From the stage
Speaking to career colleges and universities, I put their challenge in one sentence:
"how do you develop educational pathways for careers that do not yet exist"
Every morning I post a quote from the stage, and one morning it summed up exactly what educators and employers are up against:
"You need to deliver knowledge that you aren't yet aware of for careers that you don't even know what they might be for people who don't even know what they need it and you need to do it yesterday"
Why it matters
It sounds impossible, and that's the point. In a fast-moving economy you can't plan skills on a five-year cycle. Educators, HR leaders and managers have to build systems that adapt: shorter programs, continuous learning, partnerships with industry, and a culture where learning never stops after graduation.
The same is true for each of us. The skills that got you here won't necessarily keep you here.
The takeaway
- Ask what your team will need to know in three years that nobody teaches today.
- Shorten your learning cycles, with smaller and faster ways to build new skills.
- Make learning part of the job, not something that happens before it.
Related: Event Highlight: Career Education Colleges & Universites, New Orleans, LA - The Future of Education · Earlier: Daily Inspiration: "The future of work? It's the skills you don't know about that you need to be planning for!" (2023) · Earlier: Trend: What's the Impact of the Era of Knowledge Acceleration? None of Us Have the Capability to Know Much of Anything at All! (2022) · Education
From the Stage is a weekday series of short clips from more than 30 years of keynotes, and the leadership lessons that still matter.
