Roles, they are a changin’…
The evolution of what we do continues
In the past five to six years I have delivered 100’s of days training. Now, I have found myself questioning – what is training? Traditionally, it is when a group of people sit in a room to learn a skillset that will help them do better in their work. Simple enough, and today this would still be close to many people’s opinion. But there is this new invention called Google. And following Google, there is a host of specialist Apps people use on their minicomputers they carry around in their pockets.
Information is no longer why people need training. Therefore, training has changed. The way Trainers train must change. The value needs to come from the experience, rather than the searchable content. The deep discussions that are generated, and the memorable moments which make learnings stick are the valuable elements.
This is the same in every workplace. No matter what industry you are in (or department) the customer you serve has most likely changed. The technology you use or possibly used by your competitors has changed. The structures of the organisations you are in, or that of your clients has most likely changed too. If we look at government departments, they change structure every election cycle, plus when budgets are adjusted, and on top of that whenever a new CEO is appointed to a department there will be even more change.
Do you remember the good old days, back in 2009 when Uber didn’t exist? Or way back in 2014 when Afterpay wasn’t a thing? On the other hand there are a range of jobs that exist now that never did before (Eight Jobs That Didn’t Exist Ten Years Ago, Masterstudies.com).
Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory have recently authored the book, Forever Skills where they lay out the 12 skills we will need to future proof our careers, teams, and families. Here is a quick article written by Flanagan in Kochie’s Business Builder where she describes the 3 spheres of change:
What is changing
What needs changing
What is unchanged
As I have had to update the skills that I use in my daily work to provide an experience, many will need to evolve the way they work to continue achieving and maintain a competitive advantage.
Andy Warhol said it best, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
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