From time to time, I keep
thinking. Hmm. We know what is happening within the company with respect to
various programs, engagements & initiatives. But what does the outside
world look like TODAY? What are
other customers up to? What are their requirements as of today? What are the
current major challenges in the outer world? What are the latest trends in
technology stack other than the company and related technologies? What are the
top tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon doing differently for their
customers? How are the technologies like Machine Learning, AI, Blockchain, Deep
Learning, Neural Networks, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Data Science and
so on? And many more and I must admit, I don’t get visibility because I am surrounded
by the same requirements, same tools, systems, solutions and customers (employees
of the company) beyond which I never had an opportunity to see the outside
world / interact with the external world in the past 6 years.
This, I strongly believe is a
serious concern because I don’t know anything about how customers’ requirements
/ businesses / use-cases are transforming day by day. I don’t know what
technologies to look at / learn in order to expand my skillset in order to stay
relevant for the organization as well as from the personal development
perspective.
Today, in this digital era, every
innovative organization is trying to tailor / reimagine their solutions as part
of digital transformation. The companies can do this by offering their
employees the freedom to choose which technologies are relevant for them as
well as the company as well as for their customers because if you don’t do that
and if your competitor does, then it’s game over. As a firm believer of the
fact that the strength of an organization is truly it’s employees who can make
things happen for their customers, I strongly believe in challenging the status
quo and think beyond what one is capable of doing in order to stay relevant
& competent.
In this context, I see working
within an IT organization could be dangerous, monotonous over time since you
only can experience the scenarios, business requirements, use-cases within your
company. This is good up to some extent and until certain point in time. But in
the long run, if I want to rebrand myself from my job title, role perspective, I
need to know what’s happening outside. But, how would you know what other
customers are doing, what technologies are in high demand, what learning path
to focus on, if you are impeded by the rules / restrictions imposed by the
company? I strongly believe that, in addition to adapting to the relevant learning
path, it is also vital & beneficial to go out and see the world. Meaning,
attend public technology conferences offered by various innovative companies
like Google, Amazon, Microsoft to name a few. In such kind of forums, I assume
there are opportunities (just an assumption because it has been a couple of
years since I attended any of such events) to experience the use cases &
pain points from other customers, get to know the emerging technologies, take
part in live hands-on sessions and most importantly do networking with others.
By being in IT, sometimes (or most
of the times), this is not possible due to certain boundary conditions because
of which the usual tasks / handling of own company’s requirements become
monotonous. One might also get in to a dangerous situation where-in, after some
time, you cannot stay up to date with the emerging technologies like Machine
Learning, Mixed Reality, Data Science etc. because you are only surrounded by
own requirements. To be honest, in such kind of situation, you only have two
options. Stay in the current role with the current technology that you have
experience on or challenge the status quo, quit the company and find something
else. Finding internal opportunities could be quite cumbersome as there are lot
of questions from your manager because he / she wants you to do what you are
currently doing.
To conclude this write-up, I believe
one can / should following approaches to transform him / herself in to
something new from the technology standpoint to be able to rebrand themselves
and stay relevant in the current era of digital transformation.
- Perform self-evaluation from time to time with respect to the skillset that you are proficient in and then challenge to learn new skills
- Sure, you can google for information but as long as you are not getting your hands dirty, you will not be able to learn.
- Look out for announcements, tech conferences, events in the areas you are interested in.
- Set-up short, mid and long-term goals. Why? So that you can rebrand yourself and not just stick to one title like “I’ve been working for the past 27 years as a Java programmer, ABAP developer, web developer etc.” because only YOU can change what you want to become from what you are now.
