The Future of You（你的未來）－線上英文首選│MySkylines

The Future of You（你的未來）

Economic and
technological changes are reshaping the nature of work. Having a great job does
not guarantee your career success; your competence no longer depends on what
you know; and being an affluent consumer matters less than becoming a
sought-after product. Welcome to a new era of work, where your future depends
on being a signal in the noisy universe of human capital. In order to achieve
this, you will need to master three things: self-branding, entrepreneurship,
and hyperconnectivity.

經濟和科技變動正在改變工作的性質。擁有一份很棒的工作，不能保證你的職涯一帆風順；你的能力不再取決於你懂什麼事。而且，身為富裕的消費者，重要性不如成為搶手的產品。歡迎來到工作新時代，你的未來取決於在充滿噪音的人力資本世界中，成為眾所矚目的訊號。要做到這一點，你必須精通三件事：塑造自我品牌、創業精神、超連結力。

Self-branding
is about being a signal in the noise of human capital. The stronger your brand,
the stronger that signal. In today's world, self-branding matters more than any
other form of talent, not least because the mass market is unable (or
unwilling) to distinguish between branding and talent.

塑造自我品牌，是指在人力資本的噪音中成為訊號。你的品牌愈強，訊號就愈強。在今天的世界中，塑造自我品牌比其他任何形式的才華都重要，尤其是因為大眾市場無法（或者不願）區分什麼是品牌塑造，以及什麼是真正的才華。

We are all
individuals, but unless we are also a brand, our individuality will be
invisible. Being a brand means showcasing that which makes you special, in a
way that is distinctive (recognizable), predictable (consistent), and
meaningful (it allows others to understand what you do and why). This is why
David Beckham and Lady
Gaga are much more successful than their more talented
competitors — they understood that being a marketing phenomenon is more
important than displaying outstanding soccer skills or musical talent, and
focused more on self-branding than their counterparts did.

我們都是個人，但除非我們也成為品牌，否則別人根本看不出我們個人的特色。成為品牌，意思是指展現讓你顯得特別的一面，採用的方式必須與眾不同（可以讓人看得出來）、可預測（前後一致），而且要有意義（能讓別人了解你在做什麼、為什麼那麼做）。這是大衛‧貝克漢（David Beckham）和女神卡卡（Lady Gaga）遠比其他更有才華的競爭對手成功的原因。他們非常清楚：成為一種行銷現象，比單單展現出眾的足球技巧或者音樂才華，更為重要，所以他們比對手花更多時間來塑造自我品牌。

Successful
brands are polarizing (they generate strong reactions) and simple. Strong
self-branding means removing all non-essentials from your public reputation or,
as Antoine Saint-Exupery
put it, "perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add,
but when there is nothing left to take away."

成功的品牌會產生兩極效應（引起強烈的反應），但成功的品牌也很單純。強大的自我品牌塑造的意思是，把你的公眾聲譽當中所有不必要的東西都除去，或者如同安托萬‧聖修伯里（Antoine Saint-Exupery）說的：「臻於完美，並非在無法再增添之時，而是在無法再減少之時。」

Entrepreneurship
is about adding value to society by disrupting it and improving the order of
things: it is turning the present into the past by creating a better future.

創業精神就是要透過破壞價值和改善事物秩序的方式，給社會增添價值。也就是要創造更好的未來，以便把現在變成過去。

We are all
busy, but the only activity that really matters is enterprising activity or
entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is the difference between being busy and
being a business, and the reason why some are able to stay in business.

我們都很忙，但是唯一真正重要的活動是創業活動或創業精神。忙碌和創造事業，兩者的不同點就在於創業精神；有些人能在商場屹立不搖，也正是因為有創業精神。

Everything
that isn't already optimized or automatized depends on people, and every transaction
between people is a business transaction. The most important commodity in human
capital today is people who can grow a business, that is, work on the business
rather than in a business.

尚未最適化或自動化的每一樣事情，都取決於人，而人與人之間的每一筆交易，都是商業交易。今天的人力資本當中最重要的商品，是使企業壯大的人，也就是努力經營企業的人，而不是在企業中做事的人。

Today's war
for talent is the war for identifying, developing, and retaining true
change-agents. Change-agents are hard to find, hard to manage, and hard to
retain. Entrepreneurship is about being a change-agent; change-agents are
signals, everyone else is noise. If you are not bringing growth, you are
replaceable and recyclable.

