COVID-19: The Great Accelerator of Work and Learning
Thomas Friedman on Disruption and Transformation of Work and Education
In an article Thomas Friedman wrote for New York Times, he said we should fasten our seatbelt and wait for some major disruptions emerge after we rise up again to live in a post-COVID world. Some long-established institutions such as universities will disappear and workplaces will transform into platforms for orchestrating works performed both locally and remotely by smart machines, distributed staff, outsourcers and practically any person on the planet who has the right skills with connection to the internet.
Life-long Learning – Not an Option
Imagine when that happens, the competition for works will become so intense. Life-long learning is no longer an option but a must. The challenge many parents and adults have to face is: how to keep one’s kids and oneself motivated and passionate about learning, especially learning new skills that future work places demand.
Structural Shift from Degrees to Skills
One of the themes in Friedman’s article is about the ‘structural shift from degrees to skills’. Companies, as platforms, have to develop the capabilities to train up their workers wherever they are with on-demand skills. Does that mean only the STEM people will excel? Not really. Besides problem solvers, our world also needs ‘problem finders’ who are educated in the sciences as well as humanities with the sensibility and insights into what humans need. However, the education of future problem solvers and problem finders might not come from traditional universities. I am putting my bet on Udacity, Udemy, and the like. Complemented with the development in machine learning, IoT, AR/VR/XR and nocode application generators, the goods and services made by future workers will definitely amaze us!
