The One Thing to Future-Proof Your Career | Insights from Kason Morris | True Snacks

Are you ready to learn more about the capability that some experts are saying is the number one way to futureproof your career?

In this excerpt from our full What Do You Know To Be True? conversation with Future of Work leader, author of the “Life-Work Revolution,” speaker, Career Strategist, Kason Morris, he shares a perspective on future proofing our careers in a way that’s different than what a lot of others are saying.

Kason Morris prepares individuals and companies for the future of work – but in two very different ways.

True Snacks is a bite-sized learning excerpt from the full What Do You Know To Be True? podcast episode. The full episode is available to listen here: https://whatdoyouknowtobetrue.com/episode/how-to-design-your-future-of-life-work-with-kason-morris  

Kason helps companies assess the strategic talent needs of the future. And his superpower is helping individuals architect the life-work designs that prioritize their dreams and values. His Life-Work Design talents helps individuals “build careers that they don’t have to escape from.”

ℹ️ Spoiler alert: “The future of work isn’t coming. The future of work is now.” – Kason Morris ℹ️ 

His superpower of Life-Work Design was something he learned firsthand early in his career when he found himself experiencing burnout and on a path that didn’t align with the life he wanted to lead. 

In the full conversation, we explore… 
➡️ the most valuable skill for future proofing your career
➡️ the #1 tendency of high-achievers that is the biggest roadblock to achieving our Life-Work designs
➡️ the most important Key Performance Metric you should track for your legacy

My favorite quote from the full episode is “When I started looking at work as a tool, my work became my first investor in my freedom and my happiness.” This is powerful because it reduces the importance of one’s job from “who I am” to where I choose to able be in my zone of genius and thrive today.

In the full episode, Kason answers the following questions:
➡️ How to future proof your career?
➡️ What skills will prepare me for the future of work?
➡️ How do I achieve work-life balance?
➡️ Why is adaptability important?

Resources:
➡️ Kason’s website: https://kasonmorris.com/
➡️Kason’s LinkedIn

Music in this episode by Ian Kastner.

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is a series of conversations where I speak with interesting people about their special talent or superhero power and the meaningful impact it has on others. The intention is to learn more about their experience with their superhero power, so that we can learn something about the special talent in each of us which allows us to connect more deeply with our purpose and achieve our potential.

For more info about the podcast or to check out more episodes, go to:  https://whatdoyouknowtobetrue.com/

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is hosted by Roger Kastner, is a production of Three Blue Pens, and is recorded on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people. To discover the ancestral lands of the indigenous people whose land you may be on, go to:

Transcript

Future Proofing Your Career - Insights from Kason Morris - True Snacks

Kason: I think it's so important when you think about the future of work and the future of what's next. It's not about knowing what it is. It's about being prepared to accept what it is and learn what it is, and apply what it is when it comes. So it isn't about knowing everything. It's about your ability to be able to pick up something and learn something and apply it in a way as quickly as possible.

That will allow you to build the skills and experiences that you need for whatever it is you want to do next.

Roger: Are you ready to learn more about the capability that some experts are saying is the number one way to futureproof your career in this excerpt? From my full conversation with future of work leader and career strategist Kason Morris, he shares a perspective on future proofing our careers in a way that's different than what a lot of others are saying.

The internet is full of thought leaders providing advice to learn more about artificial intelligence, machine learning. Or prompt engineering. And while that might be helpful, over the years, I know I've received a lot of career advice about preparing for the future from learning blockchain to IOT Six Sigma, to lean Java and HTML and even PL one.

That's a main framing program language for those who are not familiar. And thanks dad for trying. Now, I'm not saying learning a new skill is a bad investment of time. I'm all about learning new things and I'm constantly looking for ways to improve the things I love to do, but the truth is some skills become obsolete almost as quickly as they appear.

Instead, Kason offers up what he believes will serve you well for both your life and your career. Links to the full what do you know to be true episode or in the comment, and I hope you enjoy this True Snacks episode. On a recent live work, live session you hosted on LinkedIn, you were talking about future proofing one's career and picking up new skills to get us ready for the future of work.

And you said the number one skill is learning how to learn. About a year ago, a previous guest, Melissa Janis, said, the meta competency for the 21st century is learning agility. 

Melissa Janis: I truly believe that learning agility is the meta competency for the 21st century. If there was one thing that leaders at all levels should embrace and work on to improve and and thrive today and tomorrow for the future, it's learning agility.

It is about being able to learn quickly and flex and flexing based on what you're learning and experimenting and taking personal risks that enable you. To adapt to new information. I think you just commented on my post yesterday about it, another company that went under because they, you know, were complacent or they didn't take in new information and, and try to keep, um, growing.

You know, it is survival of the fittest and the. Fittest are learners. 

Roger: Can you tell us a little more about why it's important that we learn how we learn? 

Kason: When you think about the idea of learning how to learn, it isn't just about, Hey, let me go consume some training. Let me go work on this project. Let me take, you know this, this gig opportunity.

It's the idea of understanding how the brain picks up information, how you as an individual. Are able to best consume knowledge and then apply it in a way that that has meaning. And I feel like learning how to learn is a meta skill. And by a meta skill. It's one of those sort of top level skills that, that live above all that are, isn't taught, but is desperately needed.

So when you think about our, our traditional academic pathways, we go to school, we learn different subjects. Very rarely do people learn how the brain works or how the brain stores information. If you start to understand how the brain works and how you work, you can start to build up habits that allow you to ultimately, um, dive into what we were talking about in another conversation around becoming adaptable and having adaptability.

So it isn't about knowing everything. It's about your ability to be able to pick up something and learn something and apply it. In a way as quickly as possible that will allow you to build the skills and experiences that you need for whatever it is you want to do next. And some people are naturally a little bit better at it than others, but we can all improve that, that capability and, and that's why I think it's so important when you think about the future of work and the future of what's next, it's not about knowing what it is.

It's about being prepared to accept what it is and learn what it is and apply what it is when it comes. So one part of my like just personal like curiosity and when I take on like this systems mindset and continuous learning mindset, I always try to look for like what I call like 10 X knowledge. It's like those things that stand the test of time and they've existed for like a really long time.

Then, you know, they may just have applications in different ways or they just get subtle reinventions. And chances are when you see it in that way, that means the core of it, there's something really powerful there and sustainable. So it's not like, oh, this is the next fad or the next thing. There are just some values and principles that in essence are, are future proof.

And, and, and when I think about it in that lens, like everything I do, when I even talk about the messaging. It's not a fear tactic, but it's more of a wake up call. It's like, what does it mean to be future proof? It's not about knowing what the future is. It's about self-awareness and intentionality and readiness to adapt and move based on your core values first in life, and then allowing work to be a facilitator of that.

And then, and then the other component for me is also to what you talk about community. I think about it in relation to legacy. And that legacy splits into a couple of areas. It's like the legacy of your life. Family relations connections can also be in the legacy of your work because our, our traditional nine to five logic, guess what?

You work, your company isn't going to remember you, but in your work as a leader, if you've helped people transform how they look at work or their outlook on work, or you create. Thought products and, and things like, I take my own example. Me writing a book, trying to distill the patterns in, in my journey, to me, that's a form of legacy in my work.

These are things that are patterns that popped up, helped myself, I've helped others, and now I'm using that, that digital product and, and asset as a way to further amplify that message. And it, it may reach someone and it may help them. I, to me, that's, there's nothing more rewarding than that. That kind of idea.

All the other things come as a byproduct of that, like success, fortune, et cetera, because really the main driver of, of sharing that message is. A life that is designed that you don't feel like you escape from.