On the heels of SLA 2011, I discovered this series of posts from the Atlantic on critical skills for the future workforce. The Institute for the Future outlined these ten competencies in Future Work Skills 2020.
1. Sense-making...aka "critical thinking." Humans have this ability over computers, which are ubiquitous but without the ability to understand meaning and delve deeper.
2. Social intelligence. Connecting and interacting and the development of relationships with appropriate responses.
3. Novel and adaptive thinking. Haven't information professionals been called upon to be flexible? We need to go where the need for our expertise and experience is apparent. And we also need to create opportunities and offer services even where it is not.
4. Cross-cultural competency. The ability to work within diversity across ethnicities, experience, skills.
5. Computational thinking. What value can be added to data to make it useful? It's no longer just research...it's analysis.
6. New media literacy. Communication and information sharing in all directions. Utter engagement. Many of us are here, but we can always do better to integrate new tools into our processes and services.
7. Transdisciplinarity. Gone are the days of one specialty and one employer. Our skills and understanding must continue to evolve to keep pace with the changes in technology, disciplines, and industries. Mashups at the career level, really.
8. Design mindset. How do you get there from here? Develop tasks and construct plans to get your information center or information business where it needs to go. There are no rules.
9. Cognitive load management. Information overload. What's critical to your and to your clients and what's noise? Filter, then filter some more.
10. Virtual collaboration. Activities and processes have moved from that brick building over there to, well, everywhere and anywhere. It's more than just e-mail...it's maintaining operations and services across walls and borders.
Do you have these skills? If not, how will you get them? SLA Webinars and conference CEs are two ways to keep your skills sharp and growing. What is happening in your SLA chapter? Take advantage of local programs to network, exchange ideas, and learn through virtual and onsite professional development programs.
If you do have these skills...share them with others. Help bring the profession forward for future success.