When I was in the US Air Force, I witnessed several examples of the downside of goal-setting. The structure of promotion often rewarded holding certain positions over the actual performance in the position. One example particularly sticks in my mind of a “fast burner,” or someone on the fast promotion track, who was shifted over
Last year in June, the ATM celebrated its 50th birthday. So, if tellers have been “automated" for over 50 years, why do we still have tellers? And what does this tell us about the AI threat to jobs that everyone fears? Many people thought that the ATMs would eventually wipe out teller jobs, but in
A trilingual robot is greeting guests and answering their questions in an Italian hotel, and self-improving with each guest interaction. The robot has the capability to learn new things and improve its abilities through artificial intelligence…the more guests Robby Pepper the Robot speaks to, the better it gets at understanding accents, the subtle meaning of
Only 15% of workers globally reported being engaged in their jobs. That’s a leadership crisis that requires Soft Power Skills to solve.
Power Corrupts Try this experiment—think of times in which you felt powerful, such as when you felt very much in control of your life. Now, go take the empathy quiz at this link (you can scroll down past the introduction to take the quiz). Would you be surprised to know that feeling powerful may turn off
While the digitally-driven economy disrupts established ways, calling for workers with a balance of hard and soft power skills, the old education system is failing to produce what employers need. There is a solution. Just like Amazon, Uber, or Airbnb, technology can cut out the middle man in paradigm-shifting ways, connecting potential employees with employer needs, and motivating learners through autonomy, relatedness, and competency.
“If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.” “ถ้าคุณไม่ชอบการเปลี่ยนแปลง คุณจะยิ่งไม่ชอบสิ่งที่ไม่เกี่ยวข้องกัน” — General Eric Shinseki, US Army George Eastman founded Kodak in 1888 with the disruptive technology of dry plates, when everyone else was using complex liquid solutions. Through the years, Kodak innovated and changed…until they didn’t. By the late 20th Century,
Three types of thinking styles tend to reflect your cultural background. Try this quiz to see how you think!
One Thai translation of empathy, a key soft power skill, is “taking the heart and wearing it,” giving a descriptive picture of stepping into the thoughts and emotions of others. This empathy intelligence quiz is step one in understanding yourself and others. 5 more practices can help you build your empathy powers.
Curiosity comes naturally to children…but adults think they already know everything, and lose the soft power skill of being incessantly inquisitive. It may kill cats, but curiosity is essential for a highly innovative and reliable organization—a HIRO—to function well. Two heart-breaking disasters in NASA’s history demonstrate how important it is to constantly stay curious.
