Sensei

Soft Skills 1, Hard Skills 0

Software giant Microsoft has complained recently that computer knowledge is ‘undervalued’ in the workplace. They conducted a survey among 500 UK business leaders to see what the most sought-after business skills were. Here are the results:

1. Team-working and interpersonal skills
2. Initiative
3. Analyzing and problem solving
4. Verbal communication
5. Personal planning and organizing
6. Flexibility
7. IT skills

Source: Microsoft

As you would expect, Gates defended his geek skills:

“One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker,” he said. “In almost every job now, people use software and work with information to enable their organization to operate more effectively.” Yet in an article written for the BBC News website, Gates added that teamwork was also a core requisite for success in the software industry. “Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs,” he said. Too true! What’s the point of developing a great package on your own if you don’t possess the ability to communicate its benefits to your manager, your team members, your customers, your marketing and sales staff, etc? How many times have you heard this refrain? “Great developer, lousy social skills.” It’s interesting to note too that ‘analyzing and problem solving’ are listed as distinct from ‘IT skills’. Programmers tend to assume that their job naturally entails the use of such skills, but not so. These are ‘soft skills’ that require training just like the others.

To put it technically: Soft Skills 1, Hard Skills 0!

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