2016-The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Hi everyone!

Here is a new topic, The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Please read and share your creative and analytical opinion.

URL: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/

Thanks!

Highly agree with the point of the passage. We now live in a fast-changing world and our ability to adapt is becoming more important than ever.

As the development of science and technology especially the development of the artificial intelligence, more and more jobs could be substituted by a variety of electrical tools and robots.

To adapt to the change, we need to have the thought of the life-long study to up-skilling ourselves and improve our irreplaceability. So that we can survive and develop in this changing society.

The top 10 skills for the future is very enlightening to us.
Now we are facing direct competition with robot or AI related machine in millions of jobs. Works with more routine paper work or basic data analysis will soon to be replaced by the programmed high-tech machine more or less, sooner or later. Only the work deeply involved with human brain for its complexity, creativity and emotion has much more chance to survive under attack of updating robots.
Therefore, employees and employers in all industry, at all level of hierarchy and with various skills shall think about their future to survive.

The velocity of technology's development pushed us to think deeply about what kind of skills are more important in the future. Some occupations are being replaced by intelligent machines, whether will our position still exist in the near future? There is a question mark. The article gave us a guidance that the ability to solve complex problem, creative thoughts, and some soft skills including people management and negotiation will be necessary. All of these skills depend on how we take advantage of our brain. Let's keep thinking, keep studying!

This article reminds me of what Red Queen said "In this place it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place". World is changing faster and faster, and skills required today are not valid anymore tomorrow. We need to keep track of new technologies to keep pace in the trend.
Revolution means opportunity. We could see that Quality Control is out of Top 10 skills in 2020. With use of robots and automation, company will manage quality via more intellectual method. We may shock on the speed of job vanishing, but this is also an opportunity of creating a whole new world. So let's fully drive our mind and creativity, embrace new knowledge and technologies.

My thought is,definitely,we aware of top 10 skills need while looking ahead to 2020 but, as the content said, "Change won't wait for us". All of skills in list provides a good direction for us, meanwhile, it would be smart to combine with personal conditions to consider what skills do I need to strengthen or up-skilling, and what skill not in the list although, but it is still important. Don't forget, with skill of predictive insight will never ever out of style!

It's not the revolution for industrial, for human also. Lots of low-skill job, even middle-skill job would be replaced by robet and AI, it's a huge change that need our quick response accordingly. The skill we need equiped ourselves will creative oritation and need more ability on complex problem solving. To not being backward, we need forcus on those aspect to catch up with this technology and intelligence change.

"Are we going to be replaced by ROBOT?" Yes, and No.
To the Yes, I think it is a good thing that robot can help human being to do many of the unpleasant jobs, like jobs need to be exposed in hazardous chemicals, jobs with high potential risk of injury, jobs requires high intensity physically, etc. Why not let the robot to do that?

But for many of us, we need to focus on the "NO". We can see in both list, the top skill is "Complex problem solving". Can robot solve a complex problem? Of course, robots can solve a complex math problem, can do a big calculation for big data, also can complete a precise design with multi-dimensions. But, the real complex problem is to deal with people. No matter how robotic the society become, our customer will always be PEOPLE. With the more robotic the industrial be, the problems the customer have will require more intelligence to have critical thinking and creativity. We don't need to prove that human being is cleverer than robot, but we need to keep improving ourselves to keep our customers happy in a robotic society.

Keep running, keep changing. The question was raised in the class: how to compete with artificial intelligence. The 10 skills mentioned in the article are the direction we could put effort on. Get prepared for the change coming.

Among the 10 skills, I think creativity is the most important and critical one. People can design robots and artificial intelligence to help human beings to solve problems, even to diminish the communication errors and to make decisions for us. But all the robots and artificial intelligence work based on PATTERN which is encode by existing experience and thoughts. Only people can break the pattern and create new changes. So the first priority to prepare the further is to keep creative.

With the development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,we need to learn new skills,new technologies or other new things, and Creativity will become more important in our life.Copy is easy,but creativity is difficult because it need you to change your normal pattern to think about something, that must need long time to develop.

We are actually on the project of building a smart factory in China, based on the prototype we have in Germany. The immediate result is that the total headcount planning for the new factory is half of the headcount we have for other factories of the same scale in China.

In future the labor structure will be an up-side-down triangle, where the majority of the employment are commanding on their creativity to make a living. Today it is exactly the opposite. A great portion of the labor is clustering at the bottom of the employment pyramid. Automation already ripped off the the very bottom layer. Smart manufacturing is looking at cutting off a second layer.

Industrial 4.0 is only at a very beginning phase in China. Given the huge diversity of China economy and manufacuturing, so far the change does not present itself as really disruptive. It enables the individuals, the businesses, and the society more time for preparation. However we shall be aware of the trend and take proactive actions, or it become another story of boiling the frog.

The boom of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics will reshape people's skills and management style because robots and computer system can replace many todays' jobs. For example, quality managment problem may be resolved for the machines will not make a careless issue during operation like human beings.

