From 'what if' to 'why not' - skills open new possibilities

James Dean in his 1955 Porsche 550 Speedster which he named Little Bastard. In 1977, in an interview, Sir Alec Guinness recalled a meeting with Dean, who showed him his new Speedster. At the time, Guinness said he felt something uncomfortable looking at the car. Guinness says he told Dean, "If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week." Dean died the following Thursday. Another what if.

By Gregory Ronczewski, Director of Product Design at Ibbaka. See his skill profile.

Have you ever ask yourself a question: what if... what if you took the other offer when you were looking for a job? Or how would your life turn out if you followed your gut feeling and studied something different?

The other day, I watched old TopGear episodes. In series 5, they started a restoration project. Viewers voted on a car to be restored. Paddy Hopkirk's Mini Cooper—the one in which he won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964—won this challenge. However, another entry presented by James May inspired me to write this post - a sliver Lotus 10 from 1955 designed by Collin Chapman - the car is connected to one of the biggest "what ifs" of the motoring and film industries.

In 1955, James Dean placed an order for a brand new Lotus, the same model as in the TopGear restoration project. There were delivery delays, and Dean did not have the patience to wait. He traded his red 1953 MG for a 1955 Porsche 550 Speedster. On September 30, Dean smashed his Porsche to pieces on his way to Salinas, California. This tragic event raises questions: what if Lotus did not delay the delivery? Would Dean, who was a passionate racing driver, have been killed if he was driving Lotus? We will never know.

1955 Lotus 10. Only seven cars like this one were built.

I am sure many people look back at the key events that shaped their lives and ask themselves the same question: what if... Last week I got a book from my Mother. It is the final interview with my Dad, who passed away in October last year. Among many film and theatre stories, he also ponders what path his career would have taken if he had followed his love for music and gone after his dream job of conducting an orchestra rather acting. His life would have been very different. I am sure about that.

Two weeks ago, we posted an interview with Dennis Green on this blog. Dennis has had a fascinating career. From music to high-end restaurants to a competency modelling expert. Here is a quote from this interview:

"Trying new things and finding out something that you hate doing is just as important as finding out something that you love doing. You don't have to feel that you have to pick a lifetime career with your first choice. You might go into something and not like it, so you shift gears, and there is nothing wrong with that." ~ Dennis Green

We all have many skills. Skills we use every day and many other dormant skills supporting us in our professional and private lives. Most of the time, we know what we need to get the job done. What we don't know is how the "other" set of skills contributes to our success. Ibbaka Talent allows us to open the curtain and look at the building blocks and the inner connections between what shapes our careers - our skills. We have been working on some functionality we call The Explore Mode. The idea is that the platform looks at your core and target skills. Core skills are those that you rely on in your current role. Target skills are those which you are actively developing. Those are the ingredients - to use the cooking metaphor. What can you prepare with these ingredients? The platform learns from users and competency models and can predict what alternate career paths open up for a particular skill set. Sometimes acquiring just one skill or increasing the level of competency in another will open the doors to an entirely new career. No need to start over again, and the what if question changes to why not.

Mobility and flexibility are essential to finding a place in a world that is changing faster and faster. A year ago, working remotely, collaborating on virtual whiteboards was an exciting option - it is the new-normal now, and who knows what's next.

Asking yourself what if is about the past. With the Ibbaka Talent account, you keep the past, but instead of looking back, you look forward to the future.