Embracing change

In this day and age, learning, unlearning, and relearning have become the norm. You may have learned something a while back, but it became irrelevant and you decided to forego it.

But when the same thing is revolutionized, you may need to relearn it to have fresh skills. The kind of jobs that will exist five years from now may require different skills than the existing ones. People will need to upskill to stay relevant. Therefore, there is also the need to embrace change in learning institutions, by convincing students to think out of the box and read beyond the syllabus they are presented with.

People ought to go out of their way, challenge themselves, and get more skills if they want to remain relevant in the market. For instance, agile skills are crucial to help in problem-solving, analytic thinking, critical thinking, and effective communication. People underestimate the power of this, but being able to relate with others properly is important while reasoning with them.

Learning has even become easier due to the evolution of online digital platforms. You can strike a work-life-and school balance all at once. You can work during the day, find time to study in the evening, and still get time for your family. Most of the digital platforms have no restrictions, and you get access to a wide variety of courses, certifications, and micro-credentials.

The badges or certificates you get along the way play a huge role in keeping you ahead of your peers. Due to the digital learning platforms, individuals can upskill based on their needs.

Also, interdisciplinary knowledge has made it easier for individuals to understand different things that will benefit them. You don’t just have to stick to what you learned at college or the university, instead, you can learn more and even brainstorm with others. Also, remember that things revolutionize.

Artificial intelligence was first introduced some years back, however, people did not take it seriously. With the popularity of ChatGPT and other AI platforms, people are now slowly embracing it. People are using AI to do different tasks for them like writing code, creating presentations, content creation, and much more. Therefore, if you want to stay ahead, learning about how the AI tools work can also be beneficial.

Also, companies or brands need to embrace change. Most companies need to move forward with the current trends which means changing the procedures, systems, and routines. If a company remains with outdated practices, it won’t succeed. This is why it is crucial to embrace change and move with the trends.

For example, with automation tools, one can easily automate their email marketing strategies, automate the addition of products to their e-commerce sites, automate content posting, and much more while online. Therefore, companies must invest in search technologies like Zapier or Notion to boost collaboration and automation.

This also goes for embracing online web meetings with reputable web conferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. Therefore, there won’t be any restrictions when a project is being undertaken and people are in different places.

Also, at times, companies refuse to embrace change since they have already invested a lot in certain technologies or resources. You may find that they don’t want to start using a new technology that can simplify their work, simply because they had previously invested in something else. Companies can then suffer from technology debt since their competitors who have embraced change, tend to prosper than them.

Investing in great systems or software can simplify their work, ensure they remain relevant in the market, and even boost productivity. Unlearning is crucial as it helps create space for more relevant information or technologies. Many businesses can thrive so well from unlearning and learning new things that will ensure they simplify their mode of doing work.

You can also stand out from the rest and try to convince others why it is crucial to embrace the change. In case there is a technology or resource you think will be crucial, you can try to formulate a persuasive argument to urge others why the transformation is crucial. You can even get the right endorsement from stakeholders on why the change is needed. With their support, it will be easy for the company to embrace new technologies.

Additionally, in the workforce ecosystem, individuals need to be encouraged to be innovative. If work has been done in a certain way for many years, and you know how it can be changed, it can be crucial to let it be known, and you might even play a huge role in the transition.

Even though change may not always bring positive results, you can still learn from the experience and draw lessons from it. Additionally, you need to embrace continuous learning, since you won’t be able to get everything all at once.

It is also important to inspire others to welcome change. Not everyone will see things from your perspective, so you need to show them why it is crucial. Change takes time so should be patient with one another. Let’s take the example of AI, there has been a shift from machine learning algorithms to the now autonomous methodology. It requires people to approach education and training with a positive mind.

Also, while embracing new technologies, it is crucial to understand that technology and assess its benefits. Just because company A and company B use it doesn’t mean that you also need it. First, analyze how a certain technology will help and even involve stakeholders to give their views. Also, check on your current systems and processes to see how to integrate the new technology.

Furthermore, it is crucial to have a roadmap for introducing the technology since people will still need to learn about it to prevent being too foreign to them. This also calls for investing in the right training so that different individuals can understand how the new technology works. Also, even with the introduction of the new technology, it should be implemented in phases to ensure it works as it should. Once all is well, reviewing should be done and the right adjustments made.

Unlearning requires discarding knowledge that you already have and realizing that there is a need to upgrade by learning something new. In as much as there is intolerance to people with different views from society, it is crucial to stand out and try to convince others why a certain change is crucial. This may be a life changer for the company and even increase the benefits that come forth.

We also need to make our brains more active by being challenged by new technologies. Also, we need to train our minds in open-mindedness to embrace more things and even challenge beliefs.

The writer is the author of ‘Digital Pakistan’. He tweets/posts @imranbatada and can be reached at: imran.batada@gmail.com Web: https://imranbatada.com