#162 The Skills AI Can't Take From You

Welcome back!

I've been thinking a lot since last week's edition about AI in my personal life, and while that conversation is important, this week I want to flip the script. Because for all the noise about what AI can do, I think we need to talk about something more important right now.

Us Humans.

So this week I'm breaking down three human skills I believe are mission critical in an AI future. They’re not theoretical, nor are they a taste of academia.

They’re skills I’d bet you already know, but one’s that are so damn important over the next however many years, whether you work for someone else, run your own business, or are somewhere in between trying to figure out what your next move is going to be.

Let’s take takeoff.

Skill #1: Listening

As I've gotten older and grown in my career, I’ve come to realize the power of listening with intent. The kind of listening where you're fully absorbed into what someone is saying in front of you, picking up on the frustration underneath their words or the excitement they're trying to hold back. Like realllyyyyyy getting a sense for what they’re trying to say.

And I’d make the bet that listening with intent is genuinely one of the rarest (and free) things you can offer to another person. It’s probably one of the greatest gifts you could give to someone else that doesn’t involve money.

While we all know the importance of listening to others, I’d like to focus on another type of listening.

The type of listening where you’re tuned into what's happening in your industry and how AI will affect it. Where you’re paying attention and hearing what’s going on to the point where you begin to notice signals. Signals that could be beautiful (opportunity) or ugly (potential job loss). And signals are already out there, you just have to listen closely…in conversations, in the headlines, in the subtle shifts happening inside your own company.

The point is, there's a real difference between the person who sees change coming (and creates opportunity) and the person who gets surprised by it (and loses out on opportunity), and more often than not, that difference comes down to who was paying attention and most importantly, reallyyyy listening.

Skill #2: Adaptability

If you work behind a desk like me, some of what fills your week may be heading toward automation in some form.

That was not a statement intended to scare you, but I believe it’s true, because even for me in my underwriting role, it would be amazing to have 20-40% of what I do become automated. And I can feel it coming. I’m not sure when, but it’s definitely on it’s way with who I’ve been talking and listening to.

Aside from automation freeing up more time for me to do work that actually matters, I’m rooting for it so I can work more with humans instead of me just being glued to my screen for 6 hours out of the day. A lot of what I do requires analysis, which requires a ton of writing and rating accounts by looking at screens. And while I don’t want to replace that part of my role completely, I’d rather work more with people than my screen you know?

So what am I getting it? Well, you must be adaptive because AI is going change things up in your role and your industry, especially if you work behind a desk. While you may not feel the full effect now, I’d presume you’re beginning to get a sense.

With adaptability, I like to think of it like GPS. When you miss a turn, the GPS doesn't freeze up or spiral, it just recalculates and finds the next best path forward.

That's the energy we should be on when it comes to adapting. Finding the next best path forward, especially when things change fast with AI.

Things will change in the workplace and these tools will continue to evolve, and the people who can recalculate without losing their footing are the ones who will keep moving forward and stay ahead.

The change feels inevitable, and as humans, we’re hard-wired to adapt, but the question is…how fast will you adapt? The speed of which you adapt will be the differentiator.

The takeaway is the following:

Change is coming for the #desklife folks. Be confident in yourself and find ways to adapt.

Skill #3: Relationship Building

My absolute favorite.

Ten years into my career and here's a truth I keep coming back to, the most valuable thing I've built has nothing to do with a degree, a certification, or anything I learned inside some training session.

It came from a relationship that started during my senior year of college wondering what I was going to do for work...because I literally had no idea. One day, while caddying at a country club I stumbled upon a member. I had ZERO idea of what he did for work, but for some reason, he enjoyed my personality over the course of time I got to know him while caddying. Long story short, he ended up offering me an interview to work in his group. And now here we are today, that one connection turned into an opportunity that became a decade at the same company (very blessed), surrounded by some people who have since become great friends.

So, with all of this change occurring, I’ve decided to take a page out of that members playbook, but with a twist.

Ever since I got hired, I made a promise to myself, always build relationships because you never know what will happen next for you. And with all of this change with AI, it’s time to build even more relationships.

So that’s what I’ve doing in spaces I’m interested in over the last 1-2 years. I’ve been getting more involved with people in the tech/media space. More involved with building a presence online and finding community. Less talking and more listening to people more experienced than me in areas like AI. I’m building relationships in new areas where other interests lie so I can connect with more people and move through this change with them…together. And I’m hoping OTF has provided that type of connection for you as you navigate these changes as well. #Inittogether.

While family and friend relationships are the backbone to everyday living, building relationships in other areas you’re interested is just as important. You want to surround yourself with more and more folks who are interested in things you find interesting. You want that community. You want to be apart of something, especially when things are changing around you, you want people (not LLMs) you can go to and talk to.

So here's why building relationships is a skill that should feel urgent right now, especially with AI automation on the rise.

You don’t really know what’s going to happen in your industry or how it’s going to impact your role. You just don’t.

But, if you can stay close and listen to the right people and build relationships, where they can help you spot opportunities and help you adapt to change, you will give yourself the confidence to keep moving forward and achieve success in a world that’s changing faster than ever before.

Dan led us off with this Top 3, I’ll close with two of my own.

In-Person Communication Skills: We already have enough technology that, if this could be replaced or reduced in importance, it would’ve happened by now. Instead, businesses are calling employees back to the office more - that tells you everything you need to know. There’s simply no substitute for face-to-face interaction, especially when so much communication is sensory. Body language, facial expression, tone…the only time you get all of it - the full scope of what an interaction has to offer - is face to face. So if you want a skill that AI has zero chance of obsoleting, this is it.

Asking Questions: As a writing professor, of course I wanted to talk about writing skills. But AI can do so much to mask writing deficiencies that I couldn’t justify it in such broad terms. AI can help with organization, style, formal/technical issues, and it can spoon-feed you information - make sure you vet it! - to support your ideas.

What it can’t really do, though, is help you formulate those original ideas or solve unique problems, the sort of thinking that inspires successful entrepreneurship or innovation. And all of that comes back to one crucial skill: recognizing gaps and asking the questions to fill them. Every problem is a question, and every solution is an answer. The only way to get the right answers is to know what questions to ask and how to ask them. So if you want to excel as a problem-solver, analyzer, innovator, entrepreneur, etc. knowing what questions to ask and how to ask them is a must.

(This is also the foundation for basic prompting - when doing research, asking the right questions gets you the best information; when giving clear instructions for a prompt, all you’re doing is re-framing a question/problem into a command.)

Before You Go!

Thanks for reading. Next week, we’ll be back with an announcement you don’t want to miss.

As always, see you on Tuesday.

Find Dan on LinkedIn

You are now On The Fly & In The Know.