On the next century

Last week my grandfather would have turned 100. He died 6 years ago so he didn’t quite make it, but nonetheless he lived through some pretty extraordinary changes in the world.

He was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1920. He lost both his parents to the Holocaust when he was 19, and managed to get himself and some others out of the Warsaw ghetto in the nick of time. You can read a bit more of his story in the blog I wrote celebrating his life

I’ve been reflecting a bit on what the next century is going to look like, what will work be like in 2120. My friend and Thought Leaders founder Matt Church and I were joking about talking to someone from the future about Thought Leaders Business School. We were imagining someone saying to us “wow, you still had money back then … how quaint.”

Part of my reflection has been on what a good strategy running a practice is for future-proofing your career. In a practice your job is to think, sell and deliver. I have no idea what work will be in 30, or 50 or 100 years … but I reckon the ability to:

• think – extend the body of knowledge in a particular field in a way that’s relevant, meaningful and engaging for your tribe;
• sell – enrol people in a future and influence them to take actions that make their world better; and
• deliver – speak, write, train, mentor, facilitate and coach people in a way that makes a profound difference;

will be in demand long after the ability to complete a tax return or perform surgery or drive a truck will be.