One of the key findings that stuck out to me in the Business Agility Institute's comprehensive Skill Demand report done in partnership with the Scrum Alliance is that organizations are searching for "Pi Shaped People" instead of T shaped people.
Said differently, organizations need people who have a broad array of skills across the digital strategy and delivery ecosystem but are also deep in two or three skillsets, instead of just one (like the mathematical expression for pi).
And they're struggling to find those people.
Here are some examples:
đ¨âđ Instead of an agile coach job description, we're seeing agile program managers with team level agile coaching skills who also understand service oriented architecture.
đ Instead of a standard product manager, we're seeing technical program managers with sophisticated organizational skills and deep knowledge in Amazon Web Services, Azure, Salesforce, or machine learning.
đ˛ Instead of a financial analyst, we're seeing financial transformation leads who have an accounting background, understand strategic planning, and have also mastered Lean Six Sigma process improvement.
My advice: don't be afraid to be "one of one" in the career path you choose by pursuing a dual or triple track deep skillset. There's someone out there who needs you, but you need to start developing those additional skills NOW.
And don't forget that soft skills are the ante to play the game, period.
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