AI, Soft Skills and Problem-Solving: The Key to Thriving in the Future of Work.
Artificial Intelligence is one of the most talked-about topics of the last three years. It is not a conversation about technology, however, it’s one about humans and how each of our lives will change and evolve with the introduction and continued development of AI. What can we do to keeping growing and gaining value? Shift your focus onto things only we can do – soft skills! Problem solving, communication and leadership are among the most sought after (human) skills in our new world of Artificial Intelligence.
Here’s Darren’s Take:
You can’t open your laptop, watch the TV, or have a conversation without hearing AI, AI, AI. My Mum (84) was part of a WhatsApp group where ‘AI’ had been typed. When I saw her, she said, ‘Why is Cousin Alan taking over the world?’. Old people and tech – not a great combination. Please, for the sake of my Mum can we use ‘Ai’?!
I love that the Chairman of Alibaba, Jack Ma, said that humans will never be able to process data as quickly as machines and we should not even try. Soft skills is where our future lay. And on that theme, Linkedin’s 2024 report said that the most in-demand skills will be:
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Leadership
It is the second one that I believe we talk least about. Probably because problem solving tends to be something we more do when we are in more formal groups with facilitators. There are very few problem-solving techniques we use on a day-to-day basis, other than chatting to a colleague (Though this has become harder with remote working as you cannot spin around on your chair and go, ‘Hey, Dave, What do you think about…?’.) Elon Musk once announced that we are paid according to the size and difficulty of problems we solve. So, we’re not just paid to stare at the laptop answering 112 emails per day? – No, we’re not. We’re here to solve big and difficult problems because they’re the ones that make the biggest difference to the bottom line and this is why we get the big bucks. So, how do we get better at solving this big and difficult stuff?
- Focus on a big problem in the important box of Eisenhower’s urgent and important matrix. Don’t allow yourself to just be a firefighter working on the urgent and important items in box 1, because they’re not the big problems.
- Eat That Frog every day, making any dent in the big problem.
- ‘Does it make the boat go faster?’ is a great book about winning in Olympic rowing. Applying this to problem solving – ‘Does it help to solve the problem?’.
- Go old school. Screens have their place, of course they do. Also, they do not. Leave your phone (Yes, I said leave your phone – surgery may be required), & laptop, grab a piece of paper & a pen and go and think.
- Learn to mind map.
- Gather some bright people together, a flipchart, and write the problem in a box on a piece of flipchart paper and ask them for their expert input. De Bono’s 6 Hats is a great technique to help.
- Get a coach. There is a reason why every Olympian has one.
