The discussion dives into the anxiety sparked by AI and outsourcing in engineering jobs. It emphasizes the need for professionals to shift from merely developing technical skills to embracing ownership and accountability. By focusing on personal responsibility, engineers can maintain their relevance in an evolving landscape. Insights on how to have proactive conversations with managers about expanding roles are shared, highlighting the increasing value of reliability and trust in career advancement.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Personal Job Loss Anecdote
Jonathan Cutrell shares a personal story about his wife's job ending at a startup.
This reflects the widespread fear of job insecurity and skill devaluation in the tech industry today.
insights INSIGHT
Shift From Skills to Ownership
Career rewards often focus on skills gained, but this is shifting.
Ownership and responsibility are becoming more valuable than just technical skills.
insights INSIGHT
Ownership Beyond Direct Delivery
Responsibility means accountability, not necessarily direct delivery of the work.
You can take responsibility even if you outsource or collaborate with machines to execute tasks.
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This episode addresses the fear surrounding industry changes, such as AI and potential outsourcing, and offers actionable advice for engineers, managers, and leaders to navigate these challenges. You'll learn why shifting your focus from just developing skills to embracing ownership and responsibility is crucial for long-term career resilience and agency.
Understand the fear and concern that traditional skills may lose value due to industry changes, including AI and potential layoffs.
Discover the critical shift needed in your career focus from solely developing skills towards embracing ownership and responsibility.
Learn why responsibility and ownership are becoming increasingly valuable and are difficult to outsource or export, contrasting with skills which may become more fluid.
Explore how human agency, including judging success, setting goals and direction, and translating inputs into action, complements or supervises work potentially done by machines or outsourced teams, with the human taking ultimate responsibility.
Gain practical advice on how to apply this shift by discussing where your responsibility, accountability, and ownership can grow in conversations with your manager.
Recognise how focusing on increasing the things you are personally accountable for builds trust and reliability, qualities that extend beyond your technical skill set.
Understand that accountability, ownership, responsibility, and reliability are becoming core behaviours for a good engineer as skills become more fluid.
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