At Work, Expertise Is Falling Out of Favor

With the value of true expertise in serious decline, and the economy evolving towards a different set of requirements from employees, the impact on college education, career paths, worker safety, employability and even the nature of work is going to be profound.

The personality traits of employees seen in many new organizations:

1. Fluid Intelligence: The raw processing power that combines working memory with a dynamic kind of intelligence, mostly found in youngsters.
2. Conscientiousness: Trustworthy, compassionate, people, who are high on emotional quotients.
3. Openness To The New: People who are less focused on doing a particular thing in the right way, and more towards trying to do the right thing. This is also termed as ‘distractibility’.

The most sought after skill in educational and professional circles, a person who can work in a single task with complete tenacity and focus, blocking any distractions. The skill is valued in stable environments where rigid adherence to routine is a good thing.

When rules, roles and conditions rapidly change, grit gives way to ‘psychological hardiness’ where one tends to see all experiences as interesting, useful and meaningful, along with a high level of self-confidence.