-FUTURE OF WORK-

8 WAYS TO BECOME
UNREPLACEABLE IN YOUR WORK

Wouldn’t it be nice to be unreplaceable? To bring so much unique value to what you do that you cannot be replicated and replaced. The originality that someone brings to his or her career and others’ lives is what makes this possible. But the reality is, while everyone is valuable in the workforce, some are more valuable than others. It is those people who are unique and who bring something innovative to their jobs who are harder to replace.

THE CHALLENGE OF NOT BEING REPLACED IN OUR WORK

How do you measure up given this standard?

We all know that the advent of supercomputers with advanced AI (artificial intelligence) ability are here. It’s not a matter of if they are coming. It is a matter of when they will become the “norm” when it comes to on-the-job tasks.

Our challenge, as workers, business owners, and managers, will be how to include the new technologies without eliminating the human factor. No one wants to live in a world where robots replace us.

THE DOUBLE EDGE SWORD OF TECHNOLOGY  

Business owners will welcome AI technology because it increases productivity. The human being cannot keep up with the speed at these intelligent algorithms can compute, build, or produce a product. Manufacturing jobs will likely be the first to experience an entire takeover in which automation will be the rule of the day, and it will be hard to find a person who will not affected.

DON’T BE COMPLACENT IN YOUR WORK

As robotics and machine learning takes precedence, there will be a need for current blue-collar workers in manufacturing and other careers to rethink their position and work on learning new skills that will allow them to expand their options. If you are one of these people or you are worried about the coming AI invasion, you should start now by working on your skills.

DIVING INTO ECONOMIC ASPECTS   

Below are ten ways you can teach yourself to be unreplaceable in the future job market. Look these over and think about which ones may apply to you.

“8 ways to become Unreplaceable”

1. BECOME A VIRTUAL COLLABORATOR  

The future will include more and more people collaborating “in the cloud.” This will include working on important projects that help a company be more productive through teamwork that does not require being in the same room at the same time. If you can learn to master both the technology and the logistics of online conferencing and virtual collaboration, you will be harder to replace.

2. BE A DREAMER  

Be a Steve Jobs or Isaac Newton, rather than an everyday person. We know not everyone can think of how to put “1000 songs in your pocket” on a digital device or discover the three laws of motion.

But as human beings, we all have unique abilities and it is very much worth your while giving serious thought as to what yours are and how you can apply them to your current position.

According to a document released from “Institute for the Future” by itff.org, Transdisciplinarity is a skill that will be sought after shortly. This concept involves both the understanding and communication of various disciplines and how the ideas from the disciplines can be applied to problem-solving in the real world.

 

For the most part, computers can control other computers. People still need a human to help them with certain needs, however. Fitness trainers, healthcare workers and human-resources professionals are prime examples of people-skill driven careers.

3. MASTER THE ART OF DESIGN  

Design, including graphic design, artistic design, and architectural design, all help to improve products, websites, advertising media, and other components that increase the ROI of businesses. This is a great way to increase your value in the eyes of your employer.

“Train yourself to become more flexible”

4. TAP INTO AFFECTIVE DOMAIN  

The affective domain has to do with the intuitive side of human beings. Robots will never know this domain because you have to be a living being to have emotions or to utilize the skills involved in the “feeling” category described by Mary Neumeier in his “A Robot Ate My Job: Five Talents for the Robotic Age,” publication.

You can’t put emotions on automation. Work on your affective and interpersonal skills, and you can secure your position, no matter how many bots invade your workplace in the future!

For the most part, computers can control other computers. People still need a human to help them with certain needs, however. Fitness trainers, healthcare workers and human-resources professionals are prime examples of people-skill driven careers.

5. NOVEL AND ADAPTIVE THINKING

Another thing a robot will never do as humans do is to think. Sure, they can “process” information, emulate human responses and appear to think of new ways to do things. But they do not think as humans do. They can find new ways to solve problems, but they can never have metacognition (thinking about thinking) or be in touch with the extenuating circumstances that affect good decision-making. This only a human can do.

“Become a super learner”

6. TRAIN YOURSELF IN NEW MEDIA

New media is a relative term as new types of media come into the public domain all the time. Technically, it is digital media such as:

Social media 

Digital video 

Podcasts and internet radio broadcasts

Live video and audio feeds

Webinars, live events

Infographics, graphic arts

7. FOCUS ON YOUR PASSIONS 

Most people feel that their job is not creative, but they often have a creative hobby. To reinvent yourself and make you irreplaceable, you may need to look into your hobbies to find that creative talent. If you paint, write poetry, sing, or any other original art, consider how you might bring this into your work.

Robots can be taught to create “digital music” or paint a picture through an algorithm, but only a person can sing from the heart and paint a picture that expresses more than color and shadows.

8. BECOME A PROBLEM SOLVER 

Be a problem-solver or negotiator – The future will still have a need for problem-solvers within every organization. If you can solve problems and help people come to conclusions or motivate a sales team to new levels, you will be harder to replace.

Focus on human skills – If you are good with people or you can improve relations with vendors, clients, and investors, you will be harder to replace than your co-workers. Be a people person!

We hope these tips will help you reinvent yourself in advance of the coming AI invasion, or at least rethink how you do your current job to become more valuable to your organization.

It might be easy to look at the pending automation and AI world as something to fear. But really, it just forces us, as humans to be more human.

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