Skills You Need To Succeed In Nigeria In 2020

Everyone wants to succeed or manage success in 2020. The big question is how can that be? What plans should you set to make that happen? Professionals in Nigeria and other parts of the world understand that workplace, environment, roles and the society in general, evolve every year. This means that you might be successful in a particular year but end up crashing if you don’t pay attention to the dynamic nature of your environment. This is why you should always get yourself skilled for the jobs of the future to capitalize on emerging opportunities whether in Nigeria or other parts of the world. Otherwise you won’t even know what those jobs and opportunities might be in 2020.

The World Economic Forum reports that you need the ten skills listed below to thrive in 2020:
1. Complex problem solving.
2. Critical thinking.
3. Creativity.
4. People management.
5. Coordinating with others.
6. Emotional intelligence.
7. Judgement and decision making.
8. Service orientation.
9. Negotiation.
10. Cognitive flexibility.

These ten skills on this list are meaningful and realistic especially in today’s dynamic society but are those skills enough for you to succeed? Probably not. You require more to succeed in 2020.
Avil Beckford, the founder of The Invisible Mentor, is an expert interviewer, published author, and writer. Her contribution on this topic is very informative.

Avil shared experience of a lecture she attended in 2014. According to her, “I attended a lecture at the University of Toronto, where Marty Neumeier talked about the Rules of Genius. An important insight from his lecture was the definition of the four types of work. These are:

“Creative: Unique, imaginative, non-routine, and autonomous.

Skilled: Standardized, talent-driven, professional, and directed.

Rote: Interchangeable, routinized, outsourceable, and managed.

Robotic: Algorithmic, computerized, efficient, and purchased.”

Avil says that focusing on creative work among these skills is very ideal. This is because that is where you are likely to remain employable. Every professional can be creative in the work she does. When you work your craft, you are creating art. In his speech, Neumeier said:
“It is important to keep learning. Others cannot duplicate or reproduce your original work. If you want to be original, you have to become an inventor and build the foundation to the structure of your invention from scratch.”

The dynamic nature of today’s world requires that you will need more than the ten skills listed earlier to succeed in 2020. Alvin Toffler once said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Avil says in some instances, relearning could be adapting what you know to a new reality. Here’s what Avil says: “Take cell phones as an example. When they first came out, they were used solely as communications devices. Convergence happened, and now our smartphones are minicomputers. People had to relearn how to use a phone.

“In terms of work, you will have to adapt some of your skills to the jobs of the future, and you will also have to learn new skills.”
Avil further suggests these additional skills that you will need to succeed in 2020, whether in Nigeria or any other part of the world.

Learning how to learn.

Since skills are constantly changing, you have to learn how to learn. This concept is so important that they had a dedicated course on Coursera.

Speed reading and reading intelligently.

Don’t stop reading. Since continuous learning has to be a part of your life, and I recommend that you include reading books, you must learn how to speed read and read intelligently.

Note-taking.

Note-taking is a form of learning, and there is an art to it. It also leads directly to the next skill on the list.

Analyzing information.
When you take good and detailed notes, you can review them to pick out the big ideas, understand, and make sense of information.

Spotting patterns and trends.

Combine ideas from the different books that you read. By doing this, you may be able to spot ideas and trends. The beauty of technology is that you can copy and paste, move blocks of text around, and group information differently, giving you a new perspective.

Communicating – written and oral.

Even with very different books, you can combine ideas that once seemed unrelated. With your newfound ideas, you have to be able to communicate them to influencers, who can help you to shape and implement them.

Understanding and leveraging technology.

Technology is changing at an unprecedented pace, so you need to understand and keep on top of it. Sometimes it’s better to read articles in respected technology journals, as books may become quickly outdated.

Cultural awareness and sensitivity.

As workplaces become globalized, we have to learn how to get along with those who are different from us. There is a lot of fear-mongering happening today, and different groups are marginalized. Imagine what would happen if you explored books that focused on other people and cultures. Read books to understand other experiences. Reading books will help accelerate your learning.

There are successful people who read for three to four hours each day, but in the real world, few people can do that. You will accomplish a lot by reading for about an hour every day.”
Avil’s suggestions are really interesting and worth trying out. This could be the secret to your success in 2020. The aspect that involves being creative is very essential. Try to be creative in whatever you’re doing. This will make you different and very valuable in the industry.