“The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.
Natalija Counet, the proud author of “Upskilling for the Future” and the Founder of 361degreesLAB believes in the authenticity of this wonderful quote. Having a rather kaleidoscopic learning career from a business degree to creative film production, from entrepreneurship to post graduate study in psychodrama, Natalija is a habitual learner. It’s her quest for learning new things that have paved her way towards success and excellence.
Knowing your questions is important, as she puts it. According to her, “Some people look for a passion, the big why, the goal. I found for myself questions that I am interested to answer and challenges I want to address. What I do may change: I may discover a better way to work on the skill development or another interesting business direction to explore, but it will be still about those questions I am trying to find answers to. It is a mission.”
Natalija envisions the professional life as a playground where one can play different roles, hold different titles and change the careers as a normal part of growth. That is enormously liberating. “If you think of your professional journey as 2-3 years learning sprint, this is no longer so hard. Every choice you make is a step towards the next interesting door to open.” So reflects Natalija.
Leaving behind the Gender-Centric Buzz
Amidst all the buzz of Women Empowerment and equality, Natalija holds a unique opinion. Women empowerment is a contextual subject, as she states, where one has to be clear what he/she is talking about. Her views are far from being gender-biased.
If I think about why do we want to have more women in the boardrooms and empower more women to run their own business, for example? It is not simply about chasing the favorable 50% and ticking the box.
What we truly miss is having female qualities like care, intuition, collaboration, embracing emotions and the ability to have better dialogue out there. As a skill development professional, Natalija focuses mainly on skillset and mindset development..
361DegreesLAB- An Insight into the Services
361degreesLAB helps organizations and professionals to prepare for the future by focusing on the development of critical skills. It facilitates special learning experiences, workshops, labs, and offer future literary programs and events. The company runs learning labs for career hacking, digital intelligence, self- management, building relationships and on how to manage time, energy and attention in the era when the constant cognitive overload becomes a norm. They also offer future literacy programs and work on creating special learning initiatives and events.
361 DegreesLAB offers its services for organizations and professionals:
For Organizations: With the new age digital innovations, it is time for organizations to move faster, adapt more quickly, learn rapidly and embrace dynamic career demands. It provides organizations with special learning environments, skill development labs and the way to access how future ready they are. 361degreesLAB offers interactive workshops and keynotes on the subjects of Upskilling for the Future and Skills for the future of work. The company also organizes special events, offer consulting services and facilitates the projects that focus on learning innovation. .
For Professionals: The company offers open workshops, master classes and learning labs for professional orientation, skill development, personal and professional growth. 361degreesLAB works with the best industry professionals to explore various subjects, help learn new skills, and unleash possibilities.
A Different Perspective of “Future”
“We are working on creating incredible collaborations and initiatives to address the learning questions of today and tomorrow. What I am really interested in is changing the way we see the future,” Natalija states. Her interpretation of the concept of future is really exceptional. “Instead of trying to predict, anticipate, adjust and constantly be in the reactive mode to the ongoing change, instead of asking what the next big thing is, or what the future is going to be like, I think we need to start asking “What future do we want? What skills do we need to create the future we want to be part of?” she suggests.
An Inspiring Message for Social Change
“Go do it. Stop thinking about it, stop talking about it, stop being smart about it. The only difference between your dreams and reality is called action. There is no formula, no 10 ways of how to succeed. The only thing you can do to bring out a social change is to start somewhere. So go ahead. One step at a time. It is the best- kept secret of success. I haven’t discovered anything else that is more powerful than the habit of taking action.” Natalija expresses her views on achieving success.
