For 2009, locavore and frenemy were two of the non-techie words among the almost 100 new words added to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.  A locavore is a person who is committed to eating locally grown foods. A frenemy is a person who pretends to be a friend but is actually an enemy.

Way back in the year 2000, the word “dot.com” was a new word added to the dictionary. The definiton was a company that was web-based. It recalls those days when we all knew people who were leaving their jobs at regular companies to go to work for dot.coms. Very cool and meant lots of money to follow. Do we still refer to any companies as dot.coms?

Technology is integrated into all businesses today – into both the business model and the business culture. Technology is not a department or a capability but is inherent in work. You cannot carve it out.

And if the futurists are right, technology will increasingly become more integrated into people. Technology will allow us to become more than human.  How do I download the upgrade?

When I headed a Business Transformation consulting practice (way back in the 90’s), change management was one of our core competencies.  After all, how can you transform if you don’t even know how to change? 

As part of our research on change in organizations, we surveyed more than 100,000 people and asked the question, “would you be willing to change in order to help your organization?’  The response was almost 90% positive.  People were indeed willing to change.  However, in trying to effect major change as consultants, we discovered that people needed to know more about  ”from what….to what?”  

They needed specifics so that they could internalize or personalize what changes they needed to make.  They needed to know the starting point and how it differed from the desired destination.  So they could take ownership of getting there.

Unfortunately, the organizations often were not very helpful in answering this question.  Examples of commons answers included “be more open to change”,” be more adaptable”, and the phrase that deserves to be in the Cliche Hall of Fame, “think outside the box”. 

People differ significantly when it comes to what they need in order to change and in order to lead others to change.  But everyone needs at least some idea of “from what…to what.”  One good way to express the answer is to express it in terms of new skills.  

George Washington University, through its  Institute for Knowledge and Innovation, has released the results of a study they conducted on the most valuable future skills.  We have been told for 30 years now that the world is changing faster than ever.  That our skills become outdated faster than you can say “powerpoint”.  The list of  skills identified by GWU makes for a nice tool you can use  to ask yourself how you and your organization compare to the study’s findings.