Abhijit Bhaduri’s Blog
I write about careers, skills and the world of work. The cartoons and sketches are mine.
Generalists vs specialists - who has a greater chance of success?
The world often hands us what are called "wicked problems". These are settings where the rules of the game are unclear or incomplete. The patterns do not repeat and feedback is often delayed or misleading. The world is increasingly beginning to sound close to that description. Who will be more successful - the generalist or the specialist?
Book Review: Demystifying Digital Transformation
The 5 E model begins with Exploration. This is where businesses must re-evaluate their value-proposition in view of the recent technology trends and shifts in the consumer’s behavior. This where the organization must generate options to deliver the value-proposition in the new world. Phase 2 is called Experimentation with all possible ways to deliver the new value-proposition. Evaluate its potential to develop and scale. Check if the new options cannibalize the existing product lines or augment it. Read more ...
Why should hiring be driven by social intelligence?
“Personality is related to every meaningful individual difference. Scientifically validated personality assessments can predict substance use and abuse, longevity, relationship satisfaction, job performance, criminality, and occupational choice, just to list a few examples. Beyond these applications, well-validated personality assessments provide individuals with insights into their own motives, reputations and destructive behaviours, many of which they may not be aware.
The Rising Power of Employees
Employers no longer own the brand. Leaders were just about starting to take the voice of the customer seriously. Now they have to also deal with the collective power of a hyperconnected world of workers. Employees are keen to force the employers to make ethical choices. Leaders have no choice but to follow the employees. This time they are leading.
Is Empathy the Missing Leadership Ingredient?
A few weeks ago, the McKinsey Global Institute released a report on skill shift, automation and the future of the workforce. They spoke about the major reskilling challenge that lies ahead. The strongest growth in demand will be for technological skills. The next big surge will be for social and emotional skills such as leadership and managing others. In the technology-charged world of work, empathy is the leadership essential...
Sustaining the human connection
Our work is more than a source of livelihood. It shapes our identity. As the world of work and careers is changing, it needs leaders who can avoid “conversation fatigue”. In the last two decades, the profusion of social media platforms, flatter structures and constant change is creating a “collaborative overload”. Yet never before has the need for human connection been greater. The ability to make meaning and connect the dots will fast become a skill that will define successful leaders. We hope organizations will deepen their investments in building these skills.
Blockchain in HR
Learning patterns have changed. The shelf life of degrees is reducing and people are taking on informal ways of keeping themselves updated. Tracking formal courses, online certifications, badges and digital credentials, and projects done for the employer could be automatically tracked and updated on the resume of the employee using blockchain tech. Imagine a verified version of LinkedIn available without the lies and garnishing rampant today! Blockchain could do all that and revolutionize HR.
Employment & employability: India's dual challenges
98.6% of non-farm businesses have fewer than 10 workers. Entrepreneurs create jobs for themselves and for others. We have to encourage them to scale up. Here are some ideas for Budget 2018:Expand the definition of MSME to be Rs 50 crores.Tax agricultural income beyond Rs 20 lakhs per annum. This can form the fund that can be given to entrepreneurs.21% Indian companies with over $1billion in value have given more than 15% returns on capital. When companies have scaled up they have provided good returns. Getting our entrepreneurs to not just start-up but scale up may be the answer to employment and employability.
The Digital Tsunami: Talent Management
When the entire talent pool consists of a few thousand people in the world, the demand and supply equation does get skewed in favor of the experts. In case of Artificial Intelligence, the talent pool is limited to less than 10,000 people across the world. These people are being tapped by everyone from Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft as well as every other industry. The MD of Daimler Benz recently said their competitors are no longer other car companies like Tesla, but Google, Apple, Amazon etc. The same holds true for talent. If Artificial Intelligence is on its way to becoming like electricity, there are not enough electrical engineers being churned out.
Why are Digital Giants Building Offices
There are enough people who earn a living without stepping into an office. A wartime correspondent can get a Pulitzer without being in office for months. A job that can be done with no interdependencies can be done from anywhere. The gig economy is proof of that.However, deeper bonds are formed between people who cross each other several times a day. In the late 1940s, psychologists Leon Festinger and Stanley Schachter, and sociologist Kurt Back found that physical space was the key to friendship formation.In a hyperconnected world, the notion of friendship is acquiring new shades. Online friendships are being formed on social media over shared interests. Whether these friends could work together on a day-to-day basis on tasks remains to be studied.
Will AI Create Jobs for India
India needs to add a million jobs a month every year to feed the youth who are entering the workforce. Every AI agent will need to be trained through millions of iterations. As more AI applications emerge, the need for training AI will grow exponentially. Labor arbitrage will make India an attractive destination for jobs that involve training AI. A study has found six areas where the use of robots will create new jobs: automobiles, electronics, renewable energy, skilled systems, robotics and food and beverage. Jobs like robot psychologist, personal online shopper, robot ethicist did not exist before. This may even be the next outsourcing wave for India. But the jobs we get will have their consequences...
Drones
Laws are boundaries that we draw to keep us safe and protected. When people follow traffic rules, people are unharmed by vehicles. The boundaries of knowledge also expand when innovators challenge these rules and laws. Innovation necessarily happens in the fringes. Sometimes when the laws become hindrances, the hub of innovations shifts to other spots. For drones that innovation hub seems to be Africa.
Culture Eats CEO For Breakfast
Travis had described the 14 values as a “philosophy of work” that Kalanick and chief product officer Jeff Holden, an Amazon vet, had spent hundreds of hours putting together. The values were built on a world view that there was room for only one ride sharing company in the world. There was no doubt that it demolished the taxi service companies that used to limit the supply of cabs to be able to charge arbitrary prices. Supply of cabs was restricted keep demand higher than supply. Uber demolished all this.It was built on a view that for me to succeed I must kill my peers. The value of “principled confrontation” was designed to encourage employees to challenge authority without fear. On the ground, it translated to bullying the weak colleague.
