The cover of my recently-released book 'What The Heck Do I Do With My Life?' has a picture of a dinosaur on it. This T-Rex is a metaphor for what Charles Darwin once famously said: 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.'
Sixty-five million years ago, when an asteroid struck the earth, it unleashed such an extraordinary amount of change in such a short period of time, that seventy-five percent of all living things were unable to adapt and became extinct, including dinosaurs. However, some creatures were able to adapt to the new conditions the new normal - and they flourished. Amongst these were our ancestors, the early mammals.
Such periods of extreme change pose what is called an 'adaptation challenge' for us. And they result in Darwinian binary outcomes: those who can adapt, flourish; those who cannot perish. We are living through a period of similar intense change right now. The world will change more in this century. However, this time, the change is driven not by an asteroid, but by us. There are so many forces at play: technology, climate change, or rather the backlash of all our unsustainable behavior, extreme inequality, polarisation, loss of trust... I could go on, but essentially, all this is combining to create an extremely turbulent world... a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous or VUCA world. We saw this very vividly during the COVID-19 pandemic – where, those who were able to adapt, flourished; those who couldn't suffered.
The 21st Century: Future of Work and Skills
With this deep emphasis on the need for us to adapt to our rapidly-changing times, allow me to share a few tools and strategies that may be useful to flourish in times like this. My focus here is not just only on the individual level, but also for larger organizations and HR leaders like you.
This story is from the January 2022 edition of People Matters.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2022 edition of People Matters.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Digital Transformation Can Power The Great Reset
Technology has the potential to serve as the key enabler of change between digitalising administrative tasks and fostering human connections
The Crypto Meltdown Of 2022
FTX implosion: A setback, but not the end for the crypto market
Govern Pre-IPO Unicorns to Create Value; Not Valuation
Billion-dollar startups always make the headlines. But is there true value behind those eye-catching valuations? How can proper governance be implemented for these much-hyped companies?
On change and change management
The best way to end the year, especially such a disrupted one as 2022, is by laying the groundwork for the year to come. Michelle Yong, Head of Resourcing at Shell, offers some insights on change management to bring us forward into 2023
The Great Reconnection: A paradigmatic moment for employers and employees
This year has not been a good one for employee retention. The Great Resignation, originally thought to be a US phenomenon, has emerged in Asia now. But is there a way to turn it into the Great Reconnection?
Lessons Managing in leadership: a global hybrid team
What takeaways can we draw from the pandemic? Fatima Koning, Chief Commercial Officer at IWG, shares what the last five years have taught her about managing a global sales team across 120 markets in the hybrid model
Eight HR trends that we saw throughout 2022
As companies manage their workforces in a dynamic era, HR departments have continually adapted and adjusted, and never more than this year as digital acceleration and workplace evolutions came together
One way to turn the tide of employee retention
There's a surprising link between skill development opportunities and job satisfaction. Here are some ways of boosting skilling and thereby talent retention
A key focus for L&D going into 2023 should be business alignment
Venkat Subramaniam of Degreed believes that learning is core to business success and organisations need to invest in the right processes and technologies to adapt to continuous change
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP CAN BE GAME GHANGER FOR INCLUSIVE FUTURE OF WORK
BREAKING FREE FROM THE STEREOTYPES IN THE INSURANCE SECTOR, PAMELA THOMSON-HALL SHARES HER JOURNEY OF BEING A CHAMPION FOR WOMEN AND BRINGING ABOUT A CHANGE IN A MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY
