Procrastination, Human AI Teams and Interviews

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    Welcome to this week’s edition! You might have noticed that we are slightly changing our focus – helping people develop human skills for the future of work, no matter where, when or how they approach work.

    However, we will continue to help you more productive in work and life, a future of work insight and share our favourite new thing. Let’s get going!

    In 1996, the reigning world chess champion – Garry Kasparov played IBMs Deep Blue in tournament condition. Kasparov won the match. One year later Deep Blue returned – smarter and ready for a rematch. It won, and the world of chess was changed forever.

    The title of the movie made about those chess matches was called Game Over, but as a description as to what happened to chess, it could not have been more inaccurate. While it’s true that today no human grandmaster can hold a candle to chess computers, the game of chess itself is more popular than ever. Far more people play the game regularly, and elite players are better than they have ever been. These experts use chess computers to hone their game, rapidly simulate game situations, and help them understand possible approaches from their opponents. They build upon this computer help, and combine them with uniquely human strategies that make them unpredictable in a match situation.

    What has happened in the world of chess can give us clues into what will probably happen in our workplaces as AI expands further. Our work environments will change, but (assuming advances in AI technologies are managed appropriately) they will not make us irrelevant. Instead, as humans, we will learn to work alongside our AI counterparts as part of multi-disciplinary teams to get better results faster.

    And the skills we will need? They will be the things we do differently from AI, so each party can supplement the other. Computers will build technical skills faster and cheaper than us, so we will need to focus on soft skills, or as we prefer to call them, human skills. In the future, human really will be our superpower.

    Recommendation

    Last week we recommended Matt Watkinson‘s new book – Mastering Uncertainty. We’re delighted that Matt joined us on our Making Remote Work podcast. Here are 3 quick takeaways…

    • We often avoid uncertainty as it makes us uncomfortable, but a mindset of embracing uncertainty can actually be freeing and reduce stress
    • Actively thinking about the worst thing that may happen before making a decision can help you make positive changes in your work and life.
    • As a leader or manager, if you create psychological safety and a culture of experimentation, you can dramatically increase the likelihood of success in your team or organization

    Check out the Making Remote Work on your favourite podcasting platform or watch it here. It’s a fascinating interview.

    The Tip: Procrastinating for Productivity

    Video Length: 71 Seconds

    Procrastination get’s a bad rap, but sometimes procrastinating can help you. In our tip this week we look at the benefits you might see if you strategically procrastinate.

    Of course you COULD wait to watch the video, but do yourself a favor and don’t procrastinate over that. It’s right here after all….

    About Us

    BillionMinds bring you Skills Developement for the Future of Work each and every week. But that’s not all we do. We also help employees and managers in companies around the world embed key soft skills to thrive in the modern workplace, and get certified in those skills, all through our unique experiential learning platform. Each of our Learn/Do experiences is less than 10 minutes a day and you can see meaningful change within two weeks.

    We work with both companies and individual employees. Certification programs start at $200 and we provide discounts for those seeking work. For more information, visit us here.