A new study by the global consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, predicts that over the next 13 years, as many as 70 million workers in the United States will be forced to find another way to make money. Why is that? The answer is found in two words: automation and robots.
The impact will be felt by workers at every stage of their career. In fact, the researchers claim that everyone will need to be retrained at some point! The 70 million number soars to 375 million when estimating the number of employees that technology may replace worldwide by 2030.
What these predictions underscore for today’s students is the need to be equipped with learning skills and life skills that will last a lifetime. No longer can anyone expect to go to school, learn a profession, enter the workforce and assume that their days of learning new skills are over. McKinsey says that artificial intelligence (AI) is already taking over even white collar jobs. At Stanford University, researchers recently determined that a machine could diagnose pneumonia better than radiologists.
None other than the brilliant Stephen Hawking is quoted as saying, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” How appropriate, given the inevitable change that virtually everyone in the workforce will experience at some point.
SuperCamp has been teaching lifelong learning and life skills since 1982, long before AI and robotics were on many people’s radar. However, we did understand the value of acquiring skills that can not only be used by students in all subject areas at school, but also can be applied throughout one’s work life and personal life.
It’s common to hear an adult say they’re glad they don’t have to go to school anymore. The common perception is that they’ve lost the edge to learn and memorize new facts. At SuperCamp, we teach students how to use all three learning channels—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic—to help them retain information in their long-term memory. Along with discovering your optimal learning style, understanding how to use the three learning channels has considerable value at any age.
Another skill taught at SuperCamp that graduates of our programs tell us benefits them years later is in the area of critical thinking. Students learn how to use divergent and convergent problem-solving techniques, which not only helps them to be more successful on standardized tests but to overcome challenges in their everyday lives.
The Quantum Reading and Quantum Writing techniques we teach at SuperCamp also become valuable lifelong skills that come into play in the work environment as well as when one takes on new training.
The McKinsey study underscores the fact that none of us knows what the future holds. The old Boy Scout slogan of “Be Prepared” comes to mind for today’s students. At SuperCamp, we try to do our part by getting students ready for the world with the skills, confidence, and motivation that will last a lifetime.