I have one simple formula to share with you.
Future Work Skills
Future Skills Needed in Your Career
I interpret acquiring new skills or having a mindset to acquire new knowledge as a simple formula: 1/2g(Y^3)X.
My Simple Formula:
1/2g(Y^3)X
1/2 is your knowledge and 40% of that will be irrelevant next year. What does that mean? Your glass must always be half full, 1/2.
Y^3 = Y-Shaped People
Next, let me define Y^3. It's about Y-shaped people. You must have deep knowledge in one field. For me, my deep knowledge is startups, but to succeed I must diversify my knowledge and know about other things as well. Continuous disruption changes the world. Things you know deeply become useless but you can use related knowledge right away.
"Why?" = The Key to Fundamental Truth
The second Y is to always ask "Why". "Why are they doing that? Why is it like that?". I like to call it the “5 Why's” to grasp and acquire knowledge. Ask "Why" 5 times to understand the problem which is called the fundamental truth, the basic truth of that discipline.
I'll use Elon Musk's case as an example. Imagine you had wanted to build a rocket in the past. It would have almost been impossible actually. Only NASA or big corporations could do that because a rocket would have cost USD1 billion.
But Elon Musk asked the question, "Why does it have to cost USD1 billion?" He questioned until he discovered that actually, of the USD1 billion, 1% was fuel cost and 99% was the single-use rocket.
Do you know what Elon Musk said? Why Not! If that's the case, why don't we make rockets reusable instead of launching rockets to throw away? So he built reusable rockets and greatly reduced the cost of launching rockets. See? Now that the cost has been reduced, people can finally travel in space.
This was made possible by finding The Fundamental Truth and First Principle. It's the "Why?", and the "Why not?".
The "10,000-Hour” Rule
When you learn something new, a "10,000-hour rule" is always there. To master new skills, it takes a talented person around 10,000 hours. Is 10,000 hours tough? Yes, definitely! This is the "Y" base, so you also need "g" or "GRIT"; perseverance and persistence. It's connected to "discipline".
"X" = Your Network
Last but not least, the "X" at the end of the formula represents your network. You need to connect the knowledge disciplines, then, and this is vital, connect the right diversity of people and talents. It's said that the scale of your success is determined by your network. The deeper your network of knowledge and the wider your network of people and connections, the more successful you are.
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