Why (Yoko Ono)

When does experience trump ability?

Short answer: only when special skills are needed immediately to make a coffee right now!! 

Yes, I'm thinking about a barista or, maybe a McDonald's burger flipper. Nope, come to think of it, even I could flip a burger!

A forklift driver? Another 'No' - robots do that now. Hmm - actually, it's probably only a barista. 

Everything else: we learn on the job, or near the job. After all, that's where experience comes from right?

My first Principal ship came after I'd been a Deputy Principal. The two are vastly different jobs, let me tell you!!

A friend of mine, Pablo Honey from Psychedelic High, recently lost out on a job because the other applicant (Doug Field) had some specific experience in his resume.

EH??? 

Are we not educating our students to have 21st century soft skills?

• Strong Work Ethic
• Positive Attitude
• Good Communication Skills
• Time Management Abilities
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Acting as a Team Player
• Self-Confidence
• Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism
• Emotional Intelligence

An emphatic, 'Yes! We are' is heard resounding from the blogosphere.

Doesn't that apply to adults as well??

I know I want an employee who is all of those things. Then, if I need her to train as a barista, I know she will embrace the experience and excel.

So why of why would Pablo, the better prospect in all of those skills, not be successful?

Riddle me that!!

Killing me softly with his song (Roberta Flack)

Photo by Aaron Lee on Unsplash

Time to check my soft-skills (with Seth Godin's list):

What am I better at? I don't believe in multitasking as a thing, but I've become better at juggling multiple demands on a daily basis.

Have I asked a difficult question lately? Yes, I do this pretty regularly.

Do people trust me more than they did? Mmm, I believe so. Nothing like time and experience. I've been in my current post for a year now so people have seen me work and understand that integrity is everything!

Am I hiding more (or less) than I did the last time I checked? Less

Is my list of insightful, useful and frightening stats about my work, my budgets and my challenges complete? And have I shared it with someone I trust? No and no. Something to focus on in the new year, once I've figured out exactly what Seth means by this!.

If selling ideas is a skill, am I more skilled at it than I was? No, but I'm not sure I need to sell my ideas in the role I have. I'm more interested in letting others sell theirs, or starting an idea and stepping back (as with PBL in my school this year).

Who have I developed? A variety of people - teachers and support staff.

Have I had any significant failures (learning opportunities) lately, and what have I learned? Yeees. Plenty. Still working on the lessons learned.

What predictions have I made that have come to pass? Am I better at seeing what's going to happen next? I'm pretty good at the vision thing. The timetable adjustments for 2018 are some way along the road I've been advocating for a loooong time (as long time readers will attest).

Who have I helped? Especially when there was no upside for me...Plenty of students, and plenty of staff, and plenty of parents.

Am I more likely to be leading or following? Leading AND following.

Your turn!