Setting Our Children Up for Success in 2030

The World Federation for Robotics predicts that by 2018, 38 million service robots will be sold annually (current is 1.5 million). The world of work is changing at a pace never before experienced by previous generations. Tesla’s Elon Musk along with many other tech luminaries talks about the serious need for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to handle the impact that AI and automation will have on the job market

As a parent, I feel passionate about the need to ensure that we are preparing today’s children for tomorrow’s jobs. If you are middle-aged right now, it is highly likely that the role you retire from has not even been invented yet.  We need to be cultivating a fluid skillset rather than train for a fixed job role. As front line jobs become increasingly automated it will require us to be flexible in our skills to avoid becoming extinct within our chosen profession. The quicker we can identify and define the DNA (Do Not Automate) elements of our lives, the wiser our decisions about technology to support us will be.

My research indicates that people are maximising their human potential when they bring ‘the 4Cs’ to life within their work – being caring, collaborative, curious and creative (for these are trickier to automate better than a human). In a post-Google world it will be skills like these 4Cs that are likely to be desirable in a first-jobber in 2030, rather than the ability to pass fixed-knowledge exams. We will need to change the way society prepares today’s 4 year olds for the job market they enter in 2030.

The everyday tech decisions we are taking in our homes are already creating a new set of skills in our children. So we can also be developing these softer skills with our children within our own houses right now. Along with caring, collaborating, curiosity and creativity, practising the art of conversation around the dinner table of today will be a key skill for the meeting table of tomorrow. Someone told me last week that his family put all smartphones and tablets into the key bowl when they all arrive home from work and school each evening. I am doing my best to try this in my home now as a way to stay present with my child when we are together. 

With mental health and wellbeing levels worsening within the UK workforce, we need to rethink how we add value in our jobs amid the change - without becoming like robots ourselves! Amid all the tasks, the trick is to focus on looking after our Emotional Intelligence (emotional maturity) Personal Resilience (handling life’s challenges) and Mental Presence (e.g. judgement & decision-making).  By demonstrating these human skills we are showing our children the skills they will need to remain human as they enter a world about which very few of us is able to predict how to conquer.

P.S. the robots are coming… Unless your kid is naturally an exceptionally brilliant coder, its all about nurturing the softer human skills.

Laura Thomson-Staveley is founder and leadership coach at Phenomenal Training and co-host of Secrets from A Coach podcast. For more information visit: phenomenaltraining.com and secretsfromacoach.com