future skills start with current strengths

what’s prompting my thinking

One of the questions I’m discussing a lot with clients at the moment is about helping them answer the question What skills will we need in the future?

It’s a perfectly rationale question. With the pace of change accelerating, AI continuing to evolve and organisations navigating an increasingly uncertain future, many are trying to make sense of what all of this means for their people and their performance.  Yet the more I explore this with senior stakeholders, the more I wonder whether we’re searching for certainty in a place where certainty simply doesn’t exist.

If I’m honest, I’m not convinced anyone can confidently predict the precise skills that will matter most five or ten years from now (feel that’s too long a time frame). What I do think we have more control is what we can do to help people become more adaptable, more self-aware and more confident in their ability to continuously unlearn, learn and relearn.

Perhaps that’s why I continue to be drawn towards strengths-based approaches.

I’m finding that when I create the space and give people the tools to understand what energises them, where they naturally add value and how they show up at their best, they often become better equipped to navigate whatever comes next.

why it matters

My worry is that I’m starting to find that our continual conversations about future skills are unintentionally creating a sense that people need to reinvent themselves to remain relevant.  The reality is that most of the people I see adapting successfully aren’t starting from scratch.  Many are building on a foundation that already exists, many are finding ways to use their strengths in different ways or applying their experience in new contexts. All of them are staying curious enough to learn and flexible enough to evolve.

Yes, of course technical skills will continue to matter.  Yet, the capabilities I have, and continue to see, in people who thrive through change feel remarkably future-proof.  Skills such as curiosity, adaptability, self-awareness, resilience and a willingness to keep learning still stand the test of time. 

Ironically, the harder we try to predict future capability requirements, the easier it becomes to overlook the capabilities that will enable people to adapt regardless of what the future brings. 

a closing thought

Perhaps the most future-proof investment we can make is not choosing between future skills and current strengths. We need both.  While I continue to explore ways organisations can think about the capabilities they may need tomorrow, there is equal value in helping their people understand themselves more deeply, build on what already makes them effective and develop their confidence to adapt when the future becomes our reality.