Hey there. Today our topic will be the future. But not the Future like that, today I will be talking to you about skills that will be important and relevant for the future. And why? Because I simply can. That’s why.
I am doing an internship right now, and I realized how important some things are, that aren’t taught by the Teachers in school. Either the education system needs to seek a drastic change, or we simply need to change it ourselves. I am so desperate, to tell you these things, because, I reckon these are the things that are truly important for us and a better future. Because we are the future. And thinking outside the box is something we all could use a little more than taught in school. We need to be dauntless, and open to see the bigger picture, even if it means standing up to our teachers, who most likely will expel us (at least in our school).
One of the most important qualities is mental elasticity and the ability to solve complex problems. The future is going to bring new and many problems we’ve never seen before in a world we’ve never experienced. In order to solve these problems, we’ll need to have the mental flexibility to think outside of the box, see the big picture and rearrange things to find a solution. And with our current education system, I highly doubt were raising those types of children. The more difficult problems we tackle and are confronted with, the bendier our brain gets.
The second quality we will need to acquire is critical thinking. And by that, I don’t mean questioning everything and believing in any moronic conspiracy theory, but your future career will require you to have outstanding critical thinking skills. You’ll constantly need to be analyzing situations, considering multiple solutions and making decisions at that moment through logic and reasoning.
An argument I hear all the time is: RobOts aRe GoInG tO sTeaL ouR JoB, well, the more creative you are, the less likely it is, that you will be replaced. While robots may be better than us at calculating, they aren’t very good at creating original content, thinking outside the box or being original.
Yet…
I don’t know what exactly the deal is, with school these days, or what old teachers still have against technology, when they realize, technology is such a big part of our lives. Guess what, it’s not going to go away completely. So deal with it. Schools need to understand, with all due respect: in the future, most jobs will become automated. That means that students have to be innovative, curious and resilient to adapt to changes.
In the new world, and the future, creativity is by far one of the most important leadership skill. In the near future, no one will be hired because of what they know. We have search engines like google for that. People will be hired because of what they can do with their knowledge, and how they can use it to think outside the box and solve real-world problems with that. The CEO and Founder of Alibaba said, we should not compete with artificial intelligence, but instead, we should focus on developing unique human intelligence.
Many Top and leading companies do not look at grades anymore. That’s the old way. Google said: ”GPA’s are useless and irrelevant for hiring.” I don’t get teachers saying it’s our fault, we are lazy and don’t like to learn. Because if the teachers bring Joy into the classroom, they can make any unmotivated and bad student, nerdy and motivated. That’s why teachers Jobs are so important. They are supposed to shape exactly those types of people, who have all of these qualities. And not robots, that can memorize a few facts, and tick boxes.
That’s why I respectfully, ask teachers, please remember, the importance of your job.