Skills At the Core of Thriving in 21st Century

1. 3. Initiative

1.1. Without initiative, our thoughts and ideas will go unnoticed and unused

1.2. We need intuition, judgement, discernment of which ideas to act on, and discernment of when to shift direction or approach

1.3. Knowing when to reach out to people

2. 4. Multi-Disciplinary Thinking

2.1. We need to be multi-acting across ages, races, genders, and disciplines

2.2. Collaborating takes understanding what you know and don't know

2.3. Requires openness to change

3. 5. Empathy

3.1. The skill of sensing the motives and feeling of others

3.2. Begins around the age of 5

3.3. Looking people in the eye, trying to see where they're coming from, getting to know people's names and stories

3.4. Connecting broadly is meaningless unless we connect deeply

3.5. At the core of our ability to communicate and work together

4. 1. Curiosity

4.1. With an ocean of information available to us, curiosity is the difference between skimming the surface and truly engaging

4.2. Looking for ideas that aren't already available

4.3. Activates regions of the brain associated with learning, memory, and reward--turns brains into sponges

4.4. Makes humans unique from machines

5. 2. Creativity

5.1. Taking what is available and repurposing it

5.2. Taking different research and finding connections

5.3. "Creativity is liberating human energy." (Howard Gardner)

5.4. Most creative thoughts happen when the mind is left to wander