今天的人才爭奪戰，競爭的是要找到、培育和留住真正的變革推手。變革推手難尋、不易管理，也很難留住。創業精神就是指當變革推手；變革推手是訊號，其他人都是噪音。如果你不能帶來成長，那麼別人可以取而代之。

Whether you
are self-employed or employed by others, whether you work in a big business or
own a small business, your career success depends on your ability to offer
something new: new solutions for existing problems; new services and products;
new ideas; etc. Everything that isn't new is old, and if you are doing old you
are stuck in the past. In the age entrepreneurship, the future of you is new,
and your value depends on your ability to do things differently. As the great Alan Kay
pointed out, "a change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points."

不管你是自雇，還是受雇於人，在大企業中工作，還是擁有小企業，職涯成功都取決於能不能提供新東西：針對目前的問題提出新的解決方案；供應新的服務和產品；提供新的構想等等。不是新的東西，都是舊的。如果你仍在做舊東西，那麼就還在身陷在過去之中。在創業精神至上的時代中，你的未來是新的，你的價值取決於有沒有能力用不同的方式做事情。正如知名的電腦科學家亞倫‧凱伊（Alan Kay）說的：「改變觀點，這件事的價值相當於智商80分。」

Hyperconnectivity
is about being a signal in the sea of data and making and
shaping the waves of social knowledge.

超連結力的意思，是指在資料之海中當個訊號，並且製造和塑造社會知識的浪潮。

We are all
online, but what matters is being a relevant connector. Hyperconnectivity is
not about being online 24/7; it's about optimizing the online experience for
others.

我們都在線上，但重要的是成為與人切身相關的連結者。超連結力並不是說全年無休隨時在線上，而是指為別人打造最適當的線上經驗。

Unless you
are a hyperconnector, only Netflix cares about what movies you watch, and only
your friends care about where you went for brunch. But when you are a
hyperconnector, thousands of people will watch the movies you like and your
brunch recommendations will shape reviewers' comments on TripAdvisor. In the
era of information overload, being a trustworthy source of information is a
rare commodity — it is the digital equivalent of being an intellectual and the
latest state in the evolution of marketing.

除非你是超連結者，否則只有網飛（Netfli）關心你看什麼電影，而且只有你的朋友關心你去哪裡吃早午餐。但若你是超連結者，便有數千人會看你愛看的電影，你的早午餐推薦會影響TripAdvisor上評論者發表的意見。在資訊超載的時代中，成為可以信賴的資訊來源是不可多得的商品，這相當於數位世界中的知識份子，也是行銷進化的最新狀態。

The world's
knowledge is too large to be stored anywhere; Wikipedia and Google aren't
enough; the Library of Congress isn't enough. Hyperconnectors point us in the
right direction. Anybody can upload a video on YouTube or tweet, but only a few
can direct us to the videos or tweets we want to see.

全球的知識太過龐大，沒辦法儲存在任何地方；維基百科（Wikipedia）和Google還不夠用；國會圖書館也不夠。超連結者為我們指出正確的方向。任何人都能上傳影片到YouTube，或者在推特上面發文，但是只有少數人能夠指引我們去看想看的影片或推特文。

The most
important form of knowledge today is knowing where to find stuff. In fact, the
ability to find stuff is now almost as important as the ability to create
stuff. Hyperconnectors are the creative of the digital era because in the age
of information overload, where everybody creates online content, effectively
curating content is what really matters.

今天最重要的知識形式，是知道去哪裡找東西。其實，現在找東西的能力，和製造東西的能力幾乎一樣重要。超連結者是數位紀元中的創意人才，因為在資訊超載的時代中，每個人都在創造線上內容，以有效的方式監督處理那些內容，才是真正重要的事。

In short, the future of you depends on your ability to be
a brand, a change agent, and a link to useful information. Paying attention to
your personality and managing your reputation (how others see you) will turn
you into a successful brand; paying attention to your ideas and defying the
status quo will help you become a change agent; and bridging the gap between
social knowledge and collective interests will turn you into a hyperconnector.

簡單的說，你的未來取決於有沒有能力成為品牌、變革推手和實用資訊的連結。注意你的個性和管理你的聲譽（聲譽就是指別人如何看你），可以把你塑造為成功的品牌；注意你的想法，違抗現狀，將協助你成為變革推手；當社會知識和集體利益兩者間鴻溝的橋樑，會使你成為超連結者。