Microsoft calls it a key skill of the future. Here are 4 steps to mastering it
With increasing talk of job disruption and automation, it’s important to think about the skills that will be most in demand in the future.
Microsoft, in its latest research, defined those as digital skills, analytical abilities and continuous learning capabilities. In particular, the tasks that require strong analytic abilities will call for a creative approach, explained Kevin Wo, Microsoft’s managing director for Singapore.
“I think there’s a need for them to learn about skills around design thinking,” Wo said of employees.
“Design thinking” is a term for a particular method of problem solving, which dictates that individuals should try and get into a customer’s shoes to generate practical, user-friendly solutions. That could mean creating a new technology or product, such as Apple’s iPhone. But the strategy can — and should — also be applied to other job functions, design thinking specialist Kasia Miaskiewicz told CNBC Make It.
“You can apply it anywhere,” said Miaskiewicz, a director at UBS Evolve, the Swiss bank’s center for design thinking and innovation. “As long as there is a user, a recipient – and there always is – there’s always an opportunity to apply design thinking.”
Speaking at a recent careers conference in Singapore, Miaskiewicz said the strategy can be broken down into four key steps.
