March Newsletter from SoftEd

March Leadership Insight from David Mantica

Is Experience a Depreciating Asset?

I conduct numerous presentations that discuss the theme of preparing for change and the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) it causes. The key issue is the speed of change. It continues to accelerate, driving VUCA higher and higher. This disequilibrium is disorienting and scary, leading to paralysis in individuals, teams, divisions, and companies. Such paralysis results in inaction, leading to irrelevance. This is the pattern we see repeated daily, as evidenced by the data on the staying power of S&P 500 companies, which averaged 33 years in 1965 and is forecasted to shrink to 14 years by 2026.

What we know for sure is that change erodes. The faster the pace of change, the faster the erosion. So, what erodes in knowledge workers with change? It is the "hard skills" that erode. Hard skills are skills like software or hardware tool expertise, specific technology expertise, coding in a specific language, or specific system administration skills. These are skills where you interface with a device that you use to increase the productivity of your work or provide value to customers (internal or external).

So, what depreciates are the hard skills we bring to the table. Here is the problem: those hard skills are what we were told in college and with certification curriculums would provide us with long-term returns. Both companies and individuals have been sold on this belief. However, this belief is now broken because of the pace of change and the VUCA that this pace of change causes. You (both individuals and companies) can no longer hold the belief that hard skills appreciate.

The belief needs to change. It needs to become that fast and continuous learning is the appreciating asset. It isn't because the knowledge of those tools and systems erodes; it's because their usefulness and value erode. What people and companies do is hold on to knowledge and skills they trust and that bring comfort. And in the face of VUCA, that is a natural reaction. The status quo becomes an invisible killer, and it is this reaction, as discussed earlier, that leads to irrelevance.

The mindset needs to shift to one that expects that what you work on now will not be what you work on in two to three years. You should already be testing and trying new systems and tools to be ready when the need comes to use those tools. In doing this, you build a culture around learning and testing being the asset that appreciates (both at the individual level and the company level).

This is much easier said than done. Also, we did not discuss the other set of skills we use at work, "power skills." Do those appreciate or depreciate? We will dig into that question more deeply in next month's newsletter.

Upcoming Free Webinars (Earn 1 PDU/CDU):

Integrating Financial Metrics with Tech Portfolio Management: An Introduction Zoom Webinar March 13th 1:00PM EDT with Chris Knotts

The Art of Presentations Zoom Webinar March 19th 1:00PM EDT with David Mantica

Free On-Demand Trainings Recently Recorded:

Implementing Private Large Language Models for In-House AI Solutions with Chris Knotts

Generative AI in the Legal and Compliance Arena: A Brief Snapshot with Chris Knotts

March Courses:

Certified Scrum Product Owner , March 4 - 5

Product Management , March 4 - 6

Certified ScrumMaster , March 11 - 12

Business Analysis Bootcamp , March 11 - 15

Lean Portfolio Management , March 13 - 15

Agile Project Management , March 19 - 21

Enterprise Agile Coaching , March 19 - 21

Agile Fundamentals , March 20 - 22

Agile Test Automation , March 20 - 22

AI for Project Management , March 20 - 22

Certified Scrum Product Owner , March 21 - 22

Implementing DevOps , March 25 - 27

Leading Self: Leading with Agility , March 25 - 27