Forever Skills

What skills will matter most for work, business and life in the future? Where should you focus your energy and effort when the world is changing at an extraordinary rate? How can you future proof yourself, your organisation and your kids? In this ground-breaking book Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory have interviewed hundreds of successful business people, educators, futurists, economists and historians to uncover the key skills that will always be critical to success in business and in life. Where most futurists increase your sense of panic and anxiety with dystopian images of the not-too-distant future characterised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking our jobs, algorithms hacking our most private moments and Austrian-accented cyborgs raising our children, Kieran and Dan remind us that we need to look beyond the things changing around us and focus on the things that won’t change within us. Identify the skills you have that will always be relevant Gain insight from business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, sport leaders and more Learn why each skill matters, and how to make it stronger Discover the things that won’t change as we inch toward the future These 12 FOREVER SKILLS are designed to set you up for whatever the future may throw at you plus help you get more success in your work and life, today.

Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Where might we find certainty in a world of change? xv 1. The Three Spheres of Change 1 Part 1: Creativity Skills 10 2. Insight 17 3. Conversion 35 4. Problem solving 49 5. Agility 63 Part 2: Communication Skills 76 6. Influence 83 7. Team building 101 8. Trust 115 9. Translation 129 Part 3: Control Skills 142 10. Self-control 147 11. Resource management 159 12. Order 173 13. Implementation 185 Conclusion 199 Appendix A: Looking back to look forward 203 Appendix B: Today’s workplace trends 211 Appendix C: Ten years of work and research 217 The authors 225 The podcast 226 Index 227