What skill would you say is the most valuable in today's economy?

[Ivan2BAlive]

I think anything in the IT field. Be it software, hardware, cloud, programming, security, building websites etc. will be around for a very, very, very long time.

 

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[BlokeInProgress]

I would also say effective communication too. I believe this really helps in our daily grind in terms of relaying ideas, influencing one's self and others, giving and getting feedback.

 

[Sean Kaye]

Audience building.

If you can get a crowd of people to follow you, then you should be able to monetize that.

 

[Dunkafelics]

People have always said to hire programmers and not spend time learning it...but for dudes like me who don't have a brilliant idea, being able to program means you can move basically anywhere and build something from nothing for anyone. This already gets you freedom. While it may not make you a millionaire, it can break the chains of a cubicle job. Have a friend doing programming for this sole reason. I can't get myself into it quite yet

This is my thought exactly for those of us who are just starting out and don't have a business idea in place right away. My mindset is that if I can learn programming and start to incorporate other skills such as copy writing, cold-calling, marketing, etc. Then I can be well-rounded when the time comes that I actually have a business idea in place. I think you are on the right track man, what is stopping you from getting into programming right this instant?

 

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[maverick]

This is my thought exactly for those of us who are just starting out and don't have a business idea in place right away. My mindset is that if I can learn programming and start to incorporate other skills such as copy writing, cold-calling, marketing, etc. Then I can be well-rounded when the time comes that I actually have a business idea in place. I think you are on the right track man, what is stopping you from getting into programming right this instant?

I have seen this many times on the forum the past few months. The trend seems to be that everyone wants to "learn programming" because it seems useful.

Every entrepreneur will have a certain skill that they're really good at e.g. sales / design / development. One of the main drivers of their success is that they have fully exploited that skill and that they found people to complement their skills in areas that they were lacking.

Simply thinking that you should "learn programming" because you think it's useful, doesn't make sense. You're better off launching a sideproject and setting up processes that you need to succeed. Examples would be: how to communicate business problems into tech solutions (e.g. by using wireframes, mockups, user flows, interpretive dance), or by being an effective project manager (e.g. using tools like trello, basecamp, dropbox). Doing this, you will find where your strengths/weaknesses lie.

As an entrepreneur, you're job is to bring together resources to create value, not to become an allrounder. Stop waiting for a business idea - get going.

 

[MTF]

Repeatedly stepping outside your comfort zone despite knowing it's going to be scary and suck. That's actually the most valuable skill, period. If you don't have it, you won't excel in business, sports, sales, relationships, or anything for that matter. Comfort kills.

 

[Alexlewter]

Now, I have been putting this answer everywhere for learning in ten days, a month and now a year. It's something called lucid dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming is when you are aware that you are dreaming and the limits to it is your imagination and waking up. It only takes max 20 minutes (overall) out of your day and the results are amazing if you use it right.

Why is this skill valuable?

1. Here are some famous people who have used lucid dreaming to their advantage:

• James Cameron : the director of Avatar, thought of a couple of scenes in lucid dreams
• Nikola Tesla: mastermind of electricity, used Lucid Dreaming to do “dream experiments” in labs
• Salvador Deli: Artist, created works “straight from his subconscious”
• Much more: some include Albert Einstein, and Stephen King

2. You can venture through your subconscious:

Your dreams reflect your subconscious and you can ask “yourself” questions in dreams.

3. You can do anything in lucid dreams:

Fly around Mars, meet Einstein, meet a deceased relative. One of my favorite things to do is to ask your dreams questions like, “show me something beautiful”, it which I saw a stunning sunset.

4. You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping:

If you are asleep all of this time, why not do something useful with it? Do you want to dream about schools and how you forgot to do your homework or do you want to fly across the world on a dragon?!?!

Here is a very, very simplified version on how to do it.

Dream journal: wake up and write your dreams

Reality checks: check during the day if you are in a dream and eventually you will do it in a dream

WILD technique: in this technique, you remain consciousness while you fall asleep

And do not be afraid about sleep paralysis!

It's only scary if you let it. If you do get it (it's rare, one of my buddy's lucid dreams all the time and he's only had it twice in his life), remain calm and stay positive.

 

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[Tanisha]

Sales and effective communication because it is done every day.

The entirety of life is all about sales and communicating effectively.

Sell the customer.
Sell the employee.
Sell to get the employee.
Sell to investors.
Sell to bankers.
Sell to your children to clean up their room.
Sell to yourself to a potential mate..
Sell to negotiate a better deal on any transaction.

