Daniel Pink on Six Abilities That Matter Most
David Warlick blogged about a presentation by Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/07/18/daniel-pink-at-leadership-event-in-new-jersey/
Warlick noted that Pink said it's no longer computer skills that we need but skills that can't be outsourced:
Six abilities that matter the most:
Design
Story
Symphony — the ability to see the big picture, recognize patterns, see what’s not there.
Empathy
Play
Meaning
This list excites me. It's filled with promise. But it scares me too - what are we teaching in LIS education that build these skills? Are we teaching graduate students to play? To see the meaning in what they do -- the context? Are we teaching them to continue and tell the story of libraries?
The Fall semester starts in just 6 weeks. It's filled with promise as well. Tell me, LIS folk, what would be the best ways to impart these skills to your future employees?
Comments
Good question! I just shared it with my cohort here at UIUC's introductory session for the online MLS program.
Posted by: Emily | July 25, 2007 01:03 AM
I advocate that we introduce the concept of design thinking into the curriculum. Design thinkers demonstrate several of the abilities in their work - which put another way is understanding problems and identifying solutions from the perspective of the end user. We explore design thinking among other things at "Designing Better Libraries" at http://dbl.lishost.org
Posted by: steven bell | July 25, 2007 09:52 PM