How to stay relevant in a world evolving faster than our certainties?
A Difficult Choice, A Wake-Up Call
One day, I had to make a difficult decision: choosing between two people, deciding which one I would have to let go. Two accomplished professionals, both with strong human qualities and a solid team spirit. One was midway through their career, the other three-quarters in. Both had deep knowledge of their field.
My selection criteria? The willingness and appetite to stay connected with the evolution of tools. I made the heavy decision to let go of an excellent team player, someone with strong technical depth, but who didn’t master the latest versions of our tools. He didn’t consider it essential to his role. As a result, he relied on others to access certain information or to produce initial CAD models of his proposals. Without realizing it, he was losing autonomy.
Technological Evolution Doesn’t Pause
Our world is changing fast. Tools are transforming. Management methods too. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to stay up to date, to master tools and new approaches. Without that effort, you risk creating less value and, eventually, becoming unemployable.
Does that shock you?
How is it possible that someone with deep expertise in their field could become “obsolete”? That word is deliberately chosen to provoke, to create a wake-up call. The real issue is a loss of autonomy, and therefore a loss of execution speed.
A Revealing Parallel
Most of us can’t imagine going backward technologically: no GPS, no bank card, no cell phone… Technology evolves rapidly. Who still sends a fax today? Worse, a telex? Yet we use, need, and endorse this technological evolution. So, for the sake of consistency, we must act on our own skills. It’s a blind spot we all share. The explosive evolution of programming techniques is proof. Jobs are evolving, and that evolution is accelerating.
A Dinosaur’s Testimony
I’m a dinosaur. I still use Excel. And the worst part? With features dating back to the 2000s and 2010s. Two years ago, a young engineer showed me the power of new approaches on this platform, the strength of Power BI and the full suite of tools. Thanks to him, I relearned Excel.
I don’t believe in a frantic race forward or in constantly changing tools. We need stability and structured progression to avoid chasing the latest trend. Yes, we live in an accelerating world. This transformation, given its cost to companies, happens in stages. What’s certain is that in a dynamic and constantly moving world, we must stay in sync, and that means training.
Training Is an investment
Technical domains, legal frameworks, our practices and management methods: we must evolve across all these dimensions.
This means that every year, you should plan time for training, for your teams and for yourself. Encourage mentoring. That time is not wasted; it’s a true investment worth promoting.
Concrete Ideas for Managers
Here are a few ideas to enrich your team.
Foster Diversity
Build a team with a healthy mix of ages, backgrounds, and origins. It will help you stay attuned to emerging trends.
Create Bridges with Academia
Establish strong ties with one or two nearby universities. Encourage exchange practices. Industry brings real-world cases, academia tests and proposes new ideas and concepts.
Encourage Coaching
Promote coaching within your teams, and for yourself.
Support Professional Events
Encourage participation in conferences and trade shows.
Facilitate Communities of Practice
Create spaces where everyone can share their experiences, recent discoveries, and questions.
Preserve Curiosity, Avoid Obsolescence
By cultivating an environment that encourages exchange and learning, you and your team will stay alert. You’ll keep your curiosity intact. You’ll avoid falling into a routine that slowly, quietly distances you from your full potential. Until one day, you may find yourself so far behind others that you’ve become obsolete.
Manager: What are you doing to encourage, channel, and guide this need within your team?
🛠️ Three simple actions to encourage learning within your team
Block a quarterly training slot for the whole team
Once per quarter, everyone completes a short training session (1 to 3 hours) and then shares their key takeaways with the group.
Set up intergenerational learning pairs or groups
Encourage the transfer of technical expertise and new technology skills across different experience levels.
Organize a yearly internal mini‑conference
A simple format: a 10‑minute presentation in front of the whole team to share knowledge about products, roles, or ongoing projects.
👉 These three simple actions strengthen your leadership posture and unlock your potential.
Coaching or Mentoring: Your Choice, Your Growth
I’m Franck Dervault, drawing on years of professional experience and now advancing toward certification as a coach. I offer two distinct paths:
- Coaching to help you unlock your own potential through reflection, presence, and guided discovery.
- Mentoring to share lessons, strategies, and insights from my career so you can navigate challenges with confidence.
Whichever path you choose, my goal is the same: to help you realize that you are wiser than you think, with immense potential waiting to be unlocked.
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