EP28: The Human Advantage: Skills That Matter in an AI-Driven Workplace

So, you know, if you look at soft skills or essential skills or durable skills or whatever we're calling them these days, right, we haven't found a great term that anyone likes yet.

But if you look at them, I almost sort of think of them like, you know, like a pyramid of skills.

There are different levels that you need to have.

You look at probably critical thinking and problem solving.

Those are probably near the top of the pyramid, right? Those are pretty advanced skills in that trade and that subset of skills.

What work ethic is, is work ethic is really this foundational level, right? It is the base.

It is what everything else is built on.

And if you don't have that, you can have all the critical thinking and problem solving in the world and you won't be successful because there's nothing for it to stand on.

You know, work ethic in my mind is really just these foundational skills, the basics, right? Showing up, having a positive attitude, being able to get along with people, taking instruction, having accountability, right? It's just, it's the basics of work ethic.

being able to, for lack of a better term, be a decent person.

It is just this piece that, unfortunately, for whatever reason, and I could go into research on this for days because it's what I've done for the last 15 years.

It just is one of the things that's not being developed in the way that it once was.

And there is not one reason for it.

There are a host of them that are out there.

But what we're finding is that people, not just young people, but even older adults are having challenges with this, just basic skills.

And, and so really work ethic is just a reminder that, you know, to be brilliant at the basics.

It's about just the little things every day.

Because while individually, it may not be that, you know, kind of annoyance without them as a collective skillset, nothing above it.

Will we have any ground to stand on?

You know, I, Um, and, and going back to your presentation at the conference, I, I remember, and I think I have this correct to that.

There was a, an activity where you had asked everybody, you know, rate your work ethic or right.

Was, was it, um, something along those lines and, and everybody goes ahead and rates it and then, or, or they, they, they switch cards or, but, but what happens is maybe what, how somebody rates their work ethic is not exactly how somebody else, um, views the work ethic, which, right.

Which, which is, uh, is just super interesting.

And, you know, To me, not only was

that, yeah.