Maximising Human Potential in the Intelligence Age
Maximising human potential in the intelligence age is now a practical imperative.
The following data points published by the World Economic Forum and International Labour Organisation (ILO) [1,2] present a sobering reminder:
- By 2050 20% of the world’s population will be over 60, with 80% in low and middle-income countries
- 86% of people expect to work beyond retirement age
- 24 million people are joining the workforce every year
Yet we are facing a 400 million jobs gap, with 137 million jobs offering no potential.
There is a significant mismatch between demand and supply which starts long before people enter the labour market. Shaping human potential throughout life is critical. We need to consider how societal, educational, and organisational structures may be contributing to the skills mismatch, and how to begin to address that. This emerged as one of the key themes at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF)'s annual meeting at Davos and prompted my reflections below.
1. Break down educational silos and enable a re-assessment of the value of skills. Offer learning pathways for academic, vocational and technical skills development.
Education systems tend to be 'siloed' and they direct students along distinct and discrete paths, whether academic, vocational or technical. People typically remain within these 'silos' throughout life. In most countries, post-16 tertiary education systems are overly academically oriented. Yet here we are in 2025, and the highest job growth is expected to be for agricultural equipment operators, heavy trucks and bus drivers, and vocational education teachers[3]. This suggests that one of the human brain’s biggest advantages over AI is that it’s attached to a human body! Therefore, we need to re-assess how we value skills, and align educational and organisational initiatives accordingly to enable people to move beyond their 'silos'.
2. Recognise hidden potential and support lifelong skills development.
We have constructed organisations based on hierarchies and roles, rather than skills and outcomes. Inevitably over time the roles evolve or disappear altogether, and hierarchies are re-defined. But what happens with the people? Well, they are mostly no longer equipped to undertake the roles that are available. Forward-thinking organisations offer opportunities to develop skills beyond the scope of one’s role, but a lot don’t or cannot afford to. Societies re-train individuals to varying degrees but it is already too late- the reskilling and retraining should have been happening throughout a person’s life. Denmark and Singapore [4] represent notable exceptions, with individuals offered lifelong learning.
3. Develop human potential to solve the problems humanity is facing.
Humanity is facing many problems, and it would make sense to deploy our human potential to solve the problems we are facing - the climate emergency, the ageing infrastructure, the increasing caring requirements for an ageing population and so on. Yet this is at odds with how the educational systems around the world are structured.
4. Preserve human potential during critical transitions and align people to evolving requirements.
Human potential is most at risk at times of big societal and organisational transitions. Intentionally seeking to preserve human potential during these transitions will minimise the fallout. This requires proactive engagement with people and efforts to align the whole of the person’s skills and abilities with evolving requirements.
All the above requires intentional, strategic people planning and a reimagining of education systems and organisational designs to enable and facilitate the continuous and dynamic alignment between people and skills.
This is the only way to maximise human potential in the intelligence age.
Do you agree that the way we structure education systems and organisations has led to a significant skills mismatch?
How is your organisation addressing the need for lifelong skills development?
Resources
2. https://initiatives.weforum.org/reskilling-revolution/home
3. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/05/jobs-ai-cant-replace/
4. https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/portal/en/index.html