Are you ready for an AI World?

“The future’s not ours to see, Que Sera Sera, what will be, will be’ the heavenly voice of Doris Day rings in my ears.

 We may have hummed that fascinating tune a countless time, during our wonder years of growing up, and yet today when I play back the music and lyrics in my mind, I suddenly stop myself to ask, ‘But why Not’? The future probably is for us to see, with a world being whelmed by headlines that cry “Your jobs may not exist”!  

There’s a lot going on in the world of AI. With tasks and roles undergoing a rather invisible shift, how do we prepare for this new AAA world of Assisted, Augmented and Autonomous Intelligence? 

The World Economic Forum’s crystal ball gazing on jobs and roles reported almost 2 million new jobs will be created by 2020 and 1 million tech talent to be upskilled. It is an exciting time indeed to reflect and show oneself the metaphorical mirror and ask, “What do I do get ready for that job of tomorrow?”

In my experience as an Coach, it’s a transformational experience for me, each time I interact and dawn the helper hat, and listen to people who invest concerted effort in taking the bold step of self-reflection.

Here are some very powerful traits which have been observed among those who are truly preparing to embrace this new world: 

They are not afraid to feel disrupted: Some of the greatest inventions in the world, were started by that tingling sensation of discomfort. Think about it. High speed travel to medical wonders to 3D printing, all have come about by someone sensing the problem, feeling disrupted and dedicating time and energy to solve it. The feeling of discomfort leads to that disruption, forcing one to move away from the warmth of the herd, and to venture bravely into a world less trodden.

They are vulnerable: This vulnerability is to seek learnings from sources never imagined. In my conversations with people preparing for the future, they always seemed to be seeking new project experiences, signing up for self-paced learning modules, having those weekend study circles or connecting with experts on a subject one would love to learn, they say to themselves, it’s never too late to learn!

They are Prepared:  There’s an old saying which goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. There seems to be less left to serendipity. One of their secret ingredients is to consciously invest time in planning what next, what are the unused opportunities, and strengths which will get them to the future. They look at development in equal stance as a financial investment. 

Be it facing a bot during the next job interview or preparing to embrace how to maneuver through an AI driven process or a new technology on which they need to be upskilled, they are starting today.

The act of re-framing:  Self-limiting beliefs can be in many forms, they are the assumptions we make of ourselves, the self- talk we may do very unconsciously. They come in many forms, “I can’t, I won’t, I will probably not do well’ in one spectrum. The other kind of self-talk being ‘I know it all. Nothing can happen to me’ in the extreme end.  They sometimes are the little minions in our mind which pull us down or keep us where we are.

I remember a senior leader once saying, ‘I am wired this way, I am not sure if I can’. To the people preparing for the new world, they don’t see assumptions as barriers and are constantly challenging set beliefs and reframing them in the current context. If mind doesn’t give up, so won’t they!  

 This seems to be just the beginning of a whole new world we are setting to sail.  We started with a song, so will conclude with one. If I were to select my song today, it would be probably one from the spectacular Disney animation, non-princess, voyager Moana with the lyrics which go “We know the way…We set a course to find.” Indeed, we will.