Troed Troedson

Competence and learning

Competence is the qualities that help me realise my intentions. This means that competence depends both on what I want and on the nature of the world in which I want to achieve those intentions. Being tall is part of a basketball player's competence because someone has chosen to place the hoop very high. As the world changes, so too do the concepts of competence.

OECD

OECD formulates the concept of competence in a digital world as follows: "Everyone must have the ability to solve complex problems in constantly new situations, always using new technology." This is a completely different description than the one we have used until now, which defined competence as the ability to solve specialised problems repeatedly and preferably without using technology. OECD also states that this ability is rare in the workforce; in Sweden, which is among the best in this regard, half of all adults completely lack this ability.

Competence outside of people's heads

We are used to thinking of competence—the ability to solve a task—as something that exists in people's heads. If we want competence in a specific place at a specific time, we must ensure that a competent person is there at that moment. However, competence is now becoming something we can store, transport, and utilise without putting people on bicycles or airplanes. Sometimes, it can be used without involving people at all. What does this mean for our view of organisations, HR, and employees?

The school of the future

Learning is changing radically, and it has been for the past few decades. Never before have so many people discovered what they need to know with so little effort and in such a short time. We often struggle with people learning the wrong things, as everything is accessible, and distinguishing truths from lies on the Internet is difficult.


However, schools and our institutional learning still look essentially the same as they did before the advent of the Internet, mobility, and AI.

A new school can be built on entirely different foundations than those of the 19th century. Moreover, we have known for several years that this is not only possible but is indeed being done in various places around the world.
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