Meanwhile, more creative people will be needed to design and develop personalised products. A flexbile and relaxed corporate culture will popularize among more and more start-ups to encourage their creativity. Today's large-size's factories or enterprises are full of strict management rules which could restrain workor's imagination. These rules may be not suitable for attracting talented people.

Being Successful is temporary. It is true and widely acknowledged. Even Industry leaders live in concern. Those who have achieved huge accomplishments are asking, what is the next trend and how soon I will be affected or even replaced.
From this article, it provides some detail insight on potential changes in job market in the next 4 years. Since we were little, we are asked to do more practice. Then We becomes skillful and we realize, we might be replaced by flawless machines. Routine and specialized work, such as accounting, and manufacturing, are gradually in the process of being automated. New software and new technology help management to adopt quicker and efficient middle level work. So for the next 4 years, we really need to take serious of the skills that are required.
There are two skills listed are new concepts, Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Flexibility. Both are related to managerial arts. To manage people is way much complicated than years ago. New generations are born in modern age with more individuality. A good leader knows, understands, appreciates and makes full use of different people based on their characters and capability.
Another new skill required is Cognitive Flexibility. To have a good plan is not something wrong. But a good manager or good employee, should possess the flexibility in work. He or she needs to be adaptable to urgency and new things, no matter how successful his or her past experience is.

Yeah, the world is changing faster and faster, maybe in 10 years, we will report to an artificial intelligence machine. It sounds terrible but we can't neglect the fact that manufacture industry would have revolution and many technical workers would be replaced by robots. So It's very important that we should improve our creativity skills which makes us the biggest difference to robots. Meanwhile, we should improve our emotional intelligence because an obvious weakness of human being compared with robots is emotion. Sometimes, we would make wrong decisions due to our bad emotion. The advantage of human to robots is human have capability to handle complex problems which contain many factors besides the single technical information.

It's a "VUCCA" world, and we need to treat it "ACCUV". We should adopt the change and change ourselves to catch up with the trend.

Just as the article mentioned, Fourth Industry Revolution will transform the way we live and work, we need to align our skillset to keep pace. Or maybe someday your job will be replaced by an artificial intelligence machine.

The skills can help us in 2020 are different from today's. Creativity rise to the No. 3 of the top 10 skills in 2020, it is crucial to our future success. Fortunately creativity maybe innate to some but it also can be learned. We know the 5 DNA of creativity/innovation are associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, networking. If we can consciously practice the above 5 elements in work and life, we will be more creative in the future and we can then benefit from the Fourth Industry Revolution.

If we made the same "Top 10 Skills" for next 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, creativity will always be there. Looking back upon the history of Industrial Revolution, human express the great creativity through various technologies which ignite the fuse to the revolution. The only difference is that with the benefit from previous revolutions, the modern society accumulate vast productive forces. And the forces also accelerate the arrival of the upcoming revolution in reverse. Keep thinking, human being is ready to embrace the future which is created by itself.

learning ability is the core skill for human. the world is always changing. we have not choice, but keep learning and then adapt to the time.

We should have sensitivity about how much a new technology costs and how it enters into application. If we pay close attention to those new technologies in the occasion of entering into application, we will know which skill should learn and we can find our own place in each industry revolution.

It is so true that change won’t wait for us: business leaders, educators and governments all need to be proactive in up-skilling and retraining people so everyone can benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has witnessed the fast technology development and the importance of innovation in determining how succesful a company could be. A good amount of jobs will soon be replaced by robot or artificial machines in the near future. If we do not constantly upgrade our knowledge system and improve the skills that differentiate with robots, we will soon become obsolete.

Lin Lixian (Lynn) wrote:We are actually on the project of building a smart factory in China, based on the prototype we have in Germany. The immediate result is that the total headcount planning for the new factory is half of the headcount we have for other factories of the same scale in China.

In future the labor structure will be an up-side-down triangle, where the majority of the employment are commanding on their creativity to make a living. Today it is exactly the opposite. A great portion of the labor is clustering at the bottom of the employment pyramid. Automation already ripped off the the very bottom layer. Smart manufacturing is looking at cutting off a second layer.

Industrial 4.0 is only at a very beginning phase in China. Given the huge diversity of China economy and manufacuturing, so far the change does not present itself as really disruptive. It enables the individuals, the businesses, and the society more time for preparation. However we shall be aware of the trend and take proactive actions, or it become another story of boiling the frog.

Yes indeed. The labor structure is changing the triangle layers. We should ask ourselves which layer we are in, and prepare for the upcoming change. To amplify, change is happening all the time. We should not prepare passively, but proactively be ready for change, which is to improve our adaptability.

