The predictably unpredictable future

The more I dig into what the future is going to look like for our youth, the more surprising facts I seem to uncover. For instance did you know that of the children starting Grade 1 this year, 40% of them will drop out of school before matric.

• Dropout is at its highest level in 20 years.
• Of the 60% that write matric, only 37% pass.
• And of that 37%, only 13% go to university.

As a disturbing aside, during the pandemic, an additional 500 000 learners dropped out of school. (NIDS- CRAM survey, 8 July 2021).

It all looks a bit dismal, doesn’t it?

But here are some other interesting facts about things that didn’t even exist less than twenty years ago:

• Twenty years ago, China had barely entered the global economy
• Twenty years ago, the World Wide Web didn’t exist. Can you even imagine that?
• Uber came into being thirteen years ago.
• The first iPad was released in 2010
• Instagram went live eleven years ago
• Apple Watches were first released seven years ago
• Bitcoin came about in 2008.

And these are some of the jobs that didn’t exist a mere ten years ago:

• Digital content specialist
• Drone Pilot
• Biomedical engineer
• Uber driver
• Cloud computing specialist
• Sustainability manager
• Rehabilitation programme coordinator

The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) projects there will be 11.9 million new jobs created from 2020 to 2030, an overall growth rate of 7.7%. However, some jobs have a growth rate that far exceeds this level.

So what is my point?

My point is that yes, the 4^th Industrial Revolution (IR) is here. And yes, that may seem scary to some, but in all honesty, it is no different to the previous industrial revolutions. It is just another revolution that is going to change the way we work and educate in the future. The changes will impact society and the economy, yes, but we are not about to be replaced by robots. This 4^th IR is about people and how our lives will be impacted by the latest technologies.

That is good news. There is no need for fear.

The jobs we know of today will change, of course, but this will be exciting. Our youth will be doing jobs we don’t know about yet, working with technology that we don’t know about yet, solving problems that we can’t even imagine yet.

AI will improve technology and probably do a lot of things with more precision and speed than we can, but AI cannot engage with people. It will still be the doctor, the lawyer, the teacher, the consultant that needs to engage with people. And as such, the skills our youth will need going forward are the skills that are uniquely human skills.

The top ten skills listed by the World Economic Forum, in order are:

1. Complex problem solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Coordinating with others
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgement and decision making
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive flexibility

All of the above skills that will be needed in future are skills no machine can master or perform as well as humans can.

Again, that is good news.

So what does that mean for the future of work? My 2c is that entrepreneurship is going to have a critical role to play in the economy of the future. While organisations say they do want new leadership capabilities, they are still primarily upholding traditional models and mindsets. What they should be doing is developing skills and measuring leadership in ways that help leaders effectively navigate greater ambiguity, take charge of rapid change, and engage with external and internal stakeholders (Deloitte.)

Are our youth being adequately geared up for that type of future?

In our rapidly changing world, there are endless opportunities and options for the youth, but how do we know which ones are right, given the future is so unpredictable? Globally, the youth are struggling to find their place. They want new ways to contribute to economic development. They want to make a difference.

Going forward, the primary way to face the uncertainty will be through entrepreneurship. An entrepreneurial mindset is going to play a fundamental role in encouraging future growth, employment, and innovation. That is what it is going to take to improve and strengthen the wealth and success of countries and societies.

What we should be asking ourselves then is how do we enable young people to take control of their own futures? Are the future skills that will be essential the things that the current education system is consciously teaching? Is traditional schooling going to pave the way for a world of work that is very different to the education world that they emerge from?

We need to empower them through programmes that help them discover more about who they are, what their unique skills and passions are, how they can make a particular contribution to a team or organisation, and enable them to uncover their personal values and unique leadership styles.

The only way they are going to be able to forge forward into this unpredictable future, is for them to have the confidence to differentiate themselves in what is a very competitive world, by allowing them to discover what it is they have to offer and where they can make their unique impact.

We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know what jobs will exist. We don’t know exactly how to sculpt their education to adequately prepare them for that. But what we do know, is that the future comes one day at a time, and we can make a daily effort to consciously shape our futures. The future is in our hands, and we should not fear it, but empower ourselves, and the youth with confidence and self-awareness to be able to influence it.