27 Apr

Posted at 12:56h in covid-19, EQ skills, Future of Work, GenZ, GenZ Parent, Millennial, new normal, Newsletter by
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A letter to my time-travelling self

I hope you will enjoy this wonderfully whimsical video made by Comedian Julie Nolke. She has a conversation with her January 2020 self. Her video inspired this post. Enjoy a listen, then see if you can relate! Read on ...   [embed]https://youtu.be/xk_MHfOAfRQ[/embed]  

Monday morning quarterbacking the COVID-19 crisis

It will be easy to write history. When this COVID-19 crisis ends, we will each have the advantage of hindsight, more information, more knowledge and so much data. We will easily be able to connect the dots looking backwards, and see where we could have, should have, would have done differently.

So, if you could time travel .....

What are 4 things you would tell your past self?

  1. Dream big & bold. Because the world realizes the word impossible no longer exists.
  2. Make your will. And get cracking on your 'big projects'. You never know when your time will be up.
  3. That goal to 'look good on camera' before venturing into video creation - don't sweat it. Focus on the content, not your looks. Your friends & family are quickly going to get used to seeing you sleepy-eyed, grey haired and in leggings.
  4. Take out the sewing machine and get it serviced.

Would you have listened to yourself?

For each item on my list, I would probably bring a lot of argumentation to my current self - a lot of constraints and boundaries. Many would be related to space & time. Which is funny because when I think about what I do, my favourite activity is to play with time. Which goes to show .... I think a lot of my resistance was centred on someone else's SHOULD do list, instead of my JUST do list.

Futurecasting

The FUTUREcasting workshops that I've developed are all about time travel, scenario planning and playing with options. Watching for signals. Reading the virtual tea leaves. It is a little like being the proverbial indigenous scout - who knows how to track wildlife based on paw prints and broken twig indicators. The workshops allow us to visit a variety of possible futures - and creating a framework for operating that will function adequately in all, optimally in some and read the signals so we know when to switch to a different toolkit.

Growth mindset

  • Do you have an open mind?
  • Are you willing to entertain ideas that others consider nonsense?
  • Do you trend towards abundance or scarcity?
  • Do you love watching McGyver or Apollo-13 and get a thrill when you read how someone jerry-rigged a ventilator?
We need your ideas as we re-invent and re-imagine a new normal.

What next?

Now knowing which constraints have been so easily broken right across the globe, and how the economy, society and politics are all in upheaval

What letter will you write to your future self?

4 future

14 Apr

Posted at 21:58h in Career Conversations, covid-19, EQ skills, Future of Work, GenZ, GenZ Parent, Millennial, new normal, Newsletter, transitions by
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As we move into the Future of Work, robots and AI are moving more aggressively into the realm of IQ - the knowledge space. (Ray Dalio, Principles) Which means that we still own the space around emotional intelligence or EQ. The algorithms are crowd-sourcing information based on 'people like us'. They are beginning to recognize what might interest us and give us the 'recommended for you' Netflix watchlist, Spotify playlist or suggestions for recipes to try out based on our past history and the connected interests of others matching our profile and demographics.

AI in a Covid-era

As we sink deeper into a Covid-era we are eager to leverage these good facets of AI : These algorithms are getting better at assisting us in the decision-making process. But in the words of Peter Salovey (alongside John D Mayer, he helped research and coin the phrase Emotional Intelligence in 1990) the machines don't make decisions for us, and cannot yet manage our emotions for us. Therefore, our ability to understand and manage our own emotions is going to be a very powerful skill set as we move ahead in the Future of Work.

Some good listening opportunities

A side benefit of standing in line for hours on my Covid shopping adventure was the opportunity to listen to Adam Grant's audiobook 'Power Moves'. And there, in Chapter 5 titled Robot Power his interview with Peter Salovey delved deeply into the ideas around Emotional Intelligence (also known as EQ) I found my gem. He talked about 3 different components that make up EQ:
  1. Being able to recognize and identify emotions - within our selves. And then through non-verbal cues, with others.
  2. Understanding emotions and the language of emotions, and the subtle differences between the gradations.
  3. Managing emotions, and in particular, regulating our own emotions.
Of all these, they both agreed, being able to manage our own emotions would probably become the most important skill as we move into the Future of Work.

And now for the longer read, or how I connect those dots ...