Are You Changing Daily?
By: Randy Wolken, President & CEO
Recently, I spoke to the students of SUNY Morrisville. I briefed them on the economy and what the future holds for them. I talked extensively about the significant opportunity in manufacturing and technology. Many skilled labor jobs go unfilled. Students focused on filling this gap in our labor market could see great opportunity. I also spent time telling them about the skillsets needed to be successful during the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. According to the top world business leaders in a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, the top three job skills needed are complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity. Each of these is a complicated grouping of related behaviors that involves both hard skills and soft skills. It’s no wonder that these are in high demand and will stay this way well into the future.
I also shared with them the one skillset that will allow them to always stay relevant and in-demand – the ability to change quickly. Without the ability to change our behaviors quickly (depending on the need of our work and life), we will fall behind and constantly be seeking to catch-up.
Our members tell us about this need all of the time. Each organization needs individuals willing to acknowledge and then quickly act on the change needed. Of course, this starts with the leadership of the organization. Leaders must model the change behaviors they wish to see in their team so that it becomes the cultural norm. Identifying needed change, planning for change, executing change, keeping score of the change, analyzing the change effort, and continuously repeating this process is how actual change occurs. This skillset allows us all to be successful.
Daily change is the best way to practice changing. Selecting even a simple new behavior you will do each day of the week allows you to learn how to change. At an organizational level, this can have a profound impact when everyone is changing daily through adopting new habits.
Are you changing each day? Do you have a plan to continuously change your behaviors and actions so you can create your future? If not, you may be falling behind. This is what often happens in our world of rapid change. When you are not changing, you are not just losing out on opportunities – you are losing out on staying relevant. Pick a new daily habit today – and get started. It is both productive and rewarding.