Intensifying skills requirements: From the Industrial Revolution to the Information Age.

With each phase, the skills and IQ needed to move from a proverbial taxi driver to a programmer role increases while the income from that new set of skill decreases.

Example: Take a Taxi driver in the 1970's.
At that time, it was far easier to move into COBOL programming with it offering high relative salaries, and a strong career path than it is today for a Taxi driver to move into Java / Python / Javascript / etc. and to gain enough knowledge to be able to do his or her work as well as do so within a source code repository while managing the complexity of problems, process and people surrounding the project and work.

And even on a relatively smaller paycheck (adjusted into 2018 dollars), for example, a baseline IBM COBOL programmer could support his entire family on one paycheck, and still live well.

The charts below show the transitions from a baseline role to an analogous role or new role and what skills are required, what are amount are transferable skills while highlighting the gap and jump required.

For instance, an old time livery employee would be analogous to a parking lot attendant (mass market) or perhaps valet (higher end).

A buggy whip factory worker would make gas pedals / accelerators at first, and perhaps today, fuel injection systems.

The other aspect shown is the skills requirements, gap, jump and impact in moving from one role to another (whether it is analogous or new) such as the proverbial taxi driver becoming a software programmer.

In each transition case, one can see how many more skills are needed, how many transfer and how large or small is great both the gap and the jump.

As a side note, gap relates to the amount of skills missing, jump relates to the market weight or market difficulty of acquiring and possessing a particular skill or skill set.

At the same time, if taxi drivers (and there are certainly outliers, however, we are not talking about outliers for the very reason that they are outliers) could make the switch and jump now (when it is far easier and pays far better) why would they wait until the future when they are forced to do so, and when at that time, when they are forced to make the change, the switch and jump will only get harder and pay relatively less, all while they lose the earnings under the curve having not transitioned.

Even more of the same could be said about the 1970's taxi driver as it was very easy then (relative to today). Yet it didn't happen, it isn't happening and it will not happen. And the reason should be and is abundantly clear in the charts below.

Does Japan Offer A Glimpse Into Our Collective Future?

Japan is often in the news with worried reports about her plummeting fertility rate and disinflation but given the current restructuring of global labor markets and democratization of technology, is this something to worry about?

Or is it something that will set the foundation for stable and solid growth as the game changing technologies become more evenly distributed such as autonomous vehicles, crypto currencies, 3D printing, robotics, factory automation, machine vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence?

Our prediction from January 1, 2014

1. Japan Can't Compete:
a. Can Japan Compete Globally? You Betcha And Here's Why
b. Japan May Be Able To Compete Globally But Not Yet
c. Can Japan Compete Globally? You Betcha And Here's How

2. Myth of a Failing Japan:
a. Can Japan Compete Globally? You Betcha And Here's Why
b. Japan May Be Able To Compete Globally But Not Yet
c. Can Japan Compete Globally? You Betcha And Here's How

3. Japan Lacks Innovative:
a. Japan's Problem: Severe Lack Of Leadership Not A Lack Of Innovation Or Creativity (SiliconEdge's Full Interview) (The Globe & Mail)
b. The Truth About Japan: Can Japan's New Startup Spirit Revitalize The Japanese Economy?
c. Has Japan's Samurai Spirit Been Replaced By A Eunuch?

4. Japan Lacks Talent (Needs English-speakers, Needs Internationalized Talent)
a. Exploring & Exploding The Western Myth & Meme of Japan's Lack Of Talent 
b. Has Japan's Samurai Spirit Been Replaced By A Eunuch?

When we think about foreign language acquisition, the most commonly cited  benefit is the often most obvious -- the ability to communicate with other cultures in either a social or professional capacity.

The second benefit which is often cited is the ability to understand, appreciate, and think more deeply about our native language such as the structure of sentences and the selection and accuracy of words used.

For instance, what are the differences between  rock, gravel, pebbles and stones?

Or the differences between a cathedral, church, shrine and temple?

How about a stream, river and creek?

Beyond all of these benefits, however, is the concept of the Foreign Language Effect. This is related to the degree to which thinking in a foreign language impacts (positively or negatively) our emotional involvement and cognitive biases.

For instance, when we learn a language natively, we most often do so through daily living and life, in a highly charged and emotional environment. As would be expected, acquiring a language in such a manner results in the words and verbs being heavily laden with emotion and psychological triggers.

By contrast, second language acquisition (unless you were raised in a bilingual culture or household) is traditionally done in a far more clinical, emotionally neutral or sterile environment and as such the words and nouns are far more devoid of emotion and psychological triggers.

Even if you don't speak a foreign language or only speak a foreign language at a basic level, you can easily test this by thinking about various emotional issues and changing the nouns, adjectives or verbs used.

Pro-life vs Pro-abortion? Or Pro-life vs Pro-choice as just one example of an often extremely emotional issue with emotionally laden words.

We often seen this in military parlance as well, where concepts such as  "dead civilians" or "dead children" has a far great impact than than using the term "collateral damage".

Fratricide among our military (that is, accidental killing of one's troops by one's troops) is reframed as "friendly fire" - and yet there is probably nothing friendly about one's troops planting one or several 1,000 lb gravity bombs in your mess hall tent, even if the troops are from your same country.

The science is quiet solid on this subject, and using it properly, it helps us understand that by changing the way we speak (nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs) we can greatly improve the clarity of our decision making by removing ourselves emotionally from the decision, thus, creating emotional distance.

And in other situations, this helps us influence or persuade others by either triggering their emotions to our advantage or side stepping them and avoiding certain emotional or psychological tripwires.

