Abundance, Asia and Automation - A whole new mind

I have just finished listening to a book that I had tried to read for about 5 years now. I had bought it twice but either misplaced it or had given it to someone. If it were not for www.audible.co.uk that enable me to download an audio version of the book on to my smartphone, I would still be waiting to read it. What the audiobooks and technology have been able to do, is to give me the advantage of reading books while, running, walking, in the gym, cooking, taking care of the kids, etc. It is narrated by Daniel H. Pink the author and lasts for 6 hours 19 minutes. The book tells the story of the battle between man and machine. It is not an Arnold Schwarzenegger "Terminator" like apocalypse but it is still something that we should be concern about. It tells the story of changing job market and the future. The skills that are necessary for the future especially in this ever-changing world brought by Abundance, Asia, and Automation.

The book tells the story of man's job evolution from hunters and gathers, to the Agricultural revolution, industrial revolution, information age and finally the conceptual age. It goes into detail about the skills necessary to thrive in this whole new age and the forces responsible for the change. It tells us what we should be telling our children and the skills which might be necessary for them also to thrive in this new world, which is a whole new mind. 

Daniel H. Pink states that the last few decades have belonged to a certain group of people, with a specific skill set which is logical, linear and analytical but due to the changes, it now belongs to a different group of people with different skills set - the creators, empathizes, pattern recognition and meaning makers. The book describes that the skills needed are High Concept and High Touch. High Concept, being the ability to recognize patterns and opportunities. To compile a satisfying narrative where there in none. To create artistic and emotional beauty. To combine seemly unrelated views into something new. High Touch, is the ability to empathize with others. To detect the subsidies of human relationship. To find joy in one's life and elicit in others. To stretch beyond one's life and affect others. These are skills that cannot be easily shipped out overseas and a machine will find difficult in replicating - for now.

Now the number of manufacturing jobs are reducing in the developed countries, why? They could be done cheaper in Asia, the ones that are left are done by machines - i.e. automation. There are entire factory floors where the number of people has severely reduced and those left are just monitoring the machines. 

Like the Luddites of the early 19th century in England, where hand weavers went around destroying any weaving machinery they could find as a form of protest as they were out of their jobs. There is resistance to change and a lot of people will be unhappy. As the Luddites were fighting a losing battle and they were all replaced by mechanical weaving machines and had to be suppressed with full military force. Most of the jobs too will be replaced but less drastically. There were 2 stories in the book which illustrated the change from manpower to machines. About physical strength i.e. manual labor, there was John Henry a powerful and strong, a "steel-driving man" during the 1800's in the US, who raced against a steam-powered hammer a contest was arranged that who would drill a tunnel through a mountain first. John did manage to win the race by a few seconds, with a super powerful effort but expired soon afterward, dying with a hammer in hand. This showed that machines were stronger than most men. There are machines which now can dig tunnels and tear through rock at rates unimagined by our forefathers. These drilling machines could easily do the work of more than 100 people per day. They enable us to drill underwater tunnels between France and Britain. John Herny's modern-day equivalent, with regards mental strength and intelligence, happens to be Garry Kasparov, Chess Grand Master against an IBM supercomputer called Deep Blue.

He too believed that machines could not beat humans at chess, as there were too many permutations and different scenarios.  The computer did beat Kasparov in 1997. This shows that AI is way smarter, Garry analyses 3 different moves per 3 seconds, Deep Blue analyses 3 million different scenarios at the same time. Now Garry believes that computers will be winning every game they play. The manufacturing jobs that President Trump indicated that he would bring back to Charleston, West Virginia, US. The jobs are not coming back, they have been declining due to a variety of factors over the years, most of these jobs are been done by machines and not people. The coal jobs that Trump thought have left, apart from the fact that machines are now, drilling, removing, sorting, washing, packing, etc the coal. Non-renewable energy is getting cheaper and drilling is not economically feasible. There is also health and safety implication if an individual is exposed to coal dust and not lets us start on global warming.

The book further went to state that in this new age six skills are required and it told us how to develop them. These are Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. The book told us that due to abundance people are now looking not only to get by but far more in the things they buy or do. But also what has beauty, fulfills they're spiritual and emotional earning, gives meaning to their lives and is unique. The book gave the example of candles sales increasing, it is obvious that candles are not used for the illumination that they provide but they are used because of the effect either romantic or sensational. It is said the reason why people are buying expensive toasters and toilet brushes, the beauty of these products is secondarily and it has nothing to do with their primary function. But people still spend millions on them a unique special item in the house which is put in a place few people get to see it, but we spend extra money on it not because of it's additional functionality - which is basic but the way it makes us feel.

For the jobs of the future, it not that computer programmers will be considered low skill and the artist will be the new rock stars earning millions. But knowledge or information based work will still be needed but in addition to the conceptual skills of high touch and high concept. Hence jobs like accountants, lawyers, doctors, will change from sole keepers of information and procedures to emphatic advisers and interpreters of services in the age of Abundance, Asia, and Automation. This is reflected in a top medical college in the US where the students have a course in Art Design. Also, they are encouraged to spend a few days in the hospital with factitious aliments to improve their empathy skills.  Most patients already have an idea of their diagnosis after typing in their symptoms in an array of medical apps freely available. Also, a lot of clients would have nearly finished their tax returns or filled in their lawyer documentations as regards a particular case. There are professional lawyers and MBA's which offer these services at a cheaper rate in Indian, China, Philippines, etc and with the installation of fast fiber optic board, you will have your answer in less than 24 hours. There would still be a demand for the unique or abnormal professional services but most of the cases could be done by automation or outsourcing - which will do the job much faster and cheaper. The effort would be in quickly identifying the unique cases and removing them.

So we all should put on our storytelling shoes and tell an interesting narrative. Try to put an artistic favor in your work. Add an emphatic service to your professional jobs. Make sure it tells a more unique, personal and different story than your competitors. As your customers have many opportunities and choices in this age of Abundance, Asia and Automation.

This is something to consider as of the beginning of 2018 the highest paid public employee in 39 US states is not a lawyer or the governor, nor a doctor but either a football or basketball coach.