A thank you gift: Chapter 1 of The Skill Code
Your interest, thoughtful engagement, and diverse experience are an inspiration to me as I write this Substack, work on enhancing human ability. Here's a small token of my gratitude.
I started posting on www.wildworldofwork.org in October of last year, on the impulse that I could be more useful, build more skill, and have more fun if I concentrated my thinking and writing here.
You’re living proof that this bet has paid off - in far richer ways than I expected. Truly, it’s a great pleasure and a significant honor to write for you, and to start to hear back from you that you find my posts valuable. Thank you.
You almost assuredly know by now that I’ve written a book called “The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines”, and that it will be published by HarperCollins on June 11th. It features great research from over 13 disciplines (social and computer science, I’m proud to report), a significant trove of data from my team’s recent, multi-year, nationwide field research on AI-enabled robots and automation in warehousing, and some clear, concrete ideas for a skills solution that I’m putting my career behind. That, all told through the real-life (though anonymized) stories of the hundreds of real working folks out there that I’ve studied up close and personal. Advance praise from people I greatly respect told me I’ve done my job - this book is important, and will be helpful:
With work changing faster than ever before due to new technology, there has never been a more important time for a book like The Skill Code, or anyone more qualified to tell us what it all means than Matt Beane. Here you will find the keys to understanding expertise, by one of the hottest researchers in the field, written in a way that is both readable and actionable and full of the latest research. It’s urgent that we learn the lessons in The Skill Code.”
Ethan Mollick, Author of the NYT Bestseller “Co-Intelligence”, Wharton Professor
Wow, right? Ethan’s an in spiration to me, as are Adam Grant, Fei-Fei Li, Reid Hoffman, Amy Edmondson, Jeff Wilke, Erik Brynjolfsson, Andy McAfee, and Hadi Patovi. They all weighed in.
Anyway, I’ll cut this short - this is a note of gratitude. You’ve read this far - many of you since last year - and I’d like to share the first chapter of the book with you as a token of my gratitude.
I only ask that if you know someone who would also like to read the chapter, please send them here, rather than sending them the PDF: I’d like to keep this gift in the circle of my loyal subscribers here.
So: thank you. My best to you as you in all you do, and I hope this chapter (and the book to come) help you build skill for yourself and those you care about.
Matt
ps: On June 1, I will share three GPTs (genAI agents with specific programming) with people who have preordered the Skill Code. These will assess whether you have healthy Challenge, Complexity, and Connection in your work - these are the three components of the skill code that underwrites skill development everywhere.
If you’ve already preordered the book, just send proof in an email to preorder@mattbeane.com, and I’ll make sure you get these GPTs right before June 11.