WHAT IT IS?
Being the best employee with the best skills in an uncertain time sounds good doesn’t it? The company Talespin wants to help you with this, because on April 29, 2020 they announced ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’. ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ are learning modules where virtual reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AR) helps you to improve your soft skills. Soft skills are also known as ‘people skills’. If you watch the movie below, then you see what kind of soft skills they improve. ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ is a simulation where you for example, can ‘practice’ how to fire someone. (Talespin, 2020)
It is nice to hear that this company can help you improve your soft skills, but VR and AR aren’t new, in fact it exists for years. So, you may wonder why this is ‘Cool’?
WHY IT´S COOL?
- In a time of so much technology, soft skills are very important. Expert of future forecasting and Innovation, Carl Rohde wrote in his book ‘Futures of work’: ‘It is a fact for the future: AI robots and other linked software programmes can carry out more tasks more efficiently than humans can. But people can make the distinct difference when they have the right human competences.’ (Rohde & Oosterhout van, 2017, pp. 1–3) Trend specialist Geoff Colvin wrote a book about this as well. The book is called:‘Humans Are Underrated. What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will.’ Geoff Colwin believes that many jobs in the future will be automatic. His opinion of a successful future job is:
‘Successful jobs are the jobs that have a little bit more of that human touch.’ Colvin (2016)
So we can say that soft skills are important. Now ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ might sound even better? The only weird thing about ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ is that it is made by humans. So, they want technology to teach human skills to humans.
- It is interesting to think about this, it is even more interesting when you consider that the reason why the soft skills of young people are not that good, is because of technology. Cancer Research UK’s shows the generation gap between the way millennials and baby boomers prefer to communicate. Millennials communicate less face-to-face thanks to technologies such as social media. Now that you know all of this, you might watch the movie below with a different look. (Cancer Research Uk, 2018)
WHY IT HAS FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL?
Perhaps technology is not the best way to help people improve their soft skills? However, the company Talespin is doing well. This is because the underlying problem of ‘the soft skills gap’ remains. Four different generations share the workplace, what makes it hard to be on the same line. (Gourani, 2019)
In the future of work, human competences will become more important and more generations will share the same workspace. That’s why ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ have future growth potential. It is a good possibility that there will be more options in the future to improve soft skills. Perhaps we want to see more soft skills from an early age and new child toys come on the market that encourage this? In what way innovation will ‘solve’ this problem we don’t know, but we know one thing for sure. It’s not bad to have ‘a little bit of human touch’ in the future of work. Colvin (2016)
Bibliography:
Picture: Digital technology face artificial intelligence Free Vector. (2019). [Foto]. Geraadpleegd van Banner vector created by starline – www.freepik.com
Youtube video: Talespin. (2019). Talespin’s CoPilot Virtual Human Training Technology [Videobestand]. Geraadpleegd van https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzcCwr5iWHg&feature=emb_title
Text: Cancer Research Uk. (2018, 29 januari). Millennials shun face-to-face conversations for online chats. Geraadpleegd op 14 mei 2020, van https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/press-release/2018-01-29-millennials-shun-face-to-face-conversations-for-online-chats?_ga=2.53069992.1029813035.1589483066-669970464.1589483066 Colvin, G. (2016). Humans are Underrated: What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will. London: Hodder & Stoughton General Division. Gourani, S. (2019, 25 april). Leading Multiple Generations In Today’s Workforce. Geraadpleegd op 14 mei 2020, van https://www.forbes.com/sites/soulaimagourani/2019/04/25/leading-multiple-generations-in-todays-workforce/#60db39074636 I. (2019, 28 oktober). What Are Soft Skills And Why Are They Important? – Ignite. Geraadpleegd op 14 mei 2020, van https://www.ignitetraining.com/blog/soft-skills-their-importance/ Rohde, C. R., & Oosterhout van, L. v. O. (2017). Futures of work. Geraadpleegd van https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlrohde/detail/overlay-view/urn:li:fsd_profileTreasuryMedia:(ACoAAACuhYQB9G9p1t2CSheCgAgTHYm5qcad7ng,1516186041930)/ Talespin. (2020, 29 april). Talespin Launches ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ Learning Modules to help CEOs, Executives and Team Leaders Navigate Difficult Scenarios in Times of Crisis. Geraadpleegd op 14 mei 2020, van https://www.talespin.company/news/talespin-launches-leading-through-uncertainty-learning-modules-to-help-ceos-executives-and-team-leaders-navigate-difficult-scenarios-in-times-of-crisis Tulgan, B. (2018, 22 januari). What Is the Soft Skills Gap? Geraadpleegd op 14 mei 2020, van https://trainingindustry.com/blog/leadership/what-is-the-soft-skills-gap/
8 Comments
Hi Melissa! Interesting seed. Crazy how VR (and other games) keep getting more real. Emotions are especially difficult to copy. I am curious if there will be good results. After all, you learn the most by actually doing it. I am curious how the soft skills will develop even more in the future.
Hi Chantal, yes I’m curious as wel!! I think soft skills wil be more important in the future. thanks for your comment.
Hi Melissa,
Great blog! Good that you started with a question, which draws my attention.
I love your writing style. Also because you really interact with your reader and guide me through your story.
I think you did a great thing by first showing the video to your reader. In this way, the reader can envision your signal better. After watching the video I was more interested to continue reading. Even though I know VR for a little while, I still keep impressed by it. I am really impressed by the way you document your signal! Your last sentence really gets me and is really inspiring. Good work!
Hi Floor, thank you for your comment. It’s nice to hear that you find my seed interesting, even though VR isn’t new!
Dear Melissa. Fascinating Cool signal, Melissa. Talespin and its likes will be part of our future, for sure. Not certain whether I think this is a good think as future employees might be monitored with it into a next-step surveillance society. “A new standard for employees performance” (I quote the video) sound empowering for sure. But will it also ‘measure’ our performance in new way, innovative but threatening? A bit like Amazon measures every step of its work bee employees in its warehouses?
Very good documentation, Melissa. I know ILS emphasizes this, but it works! Your story telling is a bit shaky though this time. Not really smooth. But you are good and i gather you have great growth potential yourself. Also I would love to read some lessons from Talespin: how do they let you improve. (I know this is difficult to discover for you, but it would make your blog going from good to excellent! Thanks a lot. Carl .
Dear Carl, thank you for your nice and interesting feedback! You ask really interesting questions. It is funny to read that you say that my documentation is not s smooth, because that is completely right! I had a lot of problems with the text because I had a vision in my mind, but it was difficult to write it down. I would like to learn more about this. For me, this post was the hardest of the 3 I’ve written. Thank you for your advice and positive words.
Hi Melissa. It’s a great seed! I like your writing style and the way you use references to make your arguments stronger. Although VR is not a new technology, this use is new and I also believe soft skills will be even more important in the future, maybe as a way to distinguish real humans from virtual ones.
Hi Gustavo, thanks for your nice comment! Nice to hear your feedback about the resources I used. I try to pay as much attention as possible to this, because I think it’s important to use them. Nice that you still give comments after you’ve already read a lot. Thank you so much for this!