What I Learned about the Future of Work and Product Frameworks from Coursera’s New Chief Operating Officer, Shravan Goli

The future of work is changing. Fast. And if you thought you were keeping up, think again. Things are about to hit hyper-digital warp speed mode in just a few years’ time. 

In its Future of Jobs Report 2020, the World Economic Forum predicted that, by 2025, 85 million jobs will be displaced by automation and technology. Before you freak out, realize that it’s not all doom and gloom. Plenty more tech jobs will be created in their place. Microsoft, for instance, estimates that, also by 2025, 149 million new technology-oriented jobs will be added globally -- in areas like software development, data analysis, cybersecurity, and privacy protection. 

Fundamentally, this means two things about the impact of technology on the global workforce: current jobs will get displaced by it (think: automation and algorithms), and new digitally-focused jobs will be created by it (think: the people creating the automation and algorithms). 

If we’re going to make it to this hyper-digital future of work, companies have to adjust accordingly. Especially tech companies. They’ll need to either recruit or re-train employees with the skills to perform the digital jobs that underpin innovation and keep the global economy growing in the right direction. 

Workers, too, will need to adjust — upskilling or reskilling themselves for the digital jobs of the future. A Boston Consulting Group survey found that people in service sector jobs, customer service, or sales — jobs most at risk of being replaced by technology — have a willingness to retrain that exceeds 70%. That’s a lot of eagerness! And, they’re already getting started…online. Workers are using online learning platforms to acquire new tech skills, get certifications, and earn new degrees to level up their careers — all at their own pace to fit their busy lives. 

That’s what was so cool about my conversation with Shravan Goli. At the time of my The Next Great Thing podcast interview with Shravan, he was Chief Product Officer at Coursera, one of the world’s largest online learning platforms. Since our conversation, Shravan has taken on the role of Chief Operating Officer at the company. You can check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere you get your podcasts.

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One “great thing” I learned: Frameworks are a product person’s best friend. Shravan has built his own called the “Six Ps Playbook”: persona, problem, proposition, product, positioning, and promotion. At the start of a product idea, his team relies on this framework to craft hypotheses across all six Ps, pressure test them with customers, and ultimately determine product market fit. But you don’t always have to build your own framework; use ones that already exist. Shravan applies Geoffrey Moore’s “core versus context” framework to product management and development -- an idea Moore introduced in his book, Dealing with Darwin — to optimize investment on products that are critical to the business and minimize investment in what’s not. That’s one way to discover where the opportunities are — in life, at work, and beyond. 

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Product has such a great impact on the future of work. If you think about it, it touches every facet. It touches the tools we use to do our jobs today, the tools we use to learn new skills, and the tools we use to perform those new digital skills. Shravan sums up his product philosophy best: “Number one is to delight customers. Number two is to drive results both for the customers and for the company. Number three is to actually create products, services, solutions that create competitive advantages.” 

I couldn’t agree more.

How are you thinking about product design and development as it relates to the jobs of the future? I want to hear about it — hit me up in the comments.