Change attributes you need for the future

In today's technology-focused world, what type of talent will help to drive change?

There are a range of support tools in the market to help streamline and automate processes for Project Management. What about the change attributes that our profession will need in the future? With changing business models, market volatility and technology advancement a certain set of attributes will be needed now, and in the future.

It’s hard not to notice the reports of late about machines 'taking over'. You can read plenty of publications speculating about robots, AI and machine learning advancing at such a rate that humans will no longer be needed. It’s clear that over the next decade or so, automation will become more prevalent and look at replacing some of the more administrative tasks from our labour force.

While a pessimistic view, we've also seen the recent Facebook AI report where bots developed their own language to communicate with each other more effectively. This got us thinking about what that means for the project management profession and the change attributes needed to succeed in the future.

What change attributes are needed in change management?

There's a negative perception on what's to come in the future because of the VUCA world we live in (volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous). There's certainly lots of literature out there. It’s true, global economic and political events have certainly surprised commentators and contributed to negative perceptions. If the landscape looks volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous then there will be clear attributes that we should nurture and promote across the change management profession. People with the right change attributes will succeed in the future.

3 Key change attributes

1. Be adaptable – an attitude? an attribute? Whatever you think, being adaptable is pivotal to success in the future. Resilience is required, and that's not attained through qualifications and methodologies. Building resilience helps you become more adaptable. How do you build resilience? If you make mistakes, learn from them. Qualify the risk and take it. It's okay to feel uncomfortable from time to time, learn that and face your fears.

2. Be open-minded – being able to discount ‘what you know to be true’ and entertain what you don’t know will be vital. Now is the time for re-wiring how you think so you can believe in the ‘impossible’. NASA didn’t build a rocket and then go to the moon. They decided to go to the moon and so a rocket was built!

3. Be inquisitive – ask better questions, challenge why and stay curious. This will promote more of the ‘moon shot’ thinking needed to support innovation and new ways of working. Helping both the organisations you support but also your career in the future.

Change continues to advance at an increasing rate which means that change management is an exciting profession to be involved in. When you're at the forefront of delivering innovative change in organisations, the attributes above will be vital to any change professional in the future. They are something we look for in our Project Analysts through our selection process for the Grayce graduate Development Programme to ensure that we can offer the most value to our clients.

Find out more about the Grayce Development Programme