Automation, supply chain disruptions, AI tools like ChatGPT, changing demographics, evolving economics, equality demands, consumption shifts, ever-emerging technology innovations and disruptions. All of this – and more – will shape our economy and the future of work in ways we can’t even comprehend.

And that doesn’t even account for political unrest or environmental threats – the two biggest unknowns that threaten to turn everything we know on its head.

You thought COVID-19 was a rollercoaster? Economist Sean Mullin would like to welcome you to the era of mass change.

“One of the cliches I think you hear out there a lot is the world and the economy and the rate of change is ever increasing. It’s both a cliche, but it’s true.”

Sean would also like to welcome us to the era of incredible potential.

“It’s a hard thing to get our heads around. It means challenges are new and different all the time. But it also makes me very optimistic because it means that very nature of change also has the seeds of the solutions to the problems that we’re trying to deal with.”

Sean Mullin is an economist by training who helped launch the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and has advised everyone from Bay Street to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on economic policy.

“We are the sum total of all of the knowledge and experience and economic activity throughout human history. And, at this point in time, we get to build upon that. What that means is there’s more people, more ideas, more resources out there than ever before. And that means the rate of change and the state of technology is increasing at a more rapid pace.”

Shawn specializes in innovation and the future of work. And he tells us to look forward, we need to understand our past.

“We should be cognizant of Canada’s history. We’re the second biggest country in the world in terms of landmass and, in many ways, blessed with an abundance of natural resources. And that’ll be an important part of the economy going forward. People around the world will always need resources in some way or another. But where the value creation within economies is shifting, and has been shifting for decades now, is around the service economy. (The future of work will focus on) how we can satisfy the needs of humans in more sophisticated ways because their necessities are being satisfied in ways that we didn’t have in the past.”

And what does that mean? And why do we need to know this?

Well, basically, what’s underpinned our economy – or at least the economy within certain regions – won’t necessarily drive growth and jobs and prosperity at the same levels in the future. Economics, as you likely know, is based on the simple supply-and-demand-model. If the demand dips for natural resources, the supply will have less value and fewer jobs will be created.

As a consequence, even slight changes to our national economy will mean big changes for some communities and even some regions. That’s something we need to be aware of and plan for, both as individuals and as a nation, Shawn argues.

“We do have to think about what infrastructure do we need? What training do we need? What kind of economic opportunities are available for Canadians?”

That’s especially true for rural Canada, Shawn adds.

“Particularly if our thesis is the economy is shifting towards a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy, we don’t want to leave this important part of the country behind.”

After all, the future of work in Canada won’t necessarily be decided by Canadians, but rather by the global economic context.

“Some of the things that are tough for Canada is still, population wise, we’re a small country. Although we have these tremendous gifts, we still have to be cognisant of the role we play in the broader global economy. And because of how quickly things are changing, it means being constantly vigilant about where we think our advantages are.”

It’s why Shawn believes natural resources “will always be an advantage we have. But I think we need to think about how we’re shifting a greater portion of our economy towards knowledge-based industries – towards innovation driven growth – and not necessarily be reliant as much as we have in the past on natural resources.”

That type of talk – this type of change – can be unsettling and can lead to the type of division we see in our country today.

“We should always be concerned about the challenges of our day – automation, the potential disruption we might have, political polarization. These are real challenges that affect the lives of people. And we need the smartest minds and the energy of the population – particularly young people – to be thinking about solutions to these things. So, I do think they’re important. You can’t discard them. But I also think they’re not incompatible with a broader arc of optimism.”

How so?

“It seems contradictory, but what it means is that the ingredients of the solutions to those problems are coming from us. So, we’re creating these problems – like automation, polarization – but I’m optimistic that we’re also creating the tools to address them. Over what timeframes? How? Those are the million dollar questions.”

Jim Bottomley agrees.

“All change has both good and bad, always. And that’s one of the naive things that most people have around their concept of change. And, so, what I suggest is that we brainstorm both the good and bad, and then take each item and say, how do we harness the good? What do we do to make the good happen? And for each of the bad items, how do we avoid it?”

It’s a strategy Jim’s used to help individuals, companies and even entire communities navigate change as part of his role as a futurist.

A future-whatist?

“What I’m really trying to do as a futurist is help people develop plans for better futures.”

Jim’s not a fortune-teller.

“I look at where the future is going based on how needs are changing – how human needs are changing.”

To understand future trends, Jim’s Indigenous heritage taught him to really understand the past.

“The past reflects the future. We tend to repeat ourselves. What are the lessons from history to be able to help us predict (the future)?”

What trends should we be aware of? Like economist Sean Mullin, Jim says, “We’re at a real turning point where every ‘how’, and every profession, is changing. We’ve harnessed our our core belief in ourselves and our strengths based on the fact we do those ‘how’s’ really well. And, so, when our ‘how’ is challenged, that’s a really stressful thing. And, in every field, the ‘how’s’ are changing.”

To embrace the changes we’re seeing, Jim explains that first we need to understand how change happens.

“Technology is the lead edge of change. Technology change will affect the nature of jobs and the economy – and will determine what businesses will do well or poorly. That will affect demographics and socio-cultural trends. And, ultimately, the political and legal community tries to tackle it – they’re the last to take on the change.”

If that’s the order of how change happens, Jim tells us, next up we need to understand our evolving role within the change.

