In my days of temporary office work — before, during and just after college — I could run a mean IBM Selectric typewriter, making it sing with flawless corrections, lined up “just so” with the little plastic tab. Corrections were important in the pre-computer era where an imperfect change would mean retyping the whole page, so someone like me who could professionally correct had a very valuable talent. I was good with the Selectric, so much so that it gave me comfort to know that if college didn’t pan out, I would always have a career to fall back on as a secretary.
My, how things have changed. My secretary — oops, administrative professional — may as well have a degree in computer programming. Different assistants have been able to do things with Excel, Access, Power Point, Jing and programs I have never heard of. I find my secretarial skills about as obsolete as the revered Selectric — good for the times, but irrelevant for today.
Do you have a skill that is like that — it had value at one time, but is a non-factor today? Making professional typewriter corrections. Running the ditto machine. Utilizing a dictaphone machine. Taking down shorthand. Threading the microfiche machine. Running an adding machine. Filing in cabinets. And those are just a few things in the office. Think of all the obsolete skills in the greater workplace and at home.
To remain relevant, you need to be on a trajectory of continual learning. Don’t rely on your present skills to serve you in the future. They may become as desirable as the once-coveted Selectric.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
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