EYN#010 - Knowing Your Onions Is Not Enough

Read Time: 2 mins

It feels like it should be, but knowing your onions is not enough.  I don’t think it was ever really enough in the tech world but definitely isn’t these days.

You absolutely need to understand the technology you're working with…

… but you also need to work effectively with the humans you're working with.

AI is advancing at a tremendous pace, and every day I see more potential erosion of the knowledge worker role.  People whose deep knowledge is their sole attribute will be in trouble.  But where AI is slower to develop, is at the intersection of the real world.  AI will reign in the purely digital world but will it reign in the real world?  Whether that be installing plumbing under a sink, or building a relationship with a human - AI finds that harder.

So to really thrive in the tech world in the future I think you need:

• A solid tech foundation
• A passion for learning new things and adapting
• The ability to listen to people and empathise
• Problem solving skills
• Effective communication

Knowing your onions is not enough.

So how much time and energy to you invest in building each of those areas?  In my experience there is often a tendency in the tech world to over invest in technical skills and under invest in all the others.

• How much time to you invest in developing your listening and empathy skills?  Both of these can be developed?
• How often do you build your problem solving muscles?
• Do you spend time any time learning how to effectively communicate with and influence others?

Knowing your onions is not enough.  Make sure you're investing in your Human Skills too.

Hope this helps

BenP

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