This book aims to act as a guide for all those so-called "digital artisans", meaning anyone who works in small and medium-sized companies and who, thanks to progress made in the digital sphere, now has access to new channels for customers and suppliers. Nowadays, being digital is indispensable: it has created new skills and new professions as well as playing a very important role in expanding the concept of democracy.
So exactly what are the digital skills that we should all be equipped with today? To be able to navigate the digital working world, there are certain digital skills that you cannot be without, and these skills can be divided into two categories: hard skills, i.e. those that relate to a person’s knowledge of the basics of digital and IT, which range from uploading files to programming and app development, and soft skills, which are much more difficult to quantify, and have to do with personal attitudes towards the use of digital tools.
According to the World Economic Forum, to work in the fourth industrial revolution, which is the digital one we are currently experiencing, various different skills are required: of the three most important, the first is the ability to solve complex problems, which is a skill that can enable a person to see a link between industries and create unique solutions to various issues. The second important skill is critical thinking, which can involve being able to distinguish between true and false information as well as separating the useful information from useless. The third essential skill is creativity, requiring the ability to break with tradition and seek new, innovative solutions.
Over time, however, two key changes in the most common business processes have been identified: the first of these is the tightening of the go-to-market, which is the time it takes for a company to launch its product. This lead-time has been shortened thanks to the development of tools that allow for the automation of certain processes. These tools were inspired by the Agile method, according to which some steps in the development process need to be repeated in order to obtain the best results. These steps include the market launch, performance assessment, modifications based on the data collected, and then a relaunch. The second key change is non-perfectionism, due to the tools companies now use, which are capable of collecting immense amounts of data during the product development process, which make it necessary to continue A/B testing of the product or service.