Comparing the two lists of Top 10 skills in 2015 and 2020, we can see that once in the Top 10 of 2015 have dropped out the tops in 2020 are Quality Control and Active Listening. It is easier to understand why Quality Control is out of the tops, as in the 4.0 industrial age, Quality Control might be performed by the intelligent robots with pre-installed systems for quality related standards. As for Active Listening, though it is no longer in the top list in 2020, I still think it is quite important. Active Listening is the premise of effective communication and an active listener is more inclined to be a creative thinker. The reason why it is no longer in the list, in my opinion, is not because it is no long important but because the importance of other items surpass it in 2020.

Now let’s take a look at what emerges in the Top 10 list in 2020 while they are not in 2015 Top list, that is, the Emotional Intelligence and the Cognitive Flexibility. Emotional Intelligence, in my opinion, is the same as Emotional Quotient, which is the counterpart of Intelligence Quotient. With the development of the technology and the society, intelligent people are becoming more and more. What makes you outstand the mass intelligent people would be you have high Emotional Quotient besides the high Intelligence Quotient. Therefore, there is no wonder why Emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence is there in the 2020 list. As for Cognitive Flexibility, it is about the ability to adapt to the cognitive processing to face the new and unexpected conditions. Same as the VUCCA and ACCUV theory, in such a quick-changing world, adaptability is key to success either in your personal life or in your business management.

Last but not least, let’s look at the Top 3 skills in 2020. The Top 1 keeps the same in 2020 and 2015, that is, the Complex Problem Solving.  With the development of technology and society, as well as the globalization, things are becoming more and more interconnected and complicated. The ability to solve complex problem is understandably listed as Top 1 skill. Critical Thinking is upgraded two steps and becomes the Top 2 skill in 2020. Critical Thinking is about the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to establish a judgment. In the coming years, Critical Thinking will become more and more important as the world keeps changing at an accelerated speed, the ability to make objective analysis on the volatile and chaotic environments and then form your own correct and acute judgment will be critical in business decisions. The Top 3 skill in 2020 is Creativity, which is listed at Top 10 in 2015, a big jump forward. Creativity is about the out of box thinking and creativity is the basis for innovation. As we all know, innovation is key to success in business management and development either in nowadays or in the future.

No matter we like the change or not, it is there. The change do not stop for you. But my opinion is that
we do not need to be very nervous. Running, cooking and reading. Keep ourselves healthy, both physically and mentally. It is also very important as the 10 skills needed.

SuKang0821 wrote:

Lin Lixian (Lynn) wrote:We are actually on the project of building a smart factory in China, based on the prototype we have in Germany. The immediate result is that the total headcount planning for the new factory is half of the headcount we have for other factories of the same scale in China.

In future the labor structure will be an up-side-down triangle, where the majority of the employment are commanding on their creativity to make a living. Today it is exactly the opposite. A great portion of the labor is clustering at the bottom of the employment pyramid. Automation already ripped off the the very bottom layer. Smart manufacturing is looking at cutting off a second layer.

Industrial 4.0 is only at a very beginning phase in China. Given the huge diversity of China economy and manufacuturing, so far the change does not present itself as really disruptive. It enables the individuals, the businesses, and the society more time for preparation. However we shall be aware of the trend and take proactive actions, or it become another story of boiling the frog.

Yes indeed. The labor structure is changing the triangle layers. We should ask ourselves which layer we are in, and prepare for the upcoming change. To amplify, change is happening all the time. We should not prepare passively, but proactively be ready for change, which is to improve our adaptability.

My first glance at this topic raised the question of what kills do I possess of the top 10 kills in 2020? Maybe half maybe worse. What can I do to improve the skills that I am not good at yet? Luckily in the CBI class I learn the way to cultivate my creativity skill. That is to try to think solution for a problem out of the box and the routine. Since the first session I had been trying to do something usual. For example, I tried to do a presentation in front of all classmates, I tried to read English articles and novel in a different way. What's amazing is even in such a short time I can feel the power of creativity.

Technology is always a double-edged sword for human beings. The advanced robotics, AI and machine learning brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution by 2020 will make us heavily dependent on machines that are intelligent enough to help us get rid of routine work. In the meantime, there will be a real fear that all jobs would be overtaken by machines. Comparing the top 10 skills in 2015 and that in 2020, complex problem solving, critical thinking and people management remain among the top 5 list. So we could learn that what makes us radically different from robots is the ability to deal with people. No matter how intelligent machines are, they are not able to provide the value of real human touch, which can only be fulfilled by human beings. Only if we keep enhancing our irreplaceable skills proactively, can we manipulate machines and benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It is the time that it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. Now the question is what is the right direction for running.
The expertise in work domain is important, but it is more important to equipped with the skill to adapt to change, such as the top 10 skills mentioned in this article.
Professor Ali also mentioned, MBA offers you with different tools, but it is important to equip the skill to put those tools together.

The importance of creativity has become more obvious. However, creativity is not something we can learn fast, it requires accumulation of past experiences, observation and being sensitive so we can connect the dots. Experiment and practices are also required. So the first step is to have courage to step out from the comfortable zone and embrace the uncertainty to get prepared for the changes.