Quarter-Life Breakthroughs, AI Companions and Lateral Careers

Welcome to this week’s edition!

Smiley Poswolsky is a renowned future of work expert andworkplace belonging keynote speaker, and author of three books, including The Quarter-Life Breakthrough and Friendship in the Age of Loneliness. With over 10 years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies and governments on workforce trends, Smiley has a unique perspective on how the workplace is evolving and what skills will be most valuable in the years to come. Smiley's expertise spans a wide range of topics, from the impact of automation and artificial intelligence to the rise of the gig economy and the importance of lifelong learning. You can check out more about him at his website, and on his Substack newsletter.

I've had the pleasure to talk to him and discuss 'Quarter-life' breakthroughs, friendship vs mentorship, loneliness in the workplace, career ladders versus 'lily pads', and a lot more.

Lateral vs Linear Careers

Once upon a time, there were so-called 'midlife crises' where adults tried to evaluate their happiness and achievements. Men, incapable of evaluating deeply, usually went out to buy expensive sports cars to feel young. But stereotypes and jokes aside, the world has changed dramatically since then. People change jobs every 2 years, instead of 20. Opportunity is everywhere, yet rejection is more frequent. Competition is at all-time highs when you are benchmarked against everyone in the world (almost) and not just people in your immediate surroundings. Technology changes at unprecedented rates, and yes, the macroeconomic and climate uncertainties of the last decade haven't helped.

In this shifting landscape, the "quarter-life crisis" has emerged as a new phenomenon. Rather than waiting until midlife to question their choices and search for meaning, many young professionals in their 20s and 30s are grappling with these issues much earlier in their careers. I've had to reevaluate my own career path several times since starting work at the age of 21 - a common experience, but one that often occurs not just at the beginning, but throughout one's professional journey.

Being a positive-thinking individual, Smiley has turned crisis into opportunity, therefore naming it the 'Quarter-life Breakthrough', the moment when an individual focuses on:

1. Inventing their own path and not being limited by societal expectations or the fear of failure.

2. Finding meaningful work that reflects their interests and allows them to give back and help others.

3. Building a career and life that is financially viable while also being personally fulfilling.

He's since developed the concept of switching to think about 'Lily Pads' instead of Career Ladders:

Embracing Lateral Moves - The lily pad concept recognizes that true growth and fulfillment often come not just from vertical advancement, but from lateral moves that allow individuals to explore new domains, acquire diverse skills, and find meaningful work that aligns with their evolving interests and values. Instead of feeling limited to a single track, the lily pad approach empowers people to hop between "lily pads" - different roles, industries, or even entrepreneurial ventures - in pursuit of a more enriching and rewarding career path.

Non-Linear Progression - Traditional career models often imply a clear, step-by-step trajectory, with each promotion or job change representing an upward movement. In contrast, the lily pad concept embraces the non-linear nature of modern careers. It acknowledges that professional development is rarely a straight line, and that the most fulfilling journeys may involve circuitous routes, temporary detours, and serendipitous discoveries along the way.

Resilience - In an era of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, and shifting societal expectations, the ability to adapt and reinvent oneself has become increasingly crucial. The lily pad approach fosters a mindset of adaptability, encouraging individuals to be open to new opportunities, to continuously learn and grow, and to view career challenges as chances for personal and professional breakthroughs.

Holistic Well-being - By focusing on finding meaningful work that aligns with one's interests and values, the lily pad concept goes beyond just financial success or status. It emphasizes the importance of overall well-being, recognizing that true fulfillment comes from a sense of purpose, work-life balance, and the ability to make a positive impact on the world around us.

It's always hard to deviate from the 'traditional' and culturally approved standards. You're led to think that there is no other option, no other way.

So I asked Smiley: how do you recognize that you're in the wrong place?

His experience was brutally clear: he was in physical pain. Whilst that may not be the case for everyone, listening to the mental and physical state of being is the first step to the journey. Whether through meditation, therapy, or peer mentorship, most of the times the problem is kept bottled up inside. This brings us to a closely connected topic, that of the 'age of loneliness' that we're currently living in.

With Bots like these, who needs Friends?

Smiley wrote a book on 'Friendship in the Age of Loneliness', arguing that despite the abundance of social media and digital communication tools, many people still feel isolated and alone. In fact:

- Increased social media use is associated with higher levels of perceived social isolation and loneliness, with heavy social media users (9+ times per day) being twice as likely to feel socially isolated compared to light users.

