of my presentation, as is often the case, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions. One question was, I thought, worth mentioning.
The question was this — “what is the one skill that you think will be the most in demand in the future?”
Those “one thing” questions are often tricky, because life is very rarely boiled down to one thing. Interestingly, however, I didn’t hesitate.
There is one skill that’s emerging as absolutely vital for work in the future. One skill that not only is currently in huge demand but will also continue to be as we move into the 2020s and beyond.
That one skill — and my answer — is problem solving.
Over the last century there have been a significant shift in the way we work. In short, in terms of styles of work, we’ve gone from largely fixing things to largely fixing problems. The work we do now, and certainly the jobs that are growing in demand, is of the type where we are solving problems — everything from global warming to better ways of doing what we’ve done for years.
In fact, the technology industry, one that was quite small around 50 years ago, is now one of the biggest industries in the world and employs among the largest numbers of people. It’s also an industry where there is the most significant shortage of people and where jobs are in the highest demand.
And what are the jobs in technology? They’re typically ones where we solve problems.
Regardless of whether that jobs is a software developer, a cyber analyst, a product manager, a project manager, a people manager, an operations manager or a sales executive, to do it, the worker has to solve problems.
But technology is not the only industry that requires these skills. As advancements in technology affect just about every job — from how we build roads to how we treat patients, requires us to think differently about how we work.
In all honesty, we’ve always had to be problem solvers — it’s one of the things we do best. As humans, our want to do things better sets us apart from other animals. Let’s face it, we’ve come a long way from cave living and chasing woolly mammoths for food.
Into the future, however, this need to solve problems will become even more pressing, in fact, solving some of the very problems we are, and will continue to, create. One of those problems staring down the barrel is how we deal with AI and it’s impact on our communities and lives. But more on that later….
