One of the biggest challenges in teaching 21st Century innovation skills is the lack of understanding about what is really included. The following breakdown reflects our attempt to define the important innovation skills. Note that these skills are not a subject unto themselves but rather a set of universal values or lifeskills that apply to anything one does.
Innovation & the Creative Process
- Recognize possible opportunities using intuitive discovery (curiosity)
- Formulate direction in an ambiguous situation
- Carry out experiments while managing risk
- Learn from failure
- Study an identified situation to develop unique understanding (deep dive)
Communication and Collaboration
- Influence others to voluntarily support an idea
- Select a team with the necessary and complementary skills to enhance the success of an challenging task
- Manage a team to co-create a better outcome than any individual could do
- Facilitate people with different personalities and working styles to collaborate effectively
- Demonstrate cultural sensitivity
- Use digital media to succinctly share important information as appropriate for different audiences
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
- Break a big challenge or mission into manageable steps
- Relate mission/goals to a task to identify the real problems
- Explore alternative solutions
- Sort through conflicting advice and information to keep actions on mission
- Evaluate progress and adapt before the outcome is fully known
- Collect and analyze data to inform decisions
Visionary Leadership
- Formulate/shape a mission that guides and motivates
- Build trust and maintain integrity
- Manage reaction in the face of sabotage
- Identify trends and forecast possibilities
Personal Understanding
- Demonstrate confidence in one’s own beliefs while listening to and respecting those of others
- Recognize how one’s personal style can impact interactions with others
- Demonstrate confidence in one’s own passion and motivation
- Leverage others to make up for personal weaknesses