Blockchain Careers are Back on Top. Here are 6 Underrated Skills for Taking Advantage.
Every few years, the excitement around blockchain technology ebbs and flows with predictable regularity — unsurprisingly, aligning rather closely with the speculative swings of the cryptocurrency market. While, in 2019, blockchain experience didn’t even crack the top 25 of LinkedIn’s list of most in-demand skills, this year Satoshi Nakamoto’s controversial invention has suddenly reclaimed the number 1 spot. Between Facebook’s Libra project, industry-wide experiments with supply chain and digital identity, and a resurgence in the popularity of Bitcoin itself, blockchain has once again reemerged as a force to be reckoned with.
While smart contract development and a general knack for low-level programming will always provide consistent returns for an aspiring distributed ledger specialist, there are also a number of other rarely-considered skills and abilities that could serve as a springboard in taking advantage of the burgeoning blockchain trend:
- Storytelling & Narrative Building
- UX/UI Design
- API Development
- Cross-Industry Collaboration
- Economics & Game Theory
- Design Thinking
No matter how many times blockchain resurfaces as a focus of mainstream consciousness, there will always be business users who simply don’t understand the purpose or relevance of the technology. With an intimidating technical architecture and a history shrouded in controversy, the most conservative of industry executives may still continue to shy away from a meaningful investigation of blockchain use cases, no matter how much hype builds around it.
Consequently, the ability to clearly and persuasively articulate the overarching story around distributed ledgers will become a critical skill in bridging the gap between the IT and the enterprise worlds. Whether you’re telling stories about user experience, or describing how blockchains differ from existing systems, specialists in this area must be able to immerse their audience in a truly compelling and engaging narrative in order to get their projects beyond a simple proof-of-concept.
Just as corporate executives may have a hard time feeling comfortable embracing the seemingly complex phenomenon that is blockchain, users may also find wrapping their heads around distributed ledgers to be a confusing and overwhelming experience. Due to the technology’s nature as an entirely new paradigm for asset ownership, identity, and record-keeping, confused users of a blockchain-based application may feel compelled to fall back on bad practices, or even abandon interacting with the network entirely.
In order to abstract away the most complex technical elements of a blockchain network— public/private keys, digital signatures, network consensus — effective UX/UI design practices will be a decisive element in creating popular and functional blockchain applications for everyday consumers. At the same time, blockchain app designers must be able to preserve the fundamental principles that enabled the technology to become such a powerful tool in the first place (particularly, the minimization of reliance on third-party intermediaries).
The days of building your own blockchain in-house are largely over. In the public blockchain space, Bitcoin and Ethereum have comfortably established an enduring foothold, while permissioned blockchains offered by the most popular cloud computing providers have finally reached maturity.
As a result, it’s now clear that the optimal approach isn’t to roll your own network from scratch — developers should instead focus on familiarizing themselves with the mechanics of interacting with existing blockchain systems. In most cases, this can be accomplished by interacting with a set of API endpoints, allowing developers from nearly any background to store their data on a permanent ledger. Upskilling in the domain of API development may quickly become the most promising path to securing a lucrative blockchain career.
At their core, successful blockchain networks are predicated on the widespread participation of nearly every player in an ecosystem. Whether you’re looking to increase transparency throughout a supply chain or promote greater trust between an industry and its regulators, institutional buy-in must be essentially universal.
A skilled blockchain specialist will not only understand how to foster cooperation among the members of a single industry — they must also possess substantial interdisciplinary knowledge, building partnerships between businesses with relatively loose, transactional relationships. The more gaps there are in a blockchain ecosystem, the larger the attack surface, so being able to speak the language of a variety of industry participants is crucial in ensuring the integrity of the network’s data.
Blockchains — and, in particular, cryptocurrencies — represent far more than a marginal improvement in recordkeeping. These systems exist at the intersection of both technology and economics, and a clear understanding of how market incentives will impact the function of the network is an extremely valuable skill for those seeking a career in the blockchain space.
For some participants in a blockchain system, the business benefits are readily apparent; for others, they represent a seemingly needless (and potentially expensive) overhaul of their well-established systems and processes. Without meaningful incentives to participate — as well as consequences for conducting fraudulent activity — many members of an ecosystem may fail to see the advantages of contributing their precious data. By being able to architect a solution that creates meaningful economic value for all market participants, rather than only its biggest players, blockchain specialists can have a far greater impact on the success of a project.
Like any large-scale system, blockchain-based ecosystems are always changing, with participants constantly entering and exiting the network as market dynamics impact the underlying economic incentives. As a result, a blockchain project is never truly finished — it’s a living, breathing organism that requires regular maintenance and reinvention. Blockchain architects must be able to slip themselves into the shoes of their users, empathize with their motivations and needs, and rapidly iterate through changes in the structure of these interconnected relationships accordingly.
Design Thinking, a human-centered approach to iteratively creating innovative solutions, is the perfect tool for ensuring blockchain ecosystems continue to thrive. By leveraging agile methodologies, continuous transformation, and a focus on user stories, blockchain experts can ensure their networks are always aligned with the expectations of their participants.
Can you think of any other skills that could help you advance in a blockchain career? Let me know in the comments below.
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Published at Wed, 12 Feb 2020 18:58:14 +0000
