Digital Super Powers, Do You Use Them?

Digital Technologies are transforming the way we live our lives - in particular, how we do business and go about making our livelihoods.

 It used to be that if we went to university, got a degree and stayed out of jail we could walk straight into a decent and respectable job. A job for life no less and a job that had a steady and predictable career path.

This simply wasn't and never will be the case again. What used to take armies of people to achieve, now only requires a small team of people- cleverly augmented with software running on the internet. We had Kodak, now we have Instagram. Kodak employed hundreds of thousands of people at its peak, and on the day it went bust Instagram was purchased by Facebook for $1bn. Instagram had 13 employees. 

 Netflix replaced blockbuster, Google replaced the library whilst also mopping up the lion's share of the advertising market. Uber is taking control of the global taxi market and now Tesla is making reputable brands like BMW and Mercedes look like they are stuck in the mud when it comes to manufacturing cars. The world is littered with examples of digital innovation disrupting markets and employment patterns and the pace of this innovation isn't slowing down anytime soon.

Over the next few years innovation in 3D printing,
robotics and artificial intelligence will disrupt our way of life even more and the pace of change will be unprecedented. 

 Change
All this change does the beg the question - how do we navigate these choppy seas of change, build a career, earn the money we want and fulfil our dreams at the same time? 

 Businesses are investing billions to stay ahead of this curve, what are you doing?

 I don't have a crystal ball nor do I have all of the answers -but I do have 14 years of experience working in a rapidly evolving technology sector. I have worked for a number of large global businesses and also a number of small but still multinational startups. I have been successful throughout my career and it is largely because I have been proactive in adopting digital technologies and making them work for me. 

 I am sharing this with you not for a pat on the back, but because I think it is a big opportunity for everyone. 
Digital tools Super Powers
There are so many incredible digital tools being developed and made available on our mobiles and computers that are usually free of charge and instantly usable. Ignore these tools at your peril because those that take the time to understand their value and incorporate them into their professional and personal lives will -all other things being equal- have a significant edge over you. That edge will also get exponentially larger every year you wait to catch up, because technology and software improves all the time. Why not invest the time to put yourself in the position to benefit from Moores law.

Off the back of a recent discussion about this topic, I listed all the digital tools I use on a daily basis. I'm certain I have forgotten a few but the list was still quite long - circa 50!

 Digital Coach
This got me thinking. It's actually not that easy to figure out where the value is in all of these tools. In fact, it's quite complicated and the landscape is changing all of the time. Then I thought, perhaps I should write a few blogs describing the tools I get value from and how I use them. This will be a big job, but I am up for the task. 

 However, my use cases will probably vary a great deal from that of my readership and to get the most value out of digital tools, you must really have a mindset that is use case and outcome orientated. To do this properly, really requires a personal 1:1 focus, which led me to my final thought...

 Perhaps this is a service people want? It is also a service I could potentially provide. Now, blogging & coaching is not my job. I have a full time and very demanding job as well as a young family and lots of hobbies that keep me busy. BUT, I am going to give this a whirl and see if I get any interest beyond the few people I am already coaching. I have set up a page here to describe the services I might look to provide. Feedback welcome of course!
Prezi, Todoist, Evernote, Pocket, Dropbox, IFTTT, Workflow, Slack, LinkedIn, Uber, Waze, Zoom, Fuze, Office365, Google Docs & Drive, 
Siri, Buffer, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Flipboard, Blogger, Fitbit, Myfitnesspal, GymBook, Strava, Garmin, Jawbone, Apple Health, 
Kindle, Audible, YouTube, TED, Podcasts, Goalify, iTunesU, Vimeo, 
Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sonos, Wemo, Netatmo

So back to the blogging bit, rather than review every individual tool, my plan will be to describe a certain category or group of applications that contribute to a similar outcome - for example:
  • Business & Personal Productivity
  • Social Media & Blogging
  • Fitness & Health
  • Entertainment
  • Home Automation
  • etc.... 

Hopefully this won't be death by a thousand cuts, Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. I may be way off in my assumption that this is a real problem/opportunity for people. 

Thanks for Reading,

Chancey

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