If you look at advancements that have shaped our societies just since 1998, you’ll find the emergence of new technology that we couldn’t imagine conducting our lives without today. Many of these innovations have become an intractable part of the common lexicon, and they didn’t even exist in a practical sense two decades ago.

One thing that technology has eliminated is the need to memorize facts and figures. They’re available just by tapping a screen. “Google it” has become synonymous with retrieving any kind of information we want on the spot. There’s no need to even type your query. Just say it into your smartphone’s voice interface, and it appears on your screen. In essence, it could be argued that we are all now frequently outsourcing part of our intelligence to these devices.

These technologies weren’t simply fads or innovations. They were culture changers. Today you can probably venture into the farthest reaches of the rainforest and still find WIFI connection somewhere.

Rural farmers routinely conduct business and manage inventory on handheld mobile devices. Sherpas in Nepal are guiding mountain climbing expeditions using GPS systems.

Social platforms have affected the way we interact with each other, influenced politics and social policy, and made the world a much smaller place while expanding our horizons.

If we were unprepared for the rise and impact of social media and smartphones that came into common usage just over a decade ago, how are we going to prepare our children for a future that will be dominated by new technologies.

It’s always been easy for inventors and science fiction writers to envision the future. DaVinci did it more than 500 years ago, and what World’s Fair would have been complete without exhibits entitled “The House of Tomorrow” or “The Car of the Future”?

While some predictions may be wrong, it is fun to imagine how these new technologies may change our lives in the future.

With the rapid increases in the capabilities of artificial intelligence, instant access to information, and the rise of automation, many individuals are concerned about what all this change will mean for the next generation?

We may not be able to predict the future, but we can identify trends that will influence how we will evolve as a society. Our goal shouldn’t be to say “Prepare for this job or that industry, and you’ll be successful” That would be impossible to do.

What we can say is “Develop these particular skill sets, and you’ll be better equipped to transition into future jobs, what ever they may be.”

Future viability is rooted in our ability to adapt to cultural change. We’ve witnessed social and industrial upheavals in the past, and the majority of us shift to incorporate them into our new norms after the initial shock wears off.

It’s when several major drivers of change evolve and converge at once that seismic shifts occur, and that’s where we are headed now.

The Institute for the Future (IFTF), in coordination with the University of Phoenix, has spent the past 40 years analyzing trends and predicting future outcomes. They’ve identified six areas that they refer to as transformative trends that will reshape society and economic markets on a global scale:

– Extreme longevity 
– Rise of smart machines and systems 
– Computational world 
– New media ecology 
– Superstructured organizations 
– Globally connected world 

As you can tell at first glance, many of these drivers are affecting us now. Knowing where we’re headed is the first step toward proactively meeting our fates.

We all agree that the rise of automation, AI, and smart technology will improve our quality of life and change how we conduct business overall.

However, when we find every facet of our lives infiltrated by machines, it will force us to reevaluate ourselves and our place in the world. It will also allow us the freedom to develop our talents and work in professions that fill us with passion rather than just a providing a paycheck.

With everything in our lives becoming interconnected and programmable, we’ll gain new insights and capabilities to manage every facet of human existence. This will provide us with unprecedented access to information, along with the ability to process and analyze data at unheard of scales and speeds.

Quality of life overall can be improved on macro and micro levels. Governments can coordinate to predict, track, and mitigate catastrophic events on a global scale and minimize their impact. We can use access to real-time information to streamline everything from our nutrition intake to the most efficient route to work.

We’ve already seen how media proliferation has impacted the way we interact with each other, share ideas and opinions, and access information. For good or ill, emerging platforms have already allowed us to expand our creativity, reinvent our personas, and shape our perception of reality.

They’ve also provided new levels of transparency in corporate and political structures, spurred social change, and allowed cross-culture collaboration on a global scale.

Global connectivity has also changed corporate structure and culture. Rather than planning and expanding within the confines of a physical space or geographic area, we can live and conduct business in a virtual world that has few bounds or limitations.

We’ve also cultivated an online culture that allows us to connect with like-minded people, expanded our knowledge base and access to opportunities, and allows us to redefine organizational structure and norms at all levels.

A globally connected world goes beyond our ability to indulge our creative impulses and broadcast them to the world or conduct business outside of traditional corporate structures.

It means accessing remote locations, expanding into markets that were previously unreachable, and enabling developing economies to emerge competitively with established ones.

Where companies once sent their people overseas to create opportunities, expanding technological centers in India and China are outsourcing services on the world market, improving financial outcomes on both sides of the equation.

The proliferation of technology and connectivity into every facet of our lives has laid the groundwork for this already. Kids today live with automation as the norm almost from the day they’re born.

What we need to do is change education systems and corporate cultures to focus on helping future employees develop skills that are translatable in a range of environments and occupations.

The jobs of the future will rely less on a traditional trajectory of college to career to retirement. We are living longer, staying healthier and active until later in life, and more likely to transition into several careers over our lifetimes.

In order to meet the demands of our new reality in the future, the IFTF report identified 10 critical skills that need to be developed and incorporated into our collective psyche.

1. Sense-making 

This could be defined as our ability to look beyond the surface to determine the true nature of what we see and experience.

2. Social intelligence 

Gaining the ability to connect with a diverse range of people in a deep and meaningful way. This is what separates artificial intelligence from emotional intelligence in an increasingly machine-driven world.

3. Novel and adaptive thinking 

These skills imply the ability to perceive changing circumstances and adapt quickly to accommodate them. Looking beyond established rules and information gleaned by rote-memorization to think critically and develop innovative responses and solutions. This will be a critical skill in an evolving job market ruled by programmed environments that aren’t built to be responsive to unique or changing situations.

4. Cross-cultural competency 

Feeling comfortable within a diverse group and operating within different cultural settings. As much as some disparage globalization, it is a reality that will continue to dominate business and social change.

5. Computational thinking 

The ability to absorb and process vast amounts of information quickly and accurately. Information will be the most valuable commodity in future business markets.

6. New media literacy 

Knowing how to curate and create content for established and emerging media platforms and use them effectively. Open source tools and platforms will allow anyone access to design features and functions formerly used only by professional web developers. They should become common tools for anyone who wants to remain employable.

7. Transdisciplinary knowledge or training 

This takes a comprehensive approach that embraces the true spirit of STEAM and STEM by training across a range of proficiencies. Science relies on a good understanding of mathematics. Researchers should be trained with a working knowledge of other disciplines rather than having one narrow focus. The broader your transdisciplinary training, the more of an asset you are to perspective employers.

8. Design mindset 

Having a design mindset implies an ability to construct your environment in order to achieve a set outcome. You should be able to shift your thought process to the type of task and engineer your reality by planning and creating in a design-oriented mode.

9. Cognitive load management 

This is a sort of mental triage that allows you to filter tasks by significance or immediacy and act accordingly.

10. Virtual collaboration 

Managing a team that is in the same room with you while keeping them engaged and on-task is difficult. Virtual conferencing and strategy sessions are the end result of an increasingly mobile workforce. In the future, competent leaders will have to perform this same feat by coordinating diverse groups in different virtual locations simultaneously.

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