Contrary to popular belief, career growth and skills development are not linear. There are a lot of backward and forward steps.
There is unabating urgency and relentless demand for us to keep re-inventing ourselves, to keep our talent fire burning. It is common knowledge that, now more than ever, we are bombarded with new knowledge – technological advances being the biggest catalyst. This evolution is happening at the speed of light. Unfortunately, we do not have quantum computing powers, but we have the intelligence to appreciate and acknowledge what is being thrown our way by these advances.
However, we do have a choice. One, we can choose not to do anything about it, and let our careers fade into obscurity. Probably this is an easy route to take, albeit with disastrous consequences. Another choice is to absorb these inputs, assess them against what we already know, and strategically ride the wave of uncertainty to emerge victorious on the other side, armed with new skills and competencies, to help us foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. Join me as I talk about strategies to weave through this uncertain, and sometimes overwhelming explosion of various technologies, frameworks, concepts, etcetera, that can easily immobilize us. No matter how innovative you aspire to be, you cannot give from an empty pot. Don’t be the weakest link in your team.
Key Takeaways
At the end of this talk, you will be armed with:
- Understanding the quadrants of skills development, and how to balance them.
- A frame of mind equipped with dealing with career speed humps.
- The ability to avoid non-collaborative behavior.
- Increased skills capital for diversification and creative/innovative thinking.
- Develop strategies for fostering knowledge sharing, mentorship, and building high-performing agile BA teams.
- Leave the session equipped with a roadmap to ignite their BA career to become innovation leaders and propel their organization forward.
About the Speaker
Edward Ngubane, the current Business Development Manager (BDM) for TCS South Africa and Rest of Africa, is an experienced ICT professional. He is the former mathematics teacher at Senaoane Sec School in Soweto, and the former Head of Business Analysis at DVT (Dynamic Visual Technologies). He is also the former Secretary (2018), Treasurer (2019) and President (2020 – 2021) of the IIBA-SA (International Institute of Business Analysis (South African Chapter)). Edward has been in the IT industry for over 20 years, and worked for the following companies: Telkom SA, Investec, BMW Financial Services, Wesbank and FNB (Online Banking and eWallet Solutions), DVT, Intembeko Investment Administration. During this time, he held numerous positions, viz: – Systems Developer, Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Product Development Manager, Business Analyst Manager, Head of Project Management Office (PMO), Practice Lead (Business Analysis and Architecture), Practice Manager, and Head of Business Analysis. He is currently in the thesis submission phase of his PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand and is a recipient of a Post Graduate Merit Award. His thesis is on the ‘Cloud Computing adoption and SMME development in South Africa’. Edward is a certified leadership coach through the Leadership Coaching certificate he obtained in 2019. In April 2021 he was appointed as a supervisor to the students on the ‘Master’s in Digital Business’ program at the University of the Witwatersrand for the 2021-2022 academic year.