Your Computer Skills Are Obsolete

Have you been in the workforce for over 5 years? Is your job something other than the field of Cloud Engineering or IT?

I have some bad news for you: Your mental model of computer work is most likely obsolete.

(There's some good news too, but we need to be clear-eyed about what the bad news is first.)

There is a massive paradigm shift in computing happening right under our noses, right now.

It actually already happened in tech 10-15 years ago. The rest of the economy is just still catching up.

It's already in most aspects of your personal life, entertainment, on your phone, etc. It's being done so well in major commercial platforms that it's probably invisible to you.

It's cloud computing, and by proxy, Machine Learning (ML).

I'm not just talking about the tech itself, though that's huge. I'm talking about how you think about what you produce, even when you are "using" the cloud.

Many people still have the traditional, desktop mental model of computing.

That may not seem like a big deal on the surface, but it is a ticking time bomb of skill gaps across numerous industries.

The traditional model goes something like this:

1. As a worker, I make products X and Y, using A and B applications on my desktop computer.
2. I make my product, and I hit save twice for good measure in case "the system" crashes.
3. I save my product to my folder on my hard drive/network drive.
4. I name it with a version#, or "current as of" date, or in a "working folder."
5. I open up my email.
6. I attach my file and send it to my boss/stakeholder/customer for review.
7. They send me a corrected version of my document.
8. I integrate those changes in my old file, or use the new copy, etc.
9. I export my file as a PDF, or some other "deliverable ready" static format.
10. Oops...there was a change...start over at step 1-4 depending on your workflow.

Recognize any of that?

Yeah. Me too.

It's basically the workflow of millions of offices across the world right now.

And it's a workflow on life support. It doesn't matter how far away from the field of IT you think you are, there's someone working on an automation tool for your industry. Right now.

If the primary responsibilities of your job revolve around any portion of that workflow, then your job has a shelf life that's expiring soon. ML will do it faster, better, more efficiently, and with unlimited attention to detail.

That's not a fun prospect, and I empathize.

Now, the good news:

You can learn the skills that you need to begin readying yourself for the change.

It will take time. It will require some willingness to learn new things. It will require some self-reflection. But it's doable.

And, I have a recommendation for where to start.

Start by cultivating an interest in job-related subjects that you're not good at. Who do you normally go to when <insert issue> comes up?

Start right there.

Go learn about that subject, and that job. You don't have to become an expert, but get a working mental model for what it entails.

I know that sounds broad and roundabout.

But it's actually the central skill of the future:

The ability to ask smart, creative questions about new domains, and draw valuable insights from diverse data sets.

That starts with cultivating broad interests in new domains. It starts by exposing yourself to current insights about those new domains.

And this isn't a one and done "skill."

It has to be your new worldview. It should percolate within everything that you like to do.

Start right now with the things that you know about, but don't know, and then grow outward from there.

#cloudengineer #IT #lifelonglearner #criticalthinking #resume #jobskills