- Younger adults (ages 18-29) are particularly vulnerable, with 30% reporting feelings of loneliness, compared to only 15% of adults aged 65 and older. This may be due to social media exposing young people to idealized portrayals of others' lives and providing a means to avoid addressing the root causes of loneliness.

As usual, it's always easier to grab US-centric data, but it would be very safe to assume that we're not far off from assuming this is happening on a global scale:

Now, we're going to see two very contrasting trends:

1. As people are more alone, they will seek AI companions or more time on Social Media

2. As AI overtakes some tasks, functions, and roles, we will need more human connections and soft skills versus technical skills

This math doesn't add up.

As always, referring to point #1, some companies are trying to capitalize on this - take Meeno for example, an app for 'relationship advice':

Now, whilst I'm 100% sure there will be useful advice coming from these apps, there's no such thing that can substitute for the real (digital/physical) experience.

The science behind this:

- When people converse or share an experience, their brain waves synchronize neurons in corresponding brain regions fire at the same time, creating matching patterns

- Positive social experiences like social acceptance activate the brain's reward system, specifically the ventral striatum, while negative experiences like social isolation suppress this activity

- Prosocial behavior that is motivated by altruism recruits additional brain regions involved in affiliative behaviors, suggesting it is intrinsically rewarding.

- Individual differences in the functioning of the "social brain" regions like the medial prefrontal cortex may underlie differences in social connectedness and well-being

We are social animals, and it seems we're losing this part of our existence.

We don't talk, we text. Now, we don't even text, we push buttons or simply scroll.

I'm a big advocate for networking, mentorship, and coaching (wrote a recent piece here) - but Smiley argues that those are very different things and you still need friendship and it's really about those 2-3 deeper connections that are:

- Authentic

- Vulnerable

- Will create a sense of community

A Classic and Expensive Education

I've taken a stab at the idea that 'University Degrees are Dead', obviously pushing it for a click-bait title (spoiler: they aren't) but there's a part of truth in that.

In the US, the cost of education has skyrocketed and it may take 200-300,000$ on average for a college degree education. Most students go into debt for this, and it's highly unlikely that the 'return on investment' is positive. Whilst this is not the case in other countries, where it's still highly government-subsidized, the trend is still similar and most of all - little has been done to change universities at a structural level. Someone close to me argues that you need theory and not practice when attending university, because that institution is there to open up your mind, not to teach you things you need to do at work on day 1. I think there's a middle ground, but we haven't gotten to that yet.

Regardless, the point here is that also Smiley agrees on a potential shift to more 'humanistic' degrees being very powerful - to see the world and learn how to disagree, have conflicting opinions, support democratic ideas, and so on.

Naturally following this train of thought, another question we discussed, was about parenting. Generation Alpha (post-GenZ) is not far away, and anyone being a parent today must be thinking ahead on how they can educate and prepare their kids for a very complex future. Yet, the idea of focusing on in-person connections appeared. Is that why top Silicon Valley CEOs blocked Social Media apps and access to technology? Very likely.

A few months ago, billionaire Marc Andreessen said he was teaching his 8-year-old son ChatGPT, saying "This is like the most important thing I've done as a father". He said his son was unfazed by the tech and he believes the AI will grow up with him and described ChatGPT as an "ally" that will make his son as "successful as possible."

"The A.I. that my 8-year-old is gonna have by the time he's 20, it's gonna have had 12 years of experience with him," he told Rogan. "And so it will have grown up with him. It will know everything he's ever done. It will know everything he ever did well. It will know everything he did that took real effort. It will know what he's good at. It will know what he's not good at. It'll know how to teach him. It'll know how to correct for whatever limitations he has. It'll know how to maximize his strengths. It'll know what he wants."

Much like smartphones today, it won't be possible to keep kids away from this technology. It's immensely powerful and can be used for good means in a child's growth, but poses huge risks to socialization, reduced human interaction, and emotional intelligence development.

One of the biggest skills I've learned at work is how to react to emotional moments and to understand other people's points of view, and needs and tweaking communication to collaborate. You just don't get that with this kind of experience (and forget for a second the privacy, bias, ethical concerns).

Last, but not least, going back to our point on Lateral vs Linear careers. Shouldn't universities be teaching and helping students explore their options and help change the cultural dogmas?

I believe so, especially in a world where big tech is out there to fill in the gaps (not just with academia, but also with the government when it comes to regulation and more)

What do you think?

Which steps can we take and what tools can we build to prevent a social and capability epidemic?