One of my audacious professional goals is to help bridge the gap between two previously very distinct worlds: STEM and 'People'.

And, maybe, just maybe, together we can bring these two silos much closer together?

From outside, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is focused on science, numbers, data, analysis and the pursuit of precision. A lot is 'hard' skill-based. In my professions, there is also significant importance placed on 'judgement', after analysing and synthesising the data though i.e. there is space for intuition honed from experience, provided it is evidence-based.

People disciplines are far more 'soft' skill-focused, with adaptability and gut-feel highly prized. There are often no checklists, or step-by-step manuals, and 'best practice' tends to be more anecdotal. Being able to:

• respond to the group or specific situation as it evolves,
  
• manage change as we proceed, and
  
• foster human creativity and expression,

are valued.

There's even debate about whether social sciences (like psychology) are part of STEM. People Analytics is one (emerging) discipline that sits in the space between - thank you to its experts who share their knowledge with me to help me understand more about how things are evolving. Also, some People topics (like psychometrics) have long involved STEM elements like statistical validity.

But, why are STEM and 'People' still so far apart? Is it: 

• a backlash against Taylor's Scientific Management? 
  
• because very different types of individuals are attracted to each discipline, with alternative emphasis on what's important? 
  
• our human nature to want to be different/special, defy neat classification, and act depending on how we feel or who we are with? 
  
• our overconfidence that we're especially good at harder-to-measure skills, like leadership, communication, influencing and more?
  
• something else?

Any suggestions to shed more light on this? 💡

I recently interacted with a professional who moved from specialist / technical work to product / proposition work, and she asked for some high-level advice.

This is what I said... 

1. The business problem(s) you're trying to solve are key, including how you'll measure whether you're making a difference / taking steps towards solving them.  
   
   
2. Relationship and people aspects are crucial, including collaborating with many different functions (like engineering, operations, sales etc). While important, numbers and modelling are much less important in product / change roles than in pricing or other technical roles; and, hence, product roles allow you to build so many more skills.  
   
   
3. Breadth of understanding is very helpful i.e. more generalist than specialist, provided you can call on various specialists as needed. To succeed, you'll need to manage/coordinate across a range of disciplines.  

Do you agree? What else would you add? 

Iain Allan is now in his 70s, and shows no interest in retirement. He qualified as an actuary and spent his career in investments and banking. He took a strategic approach to his career, actively managing it to create and capitalise on opportunities at key points over the decades. Most recently, he has been encouraging more actuaries globally to consider career opportunities in banking, promoting this through the International Actuarial Association. 

In the investments domain, a financial option is an instrument which allows you to adjust the downside or upside potential of a given investment. One example of this is reducing or removing the chance of loss while retaining or enhancing the chance of gain. This ‘optionality’ allows you to benefit if things move in your favour. And, options are more valuable in uncertain situations (with ‘volatility’), when the path ahead is not clear – adapting as things evolve. 

A related concept in the world of bond (or fixed interest) investments is ‘convexity’, which involves rates of change. Simplistically speaking, convexity allows you to benefit whichever direction interest rates move – the best of everything! So, if you’re able to proactively steer your situation to give you optionality or even convexity, that’s incredibly helpful. 

Iain and John Young (one of his proteges) have written about the importance of creating strategic options, using examples from warfare and business. In their words: “Success comes from exploring many options and following up those that work best”. Read more for Iain’s career experiences and reflections, including his application of optionality in practice.