10 Skills For the Real World
August 23rd, 2006 by COD
Guy Kawasaki provides this list of stuff you’ll need to know in the real world. I pretty much agree with it all.
How to talk to your boss.
How to survive a meeting that’s poorly run.
How to run a meeting.
How to figure out anything on your own.
How to negotiate.
How to have a conversation.
How to explain something in thirty seconds.
How to write a one-page report.
How to write a five-sentence email.
How to get along with co-workers.
How to figure out anything on your own is a pet peeve of mine. In every job, I end up functioning as the tech support for sales. And I constantly get stuck helping other sales people do really simple stuff with their computers. Stuff that they could figure out on their own with very little effort. This is not an issue with my current job – yet another benefit of working from home.
4 Responses to “10 Skills For the Real World”
Same pet peeve here. Instructions are included for a reason. Also? I think schools actually drill this out of people. Why try to figure it out for yourself, if someone will explain it to you?
What Andrea said. Leave your books face down and do not open your books until I say. We will all do this together, and I don’t want anyone working ahead. Now, let’s all look at number one.
My husband’s bookshelf is full of tech manuals for C++, Java, Unix, etc. and actully spends many an evening reading them to figure out a problem at work. Lots of co-workers call on him to help and it is irritating that they don’t invest the time to figger it out themselves.
Having said that, I think he is that way because his mom allowed him to flounder … painfully at times … and that is not a compliment.
I agree about the schools drilling it out of you … they don’t have the time to allow for natural learning … sometimes you just have to stare at a wall for a few hours to figure it out!
Heck, I’d settle if people would just commit the information to memory after the third time you’ve told/shown them how to do something.