We bought our current house last year. It was built in 1996, so it certainly wasn’t old nor falling down. It was completely stuck in the 90s, though. Blue siding, blue carpet, blue tile, blue everything. It was nice, just very dated.
Since that time, we have completely renovated every nook and cranny of it. Now it is grey instead of blue; it has a new kitchen, new flooring, new bathrooms, new everything. It is entirely up-to-date with new appliances and all the current bells and whistles, and we absolutely love it.
But we loved it even when it was blue. It just needed some attention to bring it to current standards.
The previous owners are not a fan of our renovations. Apparently (according to the neighborhood gossip), there was nothing wrong with it, so we just wasted a lot of money on a house that didn’t need updating.
Are you that way with your own skills? Have you developed skills that were current years ago but generally have not done much with them since? Did you take a course 10, 20, 30 years ago and have just maintained that skillset with few changes?
[ctt template=”3″ link=”RedcN” via=”yes” ]Have you developed skills that were current years ago but generally have not done much with them since?[/ctt]
Sure, you know how to use MSWord, Excel, and even PowerPoint, but have you renovated your skills? Have you learned the new tricks and tools that have been added to each of those programs over the years? Have you expanded your skills to add OneNote, Slack, Trello, or any of the other programs that make you more efficient?
Has the way you take minutes stayed the same for the last dozen years? Have you updated your font, your signature line, your education at all?
The old house was good enough. It would have housed our family just fine. It needed updating so that we could have the benefits that make our life easier. Yes, we could have lived without them, but we didn’t need to live without them. And, updating our home makes it more valuable if we decide to sell it too.
Your old skills are also good enough. They will be enough to be able to do your job. You just might not be as efficient or provide the value that you could to your company. And, if you update your skills regularly, it will be easier to find another job if you need to.
I hear a lot of moaning and groaning when I talk about updates to grammar (remember the two spaces of a period fiasco a few years ago?). I have people attend my minute-taking course telling me that I am wrong in what I am teaching because they have been doing something a certain way for 30 years, and it doesn’t need to change. At my Future of Work workshops, I have attendees that tell me that artificial intelligence will never take their job away and they have no intention of learning any AI programs.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”CaAbQ” via=”yes” ]Are you guilty of thinking your outdated skills are all that you need?[/ctt]
I have met far too many people stuck in a blue house and see no reason to update it. Are you guilty of thinking your outdated skills are all that you need?
