Questions regarding education & zeroing in on the most valuable skills 3

[John2004]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask some questions & start a discussion related to education, which is of course fundamental in self improvement and getting ahead. I don't expect the answers to be definitive, I'm just interested in hearing different opinions.

1. What do you feel are the most important skills and knowledge that a person should have in order to achieve success in the modern world ?

I think the ability to read, write, and speak well, along with good math and social skills, form a solid foundation to build on. Once the core foundation is formed, it seems a person could learn whatever they want if they apply themselves.

I am interested in hearing some opinions on what skills and knowledge (beyond a solid foundation as mentioned above) is most useful & valuable in the modern world.

Ideally, beyond having a solid foundation, a person could simply learn what they find interesting and fulfilling, but as a practical matter, people generally do not get to do *exactly* what they want with their lives. Even if a person does have a completely satisfying career and life, it is always nice to have useful / valuable skills and knowledge to fall back on in case you decide you want to do something else, or in case something unexpected happens.

2. What (if anything) do you feel should be taught in public high schools and colleges that is not currently being taught ?

I feel that critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving should be a bigger part of the public school system. Students are generally taught to memorize facts and figures & take tests. The student may score well on a test, but 6 months to a year down the road, they often forget much of what they *learned*.

The goal is to really learn the information for the long term, so I think that not only study skills, but learning & thinking skills & techniques should be a larger part of the public school systems.

I feel that more time should be spent on teaching students what careers are available (the occupational outlook handbook is excellent). Students need to know what choices are available to them in order to make the best career decisions. Especially during the last two years of high school, I feel an actual full year class should be required that allows students to explore all of their career choices and provides counseling to help them decide what they want to initially try to do as far as a career is concerned.

I also think a course on social skills, ethics, and the value of having respect for other members of society should be required as these are all very important aspects of life & getting ahead. I know this is basically common sense & people generally should learn these things from family and friends, but I think they are important and seem to be somewhat lacking today, so perhaps it should be addressed to some degree by the school system.

I would appreciate any thoughts, opinions, or feedback you may have regarding my two questions and comments above.

Thanks
John

 

[IRstuff]

1. The most important is skill is the ability to recognize what the actual problem is, be it technical or political. The other skills are necessary, but not sufficient. You can be a great talker, but if you have nothing to talk about...

2. The things that schools no longer teach are how to identify the problem and how to decompose it into sufficiently small and solvable chunks, and how to apply multidisciplinary solutions to problems.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[ctopher]

I agree with IRstuff.
Basic computer skills and file management are a huge plus.

In schools, I think they need to focus more on 3D for computer technologies. Hands on classes in high schools like woodworking, automotive, metal, etc, to help build cognitive skills that the young today have lost.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion

 

[cry22]

Most employers are dumb founded nowadays, they are blinded by youth and whetever it represents, communication skils, team player (understand slave mentality), etc..

Reading the want adds, they all look for the same candidate resembling ... Mr. Bond.

James Bond.

 

[IRstuff]

Dunno, the original Bond was a problem solver.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[tygerdawg]

My MechEngTechnology Department Head friend would invite me to give a presentation on "what do Mechanical Engineers do?" to his incoming Freshmen Engineering Students. I would summarize at the end of the presentation:

(1) If you're tough enough to survive it, then an engineering curriculum will train you how to be a trained problem solver

(2) the world will always need good problem solvers that can solve a wide variety of problems

(3) engineering as a career will provide you a rewarding & better-than-average lifestyle, but likely won't make you rich

(4) skills needed and used by engineers
(a) Mech design
(b) Elect design
(c) Accounting & Finance
(d) Public Speaking
(e) Writing & Documentation
(f) Sales & Marketing
(g) Diplomacy

I told them they need (a) & (b) "analytical & problem solving skills" for success in Daily Work, but they really needed (c) through (g) "soft skills" for successful Career Growth.

All the students hated that.

Now, I would probably add "foreign languages & culture" to the list.

The reality is that there is not enough time to teach the soft skills in an engineering curriculum. Sometimes new employees are lucky enough to get a Mentor that can guide them along the way and acquire the soft skills. But is very rare.

The best example I have of integrating soft skills was a Thermodynamics Lab class that was run like a Toastmasters Club. Each week we all had speaking and presentation tasks as part of the lab.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[TheTick]

One underrated skill is the ability to read, write, and think in paragraphs. Looks like you have that.

 

[IRstuff]

I'm not convinced that college makes you a "trained problem solver." If you do well, you're trained at solving college problems, which, don't get me wrong, gets you a LONG way down the road.

Nonetheless, I've work exclusively with college-trained engineers and scientists, and not all of them are able solve the problems presented to them.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Zapster]

people generally do not get to do *exactly* what they want with their lives.

Why not? This statement seems to limit or create an excuse for settling for something less than what could be or could have been. Perhaps a better way to think about this would be to say that “people do not get to have others do exactly what they want.”

 

[John2004]

Thanks for the replies guys, you have all made some good points.

In response to Zapster...

Of course you can control your own actions, and you cannot control anyone else.

Nobody I know gets everything they want or has the perfect life no matter how hard they work or how positive their attitude is. That's not an excuse, that's just life.

I did not mean to imply that you should not try to live up to your full potential and work hard, but the reality is, everyone has to compromise.

John

 

[thruthefence]

Paraphrasing Pasteur, ( or was it the bad guy in "Under Siege 2"? )

"Fortune favors the prepared mind"

 

[Neubaten]

I agree with most of John's views, but I'd like to add that developing abstract thinking, idealization, representation, and formalization is the key for being valid as a problem solver.

Then you'll need the language skills to understand theory and to communicate your solutions/understand the problem.

Everything else, like computer knowledge or language knowledge or whatever is just about getting those skills to good use.

 

[SomptingGuy]

A suggestion for an advert to replace one of our best who left several years ago:

"Wanted: Mild-mannered genius."

- Steve

 

[calguy07]

In response to Zapster, I don't think people necessarily settle for anything less than what they want. I think people don't get to do what they want because they simply don't know how to get there.

 

[metengr]

Paraphrasing Pasteur, ( or was it the bad guy in "Under Siege 2"? )

"Fortune favors the prepared mind"

Actually, it was Chance favors the prepared mind.

 

[cedarbluffranch]

I once worked for a business owner who never learned to write (printing or cursive). He could read fine and could type fine but never learned how to write using a pen or pencil.

The company he owns is now worth millions of dollars and he manages 25 - 30 people in this business.

It's amazing to look around and see what skills you might be able to live without if you're lucky.

(I don't recommend this strategy because I also know a lot of other people who probably can't read or write, and they're homeless today.)

 

[Neubaten]

Oh my gosh, a boss unable to write!

That sounded like the ultimate manager! I had a boss once that tried hard to forget writing, but he wasn't good enough at management and had to keep writing (unluckily for us)

 

[IRstuff]

It was the bad guy: Travis Dane:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114781/quotes

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Japher]

1. Communication is paramount to a successful career in any field. Along this line is also networking skills. These two skills will help you manage up and out. Also, negotiation skills, something I am lacking, not only for contract terms but conflict management and general "getting you way". Identifying the true problem is a good response to the question but I would expand on the matter and say having an open mind.

2. Public school needs to teach real life skills as well as better problem solving and people management skills.

 

[plasgears]

The responses related to being well rounded in a raft of skills reminds me of what the architects do; they generally get a BA degree before entering architectural studies.