“First of all, we’ve transitioned out of the industrial age. During the industrial age, 80% of the time we were focused on problems. And there was this belief that if you took a problem person and you trained them, that weakness could be turned into a strength. Well, we’ve all got a mix of strengths and weaknesses, but very few people are able to take a weakness and really turn it into a strength.”

In other words, both companies and individuals were once rewarded for being generalists. But in our emerging economy, driven by technology, we prize efficiency. What’s not efficient? Being a generalist.

“Because they want to be everything to everybody, which is a recipe for death, by the way. (I’ve never seen) anyone come up with a company that successfully treated the needs of everybody and anybody.”

That means becoming an expert is what will be rewarded in the future of work, Jim explains.

“(A company) starts with a job description. They understand (the job candidates) strengths and weaknesses. Then (the company) changes the job so (the candidate’s) strengths shine, and they enjoy it more. (The company then) gets help for the weaknesses so (the candidate doesn’t) have to necessarily try to overpower (their weakness) and change themselves that way.”

Jim believes that should make change more manageable and less daunting because even if future careers in a changing workforce might not be obvious, most jobs will play to our strengths.

It’s why the most important skill in the future of work might be creativity – being creative with how and where and when and why we deploy our strengths. To flex those creative muscles and uncover our strengths, Jim says:

“Everyone’s got strengths and weaknesses! You have to lock into what are your strengths. You have them! Find out what they are! Ask other people what they are.”

Creativity also means being open – open to new ideas, new career paths, new ways of pursing traditional career paths.

Jim advises, “Do as many activities in life as you can to figure out what really you find fun, what really you get excited about. Because the most successful people in any career are the people that are having the most fun doing it.”

Dev Aujla agrees. He believes our actual work can be part of the process that allows us to continuously uncover our strengths.

“Our jobs can be ways of answering questions or our careers can be an answer to a line of inquiry that we have.”

Dev Aujla should know – he’s literally written the book on how to get a job.

“We have thought in the past of our jobs as a way to provide for ourselves and pay for our lives and to, ideally, live out our values as well. But they can actually be something where they enable us to learn. We can be checking things off of our ‘to learn list’ and we can be finding purpose in that and finding purpose in that every day.”

The key word there? Purpose.

“I really believe a good job that teaches you what you want to learn can also be a step towards finding that purpose at work.”

Dev acknowledges that when we’re worried about finding a job, being concerned about purpose seems like a bridge too far.

“We’ve been using methods that are built for a very linear system. Apply for a job; all of a sudden you get a job; you’re there for 30 years.”

That doesn’t work anymore, Dev explains.

“The jobs that you’re going to get aren’t even jobs that exist yet. So, how do you build for that future? How do you have that kind of resiliency? There is a path, there is a way to make sure that you can retell your story and reshape the experiences you’ve had, to set yourself up for something new.”

How?

“Be driven by learning throughout (your career search). That actually enables you to get that next perfect job.”

Based on his extensive research for his book, 50 Ways to Get a Job, Dev’s advice?

“It begins by looking for models. It begins by looking for the models of people that have had nonlinear careers. And even the people that you imagine in your life that you think have had a very straight career path? If you go ask them: ‘What are the milestones? What are the decisions you made? What else could you have done? How did that ended up happening?’ Honestly, you’ll find it gets a little murky. Honestly, it doesn’t look like a straight line. It all happened to be a chance meeting, or a professor that made a difference, or a book they read. Whatever it was, there were some dodges and weaves in that path. Once you start looking for those models, you realize that a lot of people have walked a similar path and that there is a step forward, even if it is uncertain.”

That path, however, increasingly requires entrepreneurial skills, adds economist Sean Mullin.

“You think about an economy that’s getting more complicated, that type of skillset is only going to be more in demand.”

Sean’s right. And that’s not just advice for individuals, but also for the country, especially as we face big challenges at the intersection of people and nature.

“Canada would benefit from having more entrepreneurs, from having more entrepreneurial citizens. I think, individually, it may not appeal to everybody – there’s lots of great career paths and there’s lots of areas of the economy where we’re going to need skills. That being said, (entrepreneurism) a great skill set to have.”

Which doesn’t mean Sean’s advocating for Canada to become one, giant Silicon Valley.

“I don’t know if convincing everybody and their brother to go and create a new company or start-up and get into an incubator is what we want everyone to do. Whether you’re actually being an entrepreneur or being entrepreneurial inside large organizations – valuing the experiences that come with trying something and learning from it – it’s going to be one of the things I think employers and the economy are going to be looking for. People who can step up and take new approaches to solving problems and put ideas into action.”

So, yes, the future of work is uncertain and constantly changing. But change doesn’t have to be scary. Change can be prosperous. Change can even be fun. Change can be what allows us to reimagine our careers, enabling us to design and advance new ideas that will better balance the needs of people and nature.

Yet all of that’s only possible if we understand our context – of where we’ve come from and where we’re going; of who we are and who our neighbours are.

Indeed, author of Teaching the Dinosaur to Dance, Donna Kennedy-Glans, tells us, “No longer can you just be an engineer who knows the technical skills. You actually have to know how to negotiate with people who have different points of view. And I think most advocacy groups, most companies, most educational institutions, most communities really would benefit from people who thought like that. So, being able to demonstrate those skills, I think, will be a huge asset.”

Donna’s right. Being able to understand and work with different contexts is critical to navigating and advancing change. However, it’s a skillset that too few of us have and that’s not just a problem for our careers and our economy, but it’s a reality that also threatens the very fabric of our democracy.