In the agile, dynamic world of work, all an individual or a business requires to thrive, survive and grow is relevant skills. Availability of the right skills and learning opportunities that equal expertise in the business world, make for the survival potion for successful companies. Kelly Palmer and David Blake’s book – The Expertise Economy – brings a fresh approach to learning as a medium for business growth, offering CEOs and business leaders a look into the future and how learning can serve as their fool-proof weapon against obsolescence.
Through their book, the authors—Palmer, who’s chief learning officer, Degreed, and Blake, the co-founder of Degreed— have attempted to find and show how skills and expertise are imperative for individuals and businesses to succeed in the future. Within that, the book explores newer ways of approaching learning methodologies and takes the readers through some proven techniques to bridge skill gaps, urging business leaders to prioritise the re-skilling and up-skilling of their workforces.
Talking of the changing paradigm of learning, Palmer had earlier shared in an interview with HRKatha that, “Acceleration and digitisation are the two pillars that can strengthen organisations’ learning strategies,” and that it’s important for organisations to keep pace with the changes in learning needs and expectations. She also mentioned that digitisation of learning delivery in terms of automating the process and enhancing learner experience, now rule the game.
Even in the book, stressing the need for learning, the authors explain why individuals need to constantly keep upskilling themselves and how business leaders can work towards closing the ever-erupting skill gaps. To ensure that workforces stay abreast with the industry changes and skill requirements, CEOs, business leaders and individual employees need to ask the right kind of questions first. Palmer and Blake have explained all these questions and the ways to find the right answers to each of these in their book.
The forward-looking companies are proactively shifting their approach to learning in order to stay relevant in the times to come and as Blake and Palmer put it in their book, “Expertise has never been so crucial to a person’s or company’s success as it is today,” it is time businesses of all scales and sizes understand this to avoid going extinct in the future.
Published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing, an imprint of John Murray Press, an Hachette UK company, the book, The Expertise Economy – How the smartest companies use learning to engage, compete and succeed, has already garnered heaps of praise from some of the eminent leaders of the world of business, learning and media. Here’s what some of them had to say about the book.
“Everyone agrees that learning provides a competitive edge in an outsourced, automated economy. But what’s the essential next step? In The Expertise Economy, Kelly Palmer and David Blake make a persuasive case that companies play a huge role in shaping the future of learning. This excellent book offers practical and evidence-based insights that can help CEOs and other business leaders challenge the status quo.”
Daniel H. Pink, author, WHEN and DRIVE
“Disruption in any industry is a process, not a one-time event. With so much change on the horizon, Kelly and David highlight the imperative firms have to harness learning to stay in the game”
Clayton Christensen, Kim B Clark Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, New York Times bestselling author, The Innovators Dilemma
“Brilliant, timely and significant, this book blows the lid off the learning theories of the past!”
Sean Covey, President, Franklin Covey Education
“Learning has always been one of the secret weapons of the world’s highest performing companies. Kelly and David’s book unlocks this secret and is filled with advice on how to make learning a competitive advantage for any company.”
Josh Bersin, Industry Analyst and Founder, Bersin by Deloitte
“The Expertise Economy shows how companies can use learning and skills as key differentiators to stay ahead of the competition and ultimately help close the widening skills gap.”
Jaime Casap, Education Evangelist, Google
The book begins with an explanation of how people learn and covers various aspects of how organisations can leverage learning as a medium for talent development, engagement and retention.
The book clearly establishes the fact that the old or existing methods of learning will not be effective for building skills for the future. It explains why organisations now need to re-look at their approach to learning. It also reveals that while there are experts everywhere, organisations need to identify them and develop them for senior roles, and relevant skill building is the only way to go.
Learning is a complicated matter and as Palmer and Blake put it in the introduction to their book, “It’s not enough to offer support to your employees on their learning journey; you also have to create the right environment for employees to take ownership of what and how they learn. The rest of this book will show you how to do just that.”
Success, in the future, requires businesses to make a shift now. It dares you to let go of outdated and traditional ways of closing the skill gaps in your workplace and to embrace the new challenges ahead in the expertise economy. The book offers seven guiding principles for organisations to help employees build the skills that are critical to their success and to the success of the company, now and in the future.
The book is now available for pre-booking on Amazon and will soon hit the stands! Go, grab your copy quick.