We all know that education happens both in and out of the classroom and that where Americans spend most of our time – work – is fertile ground for learning.
Post virus, it now seems even more clear that the workplace is going to change, beyond just the incredible acceleration of technology. These two intersecting factors:he inevitable changes ahead in the workplace (what, where, how we do our work, etc.) and 2) the importance of work in the lives of most Americans, prompts the question – what are the most important skills to effectively prepare individuals for 21st century (post-virus) jobs? Let the case be made that entrepreneur skills should be at the top of the list!
Critical entrepreneurial skills for 21st century jobs: (and skills that should be cultivated in school!)
CREATIVITY
Creativity is not just thinking outside-of-the-box. Of course, creativity does relate to problem-solving but it is also about being adaptable and having the ability to effectively pivot towards opportunity. And at the core of this – the best creative problem-solvers believe that many things are possible. They can think broadly, ideally without an agenda, and then translate their broad thinking into concrete ideas and options. This skill can and should be cultivated in case-study scenario exercises for middle and high school students using complex, messy problems. The ability to be creative is a vital tool in today’s workforce, no matter the industry, particularly in high and middle skill jobs. Some believe it can only be born with but it can also be encouraged and cultivated.
RISK-TAKING
There is an element of the practice of risk-taking that relates to careful judgment – as the late Kenny Rogers sings “you’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to walk away, know when to run”. However, effective risk-taking goes beyond judgment to a mind-set that is not afraid of failure. Effective risk-takers understand that failure is absolutely necessary to improve and that practice (a lot of it) is the only way to get better. This is so hard in our American culture when the stakes are often presented very high for delineated winners and losers. The entrepreneurial skill of risk-taking also must be cultivated in the very young and then practiced in the workplace by embracing a growth mindset organizational culture.
RESOURCEFULNESS
Although the entrepreneurial skill of resourcefulness does not sound as sexy as creatively or risk-taking, in the digital world in which we now live, being resourceful is absolutely critical. Learning to be resourceful, or “scrappy” as we used to say, will become increasingly important with limited funding, the necessity of partnerships to tackle complex problems, and the fact that there is more information at everyone’s fingertips than ever before. It is a valued skill to have the ability to identify multiple resources, cultivate their involvement, connect the dots between them, and then operationalize to solve problems. Many graduate programs tackle this skill-set but graduate school is not early enough, K-12 and Associate and Baccalaureate colleges must teach this for graduates to be successful in 21st century jobs.
Jobs today are changing as quickly as markets, and the jobs of tomorrow have not been invented yet and our graduates will create. Workers will change jobs, and industries, multiple times in a lifetime where only more refined skills will be expected in terms of innovative work and the effective use of applied learning. Entrepreneurial skills are not just required for inventors but must be taught to all learners – in and out of the classroom (including at work) – for our economy to again thrive. To talk more about the importance of teaching and cultivating entrepreneurial skills, find me, Dr. Julie Murray-Jensen on LinkedIn.