“Creativity Fills in the Gaps”
From Changing Tides and Gen Y:
There are very few ties that keep us in one place or in one job. The internet allows us the ability to be instant experts on any given topic - learn about a topic one day, spend the next researching it, teach it the third. With the right resources and determination it is a very easy process. Sure, we won’t be experienced experts but we’ll know what the tools are, what the problems look like and some general idea of how to mix the two. Creativity will fill in the gaps.
I love this quote. I think a lot of people will quibble with it, arguing that the internet isn’t a deep enough platform for real leaning. And, sure, it’s rare that someone will actually become an expert on a topic after honing their google fu for a day or two.
But that’s really the point: how useful are experts, really? Once we get away from the more traditional varieties of work, specialization and expertise loses its value. In its place, adaptability becomes paramount.
Someone who is exceptionally good at, say, Microsoft Visio isn’t really going to be of much use 99% of the time, but someone who can learn the basics the morning before your board of directors needs an extensive org chart? That employee is golden.
Something to think about.
This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 8:31 am and is filed under At Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
