The Workers Who Will Rule The Post-2020 World: Only 3 Years Away!

I ended 2016 with posting onto LinkedIn an essay titled The Most Important Competency in a Post-2016 World. Therein I identified, highlighted and elaborated upon Autodidacticism being the most important competency with the end of 2016, and the past that ended with it. Autodidacticism, being the competency to teach ones' self a subject.

I begin writing for public reference in 2017, with a follow-up to that final essay I shared in 2016, this essay here precisely being that follow-up, to answer, who are the workers who will rule the world after 2020, a milestone in time not too far from now. And like I did in my last essay, I will get straight to the point and answer the question upfront, before I explain the rationale further down the paragraphs herein, as to why it is certainly the correct answer, and not one you'd logically debate. The answer is, the workers will rule the Post-2020 world, will be Polymaths.

Definition

A Polymath is someone who is able to master multiple different, and diverse subjects. For example, take a person who does a double degree in Liberal Arts and Computer Engineering, before pursuing a graduate intake degree in Law, and then going on to pursue an MBA in Finance. Just an example, for illustration.

Why Polymaths?

Anything repetitive = Machine, can do

Anything quantitative = Machine, can do

Anything routine = Machine, can do

With the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation, multiple technology products can self-coordinate to get end-to-end processes done intelligently, up to the point, that dynamic thinking and wisdom are not required.

The work that is left, that cannot be automated or taken out of the hands of human workers, is ultimately that, which requires dynamism of thought and wisdom.

Why not Wisdom Workers?

The relevance of a human worker in a world where only jobs that require wisdom are left in human hands, is only rendered by wisdom. That goes without saying. So, all workers of the future, will need to work on developing and maintaining their wisdom. No arguments there. By default therefore, all workers of the post-2020 world will have to be wisdom workers, and that would likely be an equally true statement.

However, wisdom is something that does not require mastery in multiple subject areas. We have entered the Innovation Age, wherein business is about competitive disruption, where the business entity that disrupts the disruptive efforts of others on the market before they succeed in disrupting, is rendered profitable. Such a business competition landscape forces a Gig Economy, for a fluid flow of competency sets for continuous innovation, improvement, regeneration and relevance. Permanence or consistency are not characteristics of the Gig Economy environment. For workers to thrive in that environment, apart from and above wisdom, they need diverse subject matter knowledge, and wisdom across those diverse subject areas. And so finally, the deserved overdue advent, of the Polymath!

Difference between Autodidacticism and being a Polymath?

Autodidacticism is a competency. It is the competency to self-teach, to self-develop other competencies in one's self, or to acquire knowledge independently.

Being a Polymath means, having knowledge of subject matter, across multiple different subjects.

The difference is, competency, which is not limited or restricted to knowledge, for it can also be about skills, aptitude and other attributes, and, knowledge, in expanse and diversity.

Furthermore you may say that Autodidacticism is a competency, while being a Polymath is a trait or quality. If it suits you, both are competencies where one leads to the other. They do differ however, and both are needed ahead, that is the important point here.

Co-relation to Autodidacticism

To be a Polymath, it is practical, that one acquires and develops the competency of Autodidacticism, to be able to self-teach constantly, to master multiple subjects, to build one's wisdom as such, that the individual is able to draw on a broad body of diverse knowledge to solve cross-functional and inter-disciplinary problems or issues, that machines or software cannot dynamically address in human interests. It is a lot less practical to expect or to rely on, the education system, to produce and/or develop Polymaths.

You can say, that in the time ahead, the critical universal competency of Autodidacticism, will be a requisite for one to become a successful work, by using that competency, to become a Polymath.

The Role of Education

The role of education ahead will be to develop Autodidacts. Autodidacts will develop themselves into Polymaths.

Conclusion

By the 2020, with the conflation of a wide-variety of issues ranging from geopolitics to generational change, along with technological evolution, will transform the world of work like it has never been before, but the destiny of humanity will yet still be to engage in labour. Here, I am unapologetic about disappointing proponents or believers of a "jobs-free" future, which is not coming. I also have, unapologetically", bad news for folks who believe in the diminishing importance of formal education or who believe that advanced education has become too proliferated. I can't give everything away for free, but however, I end with, the course ahead, to create labour pools of 100% Wisdom Workers with Autodidacticism as a universal competency, which therein produces a pool of Polymaths to generate success and lead economies, requires unlimited access to unlimited education at the very best levels, upon which our survival ahead is dependent.

Harish Shah is Singapore's first local born Professional Futurist and a Management Strategy Consultant. He runs Stratserv Consultancy. His areas of consulting include Strategic Foresight, Systems Thinking, Scenario Planning and Organisational Future Proofing. Harish also has a background in HR Consulting, Executive Search, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Executive Coaching, Career Coaching, Assessment & Development Centres and Vocational Programme Management for Employability Enhancement.