When the artificial intelligence program AlphaGo defeated top professional Chinese chess player Ke Jie in the historic man vs machine battle, Facebook, Google, Apple and other global network giants were vigorously developing AI t the same time. Since then, a lot of traditional work was being replaced by AI, and recently they even developed a robot that could to fly a plane!
However, Thomas Davenport, who is known as the Big Data authority, points out that in the future it is necessary to have skills that AI cannot replace, one of which is aptitude.
Aptitude / flair is usually associated with "luxury", "extravagance" and "wastage", and is often regarded as a privilege of the rich. But in actual fact, aptitude is an innate ability of humans and has nothing to do with one's status or wealth. Almost all the great brands are built on the aptitude of the founders, most of whom were poor nobodies prior to their business success.
For example, Apple founder Steve Jobs was a poor young hippie who studied Physics, Literature, Poetry and Calligraphy at Reed College. He created Mac, iPhone and a series of other successful products, not only for their high technological capabilities, but also for their exquisite designs and aesthetics.
Another example is Martha Stewart, a housewife who is estimated to be worth more than US$ 1 billion. She was born in a poor Polish immigrant family and as a child, Martha and her family of eight lived in a tiny apartment. Even as a full-time housewife, she has a fanbase of 100 million women worldwide who faithfully follow her advice on home furnishings, table layouts, gardening decorations, etc. During her imprisonment in 2004, she even helped her fellow inmates in their business start-ups. The key in this lies in aptitude.
If you think that the previous two examples are exceptional cases, and that the people whose work involves aptitude and flair do not earn much, then you may like to take a look at the research data from the United States National Endowment for the Arts. Their report states that in the US, the median annual salary of 2.1 million professional artists (such as choreographers, designers, art directors, musicians, photographers, voice actors, etc.) is 43,000 US dollars (about 330,000 Hong Kong dollars). This is higher than the median annual salary of $ 39,000 (about HK $ 300,000) that full-time workers earn in the US.
In recent times, there is an increasing number of new professional careers that requires aptitude and flair. As seen in the service industry, the number of people working as designers, magicians, wedding consultants, aromatherapists, life coaches, and family affairs consultants are by far at their highest ever in history.
By assisting those without flair in the choice of apparel and to look professional, image consultants can earn up to 300,000 US dollars annually.
So is the ability of aptitude and flair inborn? The answer is no, according to Peter Salovey and John Mayer, who proposed the EQ theory; although it varies for each individual, the recognition, understanding, management and response of human emotions associated with aptitude and flair can be improved with training.
The following are some ways to improve your aptitude:
- Abandon traditional ways in thinking;
- Cultivate original opinions and views;
- Add interesting anecdotes in the content of daily life;
- Give up those parts of the job that may be performed by the computer;
- Discontinue the repeated work routines and venture out for new ideas.