Skills I think matter most right now

First and foremost: writing. Every shift over my lifetime seems to have come with an increase in the utility of written language. Emails, text messages, chats. We are social and communicative creatures, with such a rich and textured written culture. We write things down to help us think, remember, convey, articulate, record… Written language is nothing more or less than our shared mind. If it’s in your head, no one else can consider it. Write, express, shape your ideas into common language where you can test it, validate it, shine it, share it.

Go read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Start with the chapters Short Assignments and Shitty First Drafts.

Second: thinking and working in systems. Systems thinking gives us some hope of making sense of things that are too complex to hold in our minds all at once. We are swimming in all kinds of complex systems, in our work, in our homes, politically, culturally. The systems themselves don’t become less complex or easier to predict the behavior of, but we can sometimes land on useful simplifications that at least give us a chance of nudging systems toward better outcomes.

Go read Donella Meadows. Start small with her essay Dancing with Systems.

Third: giving and receiving feedback. Getting into healthy feedback cycles with your fellows can be uncomfortable work; it requires us to sharpen our observation skills, stretch our articulation muscles, prick up our ears, and open our minds. I know of little more challenging or rewarding.

More advanced: asking for feedback, and asking others what feedback they need.

Go read Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. Pay close attention to Forming Neutral Questions.

Bonus skill: teaching. OK, I’m a teacher, I’m biased. But teaching as a practice will push you in all of the skills above, in service to others as well as yourself. Teaching will make you a better communicator, listener, thinker, and learner. We are all teachers in some way, and the practice doesn’t have to look like a traditional role. Volunteer for tutoring or mentorship. Run a workshop on something you care about. Take some friends for a walk and show them how you look for things to photograph. Share music you love with your kids, and show them why you love it. However you do it, practice consciously and take time to reflect.

Teach something first, then go read Teaching Adults by Ralph Brockett. Start with the chapter What is Effective Teaching? Applies just as well to non-traditional teaching practice, and to people who aren’t quite adults yet but maybe think they are.