The best way to predict the future is to invent it. The next best way? Ask the people inventing it.
According to the World Economic Forum, 65 per cent of kids will work in jobs that don’t yet exist.
Yet mainstream education is still teaching kids the same math, science, and history subjects you and I were taught decades ago. Clearly, schools are not doing enough to prepare kids for jobs of the future.
Asking founders building the next Apple/Amazon/Google what skills they are hiring for is a great proxy for the skills needed for future jobs. The future will be invented by the people building the next big thing.
Ask any founder what the biggest determinants of their company’s success are, and talent inevitably comes up. Good founders have an uncanny ability to peer into the future and see what’s next. They also know the skills they need to be hiring for to build the products that will get them there.
If anyone has an inkling of what jobs of the future will look like, it’s founders who are inventing the future. So that’s exactly what we did.
We sat down with the founders of three of the fastest-growing tech companies in Southeast Asia –Ninja Van, Glints, and Yola-– and asked them what skills they are hiring for right now to determine a good proxy for the skills needed for future jobs.
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The three skills they told us were 1) first principles thinking, 2) clear communication, and 3) self-awareness
A key question I get is If kids can learn to code, why can’t kids learn first principles thinking? Or clear communication? Or self-awareness?
One of the best analogies I’ve come across of traditional teaching versus designing for learning is filling a cup versus lighting a fire. Kids are not empty vessels to be filled with knowledge. They are curious, creative human beings whose natural instinct is to build, not memorise.
Kids like coding not because they get a kick out of writing code, but because they are excited about what they can build with code. What if we help kids understand first principles thinking (breaking down complicated problems into basic elements) and show them how they can apply reasoning from first principles in everyday life?
What if we teach kids the basics of clear communication and show them how to negotiate with parents more effectively? Or what if we teach kids self-awareness to help them discover strategies that cultivate better habits and behaviours that will guide them for life?
By asking founders what skills they hire for, we help kids develop skills that are relevant to future jobs, jobs that may not exist today. At Doyobi, we work directly with founders to design courses that help children ages 9-15 develop these skills.
Also Read: How the future of work will shape the future of mobility
For example, in the Critical Thinking Skills Series: How to think from First Principles course, learners practice using first principles thinking to identify fake news, break down a problem, and learn how to apply first principles thinking at school.
Firas Alsuwaigh, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Ninja Van, co-developed this course with us because he noticed most people apply complex solutions to difficult problems. The best people find simple ones. Simple solutions require you to reduce problems to their first principles. Why leave it to chance that kids will learn first principles if we can get them started on it today?
Founders work with us because they see how these skills make employees more effective in the workplace, and how they don’t come naturally to most people because they are overlooked in school. Founders also relish the opportunity to give back to the community by doing their bit to help kids prepare for a future that will be shaped by innovations in technology.
Getting founders who are inventing the future to work with us to develop courses that prepare kids for the future creates a virtuous cycle that reduces the likelihood of kids leaving school unprepared for the real world.
Technology has had a major impact on the way we live and work and will continue to transform industries. We cannot predict what jobs will exist in the future, but we can help kids develop the skills they need to be adaptable and resilient.
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