With the increasing interest in psychology, found not just in the business community but among the general public, it's always beneficial to share some of the major figures in the field from decades past.

One major figure in particular was Vance Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996). Packard was an American journalist and social critic who authored a number of very insightful and prescient books including The Hidden Persuaders (1957) which was a exploration of the advertising industry and its use of psychology and persuasion.

In 1959, Packard wrote The Status Seekers which described American social stratification and behaviors.
And in 1960, Packard's The Waste Makers illuminated and  criticized planned obsolescence describing the impact of American productivity, especially on the national character.

His 1964 book, The Naked Society clearly articulated the real threats to privacy posed by new technologies such as computerized filings, modern surveillance techniques and methods for influencing human behavior.

Reading Packard's works which were written decades ago and seeing how accurate his prognostications were (and, if anything, they were vastly understated - Room 641A, anyone?)  shows what a genius he was.

A recent Glassdoor study shows the accelerating democractization of tech. In this case, through the demand for software related jobs both outside Silicon Valley, and more importantly, outside of the tech industry. That is, tech is applicable and being applied everywhere. But not as a competitive advantage - it is now a simple, bottom line requirement. Everyone needs it. Everyone has it.

A decade ago, working in a tech job like data scientist or software engineer usually meant working in a “tech” company. That’s no longer the case. Today, every industry is trying to transform itself into a tech industry in some measure, using software, automation, mobile apps, and big data to automate, make smarter decisions, and drive value to customers.

This year, we saw a growing number of employers in finance, retail, manufacturing, and other traditional industries ramp up hiring for tech roles.

First, non-tech employers have sharply ramped up tech hiring compared to five years ago, with the biggest gains in retail, banking and finance, and manufacturing. Second is that a growing share of tech hiring today is happening far from Silicon Valley.

Instead, employers are increasingly hiring these roles in smaller more affordable tech clusters like Seattle, Austin, Detroit, Dallas, and Raleigh. What’s driving these trends? In retail, tech hiring is being fueled by booming e-commerce and the growth of online retailers like Amazon. In finance, growing use of mobile banking apps, online payments, and electronic trading are driving demand for tech talent. And, in manufacturing, employers are hiring tech roles to help build leaner, more automated, and more quality-focused production lines.

2018 is poised to be the year for Applied Psychology, and in the latest Trends Report, published by the American Psychological Association, we find 10 Trends highlighted.

Below, we've highlighted the trends that we find most interesting and relevant:
1. Psychology is more popular than ever.
2. Applied Psychology is hot and only getting hotter.
4. Psychologists are standing up for science.
5. Epigenetics.
10. Psychologists embrace open science.

A recent research report from glassdoor contained two  interesting and insightful studies. The first was the in regards to the 5 Hiring Trends that Defined 2017 and the second related to the 5 Disruptions to Watch in 2018 and Beyond.

We've highlighted the trends we find most interesting and relevant to our work.

I. 5 Hiring Trends that Defined 2017

1. Tech Jobs Spreading Beyond Silicon Valley & Pure Tech Hubs.
2. Booming Hiring — But for How Long?
3. The Power of Whistleblowers.
4. Goodbye Annual Reviews, Hello Workplace Learning.
5. The Year of the Informed Candidate.

II. 5 Disruptions to Watch in 2018 and Beyond

1. Bracing for AI in HR and Finance.
2. Bringing Transparency to the Application Process.
3. Tapping Employee Passion through Role Experimentation.
4. Smoothing Out Bumps in Mobile Job Search.
5. The Changing Face of Job Creation in America.

Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and science-based  psychological findings which address, inform or solve practical problems of human, organizational and societal  experience.

While Psychology is a diverse discipline, most people seem to flash to a picture of a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist when they hear the word "psychology".

But that is only a small part of what psychology is about or can offer business and society, and this  makes it very easy to forget that there are nearly endless, applications which can and do inform, and influence our everyday life.

Within the business sector, applied psychology is being used to great effect, and advantage in areas such as the improvement of talent, teams', and organizations' performance.

On the tech and product side, applied psychology informs the design and use of products from form factors, UX and AI design through compression algorithms for audio and videos such as psycho or neuro-ergonomics, and psychovisual video encodings.

Applied Psychology also is powerful applied within a sales and marketing context in raising a prospect's buying temperature or increasing product engagement as well as the perceived value.

Perhaps the best thing about applied psychology is its relevancy and power to affect, and influences humans regardless of the business model, distribution channels or technology involved.

Applied psychology speaks to a human's psychological operating system, and for this reason and many others, applied psychology is only getting more and more attention and quickly becoming a must-have throughout the entirety of organizations.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

A timeless yet simple question. "How do we hire good people?"
The answer is simple and timeless as well: "It depends."

It depends on many factors but if you are having difficulty in hiring good people, you need to step back and ask yourself this: "Why would a good person want to join our company? What is in it for them?"




There are three ways to approach this:
1. Push people into your organization and twist their arm to close them and sign then.
2. Pull people into your organization so that they are clamoring to join.
3. Some combination of #1 and #2 above.

My recommendation is #2 above. Pull people in. Because when you have an organization that pulls people in, it often means you have an organization that engages them in their daily work and adds in their career development and retention.

So how do you pull them in? How about this:
To hire good people, make your company a platform that people want to plug into.

Christmas Greetings from SiliconEdge (video)
Running Time: 00:20
Wishing you all a very Merry and Happy Christmas as well as a fun, healthy and prosperous New Year!