The Finch Effect: The Five Strategies to Adapt and Thrive in Your Working Life by Carson Nacie

Author:Carson, Nacie [Carson, Nacie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business
ISBN: 9781118134283
Goodreads: 13838257
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Published: 2012-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

Brainstorming Skill Upgrades

In my talks with members of the Fittest, I've noticed that the ways they upgrade their flagging skills fall into a handful of basic categories:

Self-taught (online research, how-to guides, practice, trial and error)

Informal apprenticeships or training (learning from working with someone who is proficient in the skill)

Formal training (typically resulting in a degree, certification, internship, fellowship, or license)

These three categories also happen to be listed in order of general cost (though specific cost would depend on your specific industry). Let me take a minute to review what I mean by the word “cost.” You have three major resources available to you: your time, your energy, and your money. When I refer to cost, I mean a combination of all three of these things. An example of a low-cost endeavor is something that requires minimal time, energy, or money—like buying a self-help book and reading it. An example of a high-cost endeavor is getting your MBA, an undertaking that requires tens of thousands of dollars and several years of energy.

Here are two great examples of how the skill upgrade categories look in action:

Wayne started a web-based company focused on helping people be happier in their jobs. Because his company was a side project to his day job, Wayne needed to find a low-cost way to upgrade his differentiating skills. Before he launched his business, he told me that he “read every marketing and networking website online, as well as every published paper and book on online businesses. I even contacted and interviewed each book author to learn as much as possible.” Using this self-taught/informal-apprenticeship approach, Wayne was able to bring his marketing, networking, and online business skills from 2, 6, and 4, respectively, to 7+'s in a matter of months.

Colin also wanted to open a web-based business, and chose online advertising for his business focus. When it came to bringing up his differentiating skills to an acceptable level, he tried several different tactics. First he got his master's certificate in online marketing from the University of San Francisco. “It cost me six thousand dollars and was pretty good, but not a great choice for the money and time I had to spend on it,” he recalls. Colin found more benefit from two other skill upgrading strategies: utilizing online tutorials to master Apple video editing software, and learning the inner workings of Google AdWords. He also found a site, Lynda.com, that offered a variety of online courses for under $40 a month. “This was the best place for cranking up my skills. It was a big help.”

These two examples might lead you to believe I don't recommend formal education or training as a way to upgrade your skill strategies. That inference would be partly right. Many professionals today are flocking to advanced degree programs for lack of a better plan; however, this course of action can land you thousands of dollars in debt and with a degree that doesn't really make much of a difference in your vocational future. I

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