Key Point: I believe that today’s employee has to be capable of understanding and/or knowing how to find, develop and apply technology that might deliver customers what they really want without customers even knowing yet. Think about how rapidly our expectations change and how fast today’s “wow” becomes tomorrow’s “yawn.”
Somebody noted to me the other day that the current rate of change will be the slowest of our lifetime. And (this seems beyond belief), I heard that some health care futurists predict that wellness technology knowledge is progressing so rapidly that the human who lives to be 1,000 (yes that’s one thousand) years old has already been born. That idea feels almost incomprehensible. Disrupters are everywhere and are attacking everything. No profit or non-profit entity is safe or protected. No job is “safe.” At the same time, opportunities have never been greater.
If you don’t know how to think, use and even design application services like Uber or OpenTable, you likely are too far behind the technology curve to provide much more than pedestrian, analogue behavior. Soon, almost all transaction business will be delivered by machines. If you don’t know how Disney was inspired by the Nike FuelBand to create The My Disney Experience, and how they removed as much guest friction as possible with Magicbands, you are likely missing some critical thinking and insight. So what does this imply to you and me regardless of age or position?
Character Moves:
- Become as digital as possible. Use mobile devices and applications wherever and however you can to understand our possibilities. The idea that this technology is dehumanizing and/or that it’s beyond your interest, or too hard to understand is a mindset for someone who doesn’t want to be employed very long. And I don’t think this is an overstatement. Holding your nose to the idea of an iWatch or that Uber is unfair to taxis may be noble, but also very shallow.
- As a small test that might be an interesting filter to ongoing employment could include questions like:
– Tell me about the top five apps on your smart phone and why you use them.
– Create a way you might apply technology on how you might get rid of or smooth out pain points our customers currently experience? Bring me back a design by the end of the day.
– Outline the key attributes you think you have to demonstrate that you are techustomer capable?
Techustomer (my made up word) savvy in The Triangle,
Lorne
P.S. Next year the questions will be way more challenging
One Millennial View: Snapchat… Oh, that Snapchat. The company valued at $10-$20 BILLION dollars today is one special example I believe every average Millennial probably subconsciously conceptualized themselves before it entered the app world in 2011. Seriously. It DID take geniuses like Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy to realize how to actually make it a downloadable reality, but… It’s safe to bet that in 2011, someone, somewhere, texted a picture. They wished and dreamed it could be seen and then disappear in 10 seconds. Unfortunately, their only recourse would have been a follow up, “Hey, mind if you delete that photo?” plea. A self destruct option was science fiction fantasy. Hilariously, it might be a reason no one will be voting for the infamously shady Anthony Weiner in 2016. Keep that in mind the next time you think a convenience is impossible or unable to be manufactured.
– Garrett
Edited and published by Garrett Rubis