There are basic skills that we need to start somewhere and there are gatekeeper skills that we need to acquire along the way. Sometimes, a convergence of many skills will shine much brightly than just any one particular skill. When everyone is acquiring more or less the same set of skills, how do we differentiate our skills, capabilities and attitudes?
Stedman Graham writes in his new book (Identity: Your Passport to Success, published by FT Press) “The first step in the journey to freedom and success is to check your ID. Not as easy as it sounds, but doable………..It’s the constant reinvention of yourself that determines how you begin to create your image or brand. It’s about constant improvement, constant revision, constant learning”.
Constant Learning! Continuous Learning? Circle of Learning? Why not?
One such strategy is to embrace Circle of Learning concepts. It provides a framework for QTIME learning – I call QTIME as Quadrants of Trust, Innovation, Methods and Efforts.
We need to understand whether we are in a seller’s market or buyer’s market to formulate strategies that work. But one other strategy that will pay dividends irrespective of the market is – the live small, think big strategy. If we fail solely based on skills, then we need to re-equip ourselves with newer skills. If we succeed, then we should be ready to contribute to betterment of others – framework provided by Innovation COL.
On the other side of the equation, the buyers should be conscious of fine tuning a skill as it varies from experienced to novice. Here the framework provided Trust COL, Methods COL will help to redefine the job duties of the existing jobs or recreate new jobs that result from such fine tuning.
When both buyers and sellers meet in an understanding so established by QTIME, the framework provided by Methods COL and Efforts COL will ensure all the activities of the skill development Quadrants (I call them as ABCD Quadrants of COL to help recall the Acquire, Benchmark, Connect and Discover quadrants) are addressed to enable that essential continuous learning with constant revisions and innovations.