Additionally, the ability to communicate effectively lends grease to networking, finding friends and good associates, ya know, the old "its not what you know, but who."

my own fear of its not what you know but who, is what happens when we're in our grandparents age and all the right contacts have disapeared and all our friends and family members who could help us is either dead or moved to another part of the country or we out live our spounse or the kids hate us and we're basically left alone with just strangers who really dont care about us or our personal well being

 

[maverick]

Now, I have been putting this answer everywhere for learning in ten days, a month and now a year. It's something called lucid dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming is when you are aware that you are dreaming and the limits to it is your imagination and waking up. It only takes max 20 minutes (overall) out of your day and the results are amazing if you use it right.

Why is this skill valuable?

1. Here are some famous people who have used lucid dreaming to their advantage:

• James Cameron : the director of Avatar, thought of a couple of scenes in lucid dreams
• Nikola Tesla: mastermind of electricity, used Lucid Dreaming to do “dream experiments” in labs
• Salvador Deli: Artist, created works “straight from his subconscious”
• Much more: some include Albert Einstein, and Stephen King

2. You can venture through your subconscious:

Your dreams reflect your subconscious and you can ask “yourself” questions in dreams.

3. You can do anything in lucid dreams:

Fly around Mars, meet Einstein, meet a deceased relative. One of my favorite things to do is to ask your dreams questions like, “show me something beautiful”, it which I saw a stunning sunset.

4. You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping:

If you are asleep all of this time, why not do something useful with it? Do you want to dream about schools and how you forgot to do your homework or do you want to fly across the world on a dragon?!?!

Here is a very, very simplified version on how to do it.

Dream journal: wake up and write your dreams

Reality checks: check during the day if you are in a dream and eventually you will do it in a dream

WILD technique: in this technique, you remain consciousness while you fall asleep

And do not be afraid about sleep paralysis!

It's only scary if you let it. If you do get it (it's rare, one of my buddy's lucid dreams all the time and he's only had it twice in his life), remain calm and stay positive.

Lucid dreaming just sounds like a good story to me. Like all entrepreneurs have a story on how they were already selling things when they were younger e.g. "I had a lemonade stand when I was 5!".

No harm intended, but I always get the feeling that these are just fabricated to make good press.

Also, how do we know Tesla was a lucid dreamer?

 

[SWB]

Everyone has said sales and I agree. However what I like to add is the skill of resilience so when they get smacked in the face over and over they can recover quickly. I would also like to suggest that people need problem solving skills - after all that’s what we do as entrepreneurs- solve problems


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[astr0]

Learning, thinking, selling

 

[rwhyan]

I agree. Focus is a skill.

An important lesson that I learned last year allowed me to achieve hard goals, goals that I never thought I could achieve, was this :

It's not about what you must do and focus on. It's about keeping yourself from doing the things you shouldn't.

How simple is that. Yet subtly powerful.

Agreed.

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.

— Steve Jobs

 

[Not Most People]

The simple answer is human/people skills - aka skills that technology can't or ever will be able to fully replace.

Things that deal with emotion and psychology -

• understanding people and how they think - this one segues into and is the basis for the following skills
• sales will always be super valuable. and not just in the traditional "used car salesman" sense. everything that is bought in sold to the buyer in some way
• story telling has always been valuable and will become even more valuable as there is more and more competition for people's attention
• managing people - management and all the nuances that come with it will always be valuable
• leadership - a cross between a skill/quality, people will always need strong, able leaders to achieve goals/objectives

I'm sure I'm missing some and these answers are very general, but that's what came to me off the top of my head

 

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[masaldana2]

dont you think selling an idea is more of a push than a pull?
I think AR/VR will be the next photoshop

I do AR at work and tools are getting easier to use like photoshop

 

[Not Most People]

dont you think selling an idea is more of a push than a pull?

Can you clarify/elaborate on what you mean by that?

I think AR/VR will be the next photoshop

I do AR at work and tools are getting easier to use like photoshop

While I agree AR is going to be huge in the coming years, my overall point was that with technical jobs they evolve and change so rapidly that you will likely have to re-learn the next new technology at some point.

With technical work and today's internet-based, location-independent workforce, businesses are outsourcing more and more to the truly exceptional technical workers. That means if you're great at what you do there's going to be plenty of it, but if you're average it's going to be harder to find demand for your skills.

Meanwhile, people-related skills are evergreen and will likely remain valuable across many industries independent of technological advances

 

[struka]

That's a good one. Although, if you really want to improve your communications, you need to practice. Joining an organization like Toastmasters will help you improve your speaking skills, practicing active listening will help you learn. I'm reminded how when asked for a crucial skill for success, both Gates and Buffet responded with listening.

Thanks for mentioning Toastmasters, I will look into this for sure.

 

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[Lee H]

Career (ahem sorry for swearing) wise Cyber Security skills are in big demand right now.

Business wise:
Thinking outside the box.
Adaptability.
Persuasion.
Recruitment.
And most importantly IMPLEMENTATION.