Dr. John Bargh's book Before you know it - the unconscious reasons we do what we do starts with Albert Einstein quote that I used as a title for this post. This fascinating book, written by one of the world's most respected authorities on the science of unconscious mind, is divided into three chapters: The Hidden Past, The Hidden Present, and The Hidden Future.

It took me few moments to wrap my head around the hidden portion of this book structure; especially, when the author also speaks about the not hidden past, present, future. The last set is probably more straightforward to follow. We all have memories from our past experiences, and the current is what we live at any moment, but the visible future? That's an intriguing concept. Think about your aspirations, goals and plans. These for sure belong to a visible future. You have created these ideas in your mind, so they are visible not only to you but also to the people you shared them with.

Whatever we do on any day depends not only on what we have learned in the past but mainly on our plans for the future. This is what everyone is focused on. The past informs the future. I think everyone would agree that our goals are the driving force behind nearly every decision that we make. If this is true for an individual - for businesses, it is a matter of thriving or of disappearing from the market.

Annual and quarterly reports.... spreadsheets and graphs... The need to meet the numbers is on the agenda of every boardroom meeting that takes place in the business community around the world. Executives in large corporations focus entirely on what will happen in the next six to twelve months. A few companies think out over the coming years. I suppose it is like ski race. You have to initiate your turn early. If you don't and begin before you are at the gate, you will probably make this one, but I can guarantee you will miss the next one. The faster you go, the sooner you start your turn. Planning is everything.

For businesses, it is a nerve-wracking process in which you can't go after projects that you aspire to work on (at the company or individual level) if you can't showcase your competencies (people with the skills required by the project). On the other hand, if you do have people, but the represented skill sets are not exactly what you need, you may have to say goodbye to some of the highest potential projects. It's tricky because with no people you can't go after any project. You need the right people, or to be more precise the right skills.

The past informs the future. What skills does a company have? What is the distribution of these skills? What are our strengths and weaknesses? What skills does the business need to develop? Twenty years ago, when everything was moving at a more predictable and steady pace, and the company was not that big, we would not have trouble finding answers to these questions. The problem is that now everything is changing faster and faster. What was normal yesterday becomes obsolete. Well established professions are replaced with new capabilities and skills. Entirely new skills are emerging, but some of them evolve from other skills. Knowing the trends and understanding the composition of the skill set is not a nice thing to possess - it has become a necessity.

This is where TeamFit enters the stage. Using our inference engine—upload a project description, and we will extract skill requirements from it—we can quickly capture your current skill imprint on the individual, team and company level. This knowledge, combined with skill classification and relationships (associated and complementary skills), allows us to help you plan. Forget about expensive and complicated talent management platforms. You don't have to let go of your teams or hire new people. Take control of your visible future by answering this question:

What does skill management mean to you and your company?
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