Kindergarten

It has been a long time since I was in kindergarten, but my nephew’s oldest just started this fall and it sort of brought it all back to me. It also brought to mind how much that experience must have changed since I was in Mrs. Jacob’s class in the basement of the Baptist Church in Cambridge City.  Not just the part about it being half-days or that it was optional.  Both those things have changed.  My great-nephew goes all day and no, he and his parents didn’t get to opt in or out of this start of his educational journey.

Thinking of kindergarten, though, always brings to mind for me that Robert Fulghum book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. First published in the 1980s (about the time my nephew was born, I think), I never actually read it.  But I remember seeing the posters.  They said things like:

• Don’t hit people
• Flush
• Say you’re sorry if you hurt somebody
• Play fair

I think these were perhaps chapter heads, where the author expounded on why each was a good lesson to carry through life. While I don’t disagree that they are good lessons we should all follow, kindergarten—and life—is far more complex today. With all due respect to Fulghum (now entering his 80’s), I hope we are expecting more from those heading into the talent pipeline in Indiana.

It is often said that those in school now will not only change jobs many times over the course of their careers; many will hold jobs and work for companies that don’t even exist yet. Recently, IN Gov. Holcomb’s Secretary of Career Connections and Talent (and Boilermaker!) Blair Milo quoted a statistic of 85% that she and the team under Holcomb use as they work on the state’s talent pipeline.

While I didn’t actually get out my resume and take a count, I know that neither of my Purdue jobs existed when I was in kindergarten. Working backwards and thinking about my corporate career with Verizon (and its predecessor GTE), the majority of the positions I held were newly created—often in newly created departments and, in the case of Verizon, an entirely new corporation. So Holcomb’s and Milo’s 85% stat likely was true for me not only in kindergarten but even during my college years as well, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

The skills to be able to survive and thrive in that sort of environment are varied and can be described in a number of ways. The ones in Fulghum’s book seem to fall within what we used to refer to as “soft” skills but now are more likely called workplace or career skills.  Thinking a bit more broadly about workplace skills and this 85% statistic, what we often hear from employers is something like this—“Send me employees that are:

• Problem solvers
• Innovative
• Team players
• Leaders

and we will teach them the technical aspects of our business.”

Sadly, the corollary to this list of skills and employer needs far too often includes showing up on time and passing a drug screen. The real concern comes when I see a help-wanted sign with a notation “no drug testing required.” As long as the current low unemployment rate lasts, that may be the norm; once the rate ticks up (and it will), that laxity will disappear.

So back to the skills of a kindergartner (and younger). As one who didn’t grow up a digital native (Boomer in a Millennial World, after all), I marvel when I see those who can barely walk displaying digital device skills learned by doing. First example, walking through a store a few years ago, I saw a toddler who could barely walk standing in front of an Apple accessory display. The pictures on the front of the cases hanging at her eye level were of the apps that would typically appear on an iPad screen; she was clearly getting frustrated touching the icons and nothing was happening. Back to that great-nephew now in kindergarten. When he was about 11 months old his mother was telling me about a photo she had taken of him and his cousin. He picked up her phone, turned it on, found the photo and showed it to me. I’m fairly certain I couldn’t find a photo on someone else’s phone that quickly—if at all! For one thing, I’m Android and she‘s iOS.

Think about your path to where you are today and how much things have changed, regardless of your age and how long it has been since you began your journey. As we all work on the talent pipeline for all ages, whether we are employers, educators, employees, parents or prospects, let’s keep in mind that the skills of today must be flexible and fluid as we look to a rapidly changing set of workplace needs. No one person, group or organization can handle it all. Each of us must be a part of the process and work in a cooperative, collaborative, innovative and integrated fashion.

Thanks for reading!  Looking forward to your comments and connections, both in person and virtual!