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The famous line by the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, change is the only constant, rings louder now than ever before in our world of knowledge services, as we see change feeding more change. The stakeholders in the industry – employees, future employees, academia that is preparing these future employees, the service providers and governments whose policies impact all other stakeholders, will do better when they can all embrace change smoothly and seamlessly.
Speaking specifically of skills, businesses and learning experts are putting efforts into growing employees’ expertise in current skills, and at the same time imparting future skills. Everyone’s time is limited, so this is invariably a challenge to get it just right. The ones who do, thrive. If a business has opportunity loss, that loss extends to employees and potential employees as well, and by extension, the community at large. So, everyone has a stake in ensuring that the talent pool at any given time is appropriately skilled. The good news is that this topic is continually discussed and debated, and we have solutions that can work.
Specialisations, in plural: The learning experts are indeed talking about pi-model of learning, outdating the t-model, but I can’t stress enough on the importance of this approach. In fact, I would advocate more vertical lines in the pi and a wider horizontal line! One specialisation and some generic skills stopped being relevant a generation ago. Now, at least, we need three specialisations that include current and future skills and basic knowledge across a wider range of skills and competencies.
Take the example of a software developer who now needs to learn the next big language, while constantly getting better at the current platforms, be adept in new ways of working like Agile or DevOps, and have soft skills as well, while two decades back expertise in one language was sufficient. A graphic designer today needs to have skills in multiple 2D and 3D software, be able to use AI, and have soft skills, whereas a decade back, expertise in one software would get them through. This holds true across the board in the knowledge industry.
There are professionals in whom I see this ability to grow multiple skills comes naturally. It is not that they are necessarily more capable or hungry or have access to more learning assets (sure, these are all contributing factors). Most importantly, it’s their mindset. They define their professional capability in terms of whatever is needed for a certain outcome the job demands. Contrast this with the traditional definition of expertise in a certain software, platform, or a narrow set of skills, and you can see how we can approach future proofing at scale.
Make learning accessible, democratic: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Conventional learning takes the word teach quite literally – the ecosystem focused on teaching specific subjects or skills. I believe that the single biggest transformation the education system can do for the maximum benefits is to look at their role as enablers of learning and build systems in which learners can pick what they want to learn and go about it in a way that suits their unique situation the best. There is simply too much to teach, and too many people to train, for the tutor-pupil model to be sustainable outside college campuses. Instead, focus on educating students on the why and how of learning. Build online learning platforms that are easy to use, and curate learning assets that are not only relevant but are presented in engaging ways, showing real world relevance to each module. Devise learning pathways for specific end goals. And then let learners choose how they go about consuming the content.
The same philosophy can do wonders inside colleges, too. While there is some amount of choice students have with elective subjects, there is immense room to expand the concept of learning by choice. Allow students greater flexibility to pick subjects and specialise, let them pursue more where their passion is, versus prescribed subjects within a stream. Include choices that can make them ready for what the industry needs. When universities in the US can offer management courses alongside medicine, for someone to be ready for a role in hospital management, surely, there is a lot of scope here for us.
To summarise this point, if we can provide learners with ample choices, in colleges and outside, to curate a set of skills that their desired career path calls for, I am confident that we will all see a more capable, ready and confident workforce.
I frequently urge employees in my organisation to keep learning new skills and prepare themselves for the next change. I believe learning should not be limited to one’s profession – it should be personal too. From philosophy to self-care, health to relationships, learning elevates the individual continuously.
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