The pandemic has taught many of us to work in isolation. The recovery will require us to work in teams like never before.
The world is too complex, and changing too fast, for us to keep going on our own. Even the lone genius can’t solve today’s challenges.
Just ask Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft and a big thinker on the future of work.
“To get anything meaningful done, you have to be able to work in teams,” Nadella told a forum of Canadian students, educators and employers.
He points to the demand for business apps that’s greater than the supply of techies to build them, and how teams of people with ”low code, no code” skills will be needed to bridge the gap. Often all that’s missing are “bridge skills” like design thinking to connect a bunch of generalists and specialists.
[quote-callout content=”Design thinking is fundamentally about empathy, to listen and go beyond words, to understand context and use empathy to innovate.” source=”Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO” display=”all” position=”center”]
“Design thinking is fundamentally about empathy, to listen and go beyond words, to understand context and use empathy to innovate,” Nadella said.
I joined the forum to share a bit of what RBC is listening to, how we’re learning and what we’re looking for.
We know the hard skills are easy enough to identify: data analytics, cyber-security, artificial intelligence, among them. But we’re also focused on soft skills — we call them human skills — like the empathy Nadella likes. It’s one reason we’re excited about creativity as a power skill for the recovery.
We see creativity as more than an artistic pursuit. It’s the ability to combine novelty and value, to both invent (an idea, even) and find a sustainable use for it.
Then we need to code it.
Such an approach could be critical for millions who have lost jobs, especially displaced workers — bartenders, hair stylists, book merchants — with an abundance of human skills that are growing in demand.
Such a need is one reason we joined forces with Microsoft Canada and Seneca College to launch a short-order course in cloud computing, to help people from many backgrounds develop in-demand hard skills. Once on board, they’ve already got the soft skills to move from one good job to another.
Nadella told the forum this is a signal of the future of work, that we’ll all need to be continuous learners. Doesn’t matter if you’re a forester or a pharmacist, you’ll have to keep adding to your skills mix, and can do so with a foundation of human skills — call them learner skills — like critical thinking, communications and collaboration.
You might even call it a creative solution.
This article is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. The reader is solely liable for any use of the information contained in this document and Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”) nor any of its affiliates nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents shall be held responsible for any direct or indirect damages arising from the use of this document by the reader. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its affiliates. This document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, which are subject to RBC’s caution regarding forward- looking statements. ESG (including climate) metrics, data and other information contained on this website are or may be based on assumptions, estimates and judgements. For cautionary statements relating to the information on this website, refer to the “Caution regarding forward-looking statements” and the “Important notice regarding this document” sections in our latest climate report or sustainability report, available at: https://www.rbc.com/community-social- impact/reporting-performance/index.html. Except as required by law, none of RBC nor any of its affiliates undertake to update any information in this document.