Top 10 skills

[NW-Bound]

Now you are claiming to be Newman?

You have posted your photo, and that's no Cool Luke. Cool Luke did not get to retirement at all, let alone ER. Who wants to be him?

[jollystomper]

I don't think I have 10 skills . But in my IT career, it seemed the 2 skills that kept me gainfully employed and promoted were:

1. Being able to listen to others and demonstrate that I heard them.
2. Explaining and writing technical information in a manner that non-technical people, or those with lesser technical skills, could understand.

I guess, even though I was a Math and Computer Science major in college, those English and History papers, and listening and asking questions to better understand what was being taught as I was very afraid of flunking out, paid off for me.

[NW-Bound]

Many posters listed personal traits as skills, but they are not the same.

Here's something that I do not know if it's a personality trait or a skill, and I may not be that good at it, but I am still working on it over the years.

It's playing devil's advocate, or stirring up trouble. Some may call it critical thinking. I do not want to just accept things as they are taught, or just to believe. Some people, even teachers, thought I was giving them a hard time.

Looking back, I realized that I would do a lot better if I was asking more questions about business deals that I got involved with, or purchases that I made.

[Amethyst]

At work, there were formal ratings on "Interpersonal Skills."

Some of the "traits" I listed in my post, appeared on my ratings!

I think my signature traits have been far more significant to life's progress, than any operative skills picked up along the way. Sure I have certain highly-specialized work skills, but they're not the main reason I was able to staff and run a 50-person division, or respond to simultaneous crises in a watch center.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Many posters listed personal traits as skills, but they are not the same. .

[Badger]

Only 1 that I can think of at the moment
- lasting as long as I have.

Cheers!

[ls99]

The one that beats all previous skills of mine: Figure Skating.
Doubt I will ever master it. Sure is fun getting better at it.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Now you are claiming to be Newman?

Posting unattributed quotes from movies is, I believe, (rather than being a spurious claim to ownership), an oblique, albeit acceptable, method of (perhaps not so subtle), audience memory triggering relative to an ongoing discourse.

[FI by 2024]

Research skills. It's keeping me sane amidst the ridiculousness being spouted by many in America right now.

[eytonxav]

I certainly was never the smartest, but I could offset that deficit by out working those who were (work ethic).

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Posting unattributed quotes from movies is, I believe, (rather than being a spurious claim to ownership), an oblique, albeit acceptable, method of (perhaps not so subtle), audience memory triggering relative to an ongoing discourse.

I missed the quotation marks around your original post, which were right in my face.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I missed the quotation marks around your original post, which were right in my face.

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."

William James...(The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States)

[HFWR]

I can be used as a bad example...

[H2ODude]

OK. I'll bite.

I was an engineer but did little design work as I tended to not be interested in details. I liked operating stuff instead, and ended up managing public sector utilities. Although I do recall clearly being told my first year of that direction "if someone asks you what time it is don't tell them how to build a _____ clock!" After that I honed the ability to explain fairly technical issues at a level a politician (think eighth grade level or less) could grasp, and describe the consequences of doing nothing. That and remembering the lesson that if asked any question on TV interviews to ALWAYS include your "message" in every answer you gave no matter what the question, because news never shows the reporter asking the question! At least not on local news levels.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude ... I honed the ability to explain fairly technical issues at a level a politician (think eighth grade level or less) could grasp...

I believe that if I can articulate something technical to a layman in simple terms, then I have truly understood the problem myself.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude ...remembering the lesson that if asked any question on TV interviews to ALWAYS include your "message" in every answer you gave no matter what the question, because news never shows the reporter asking the question!

Hey, that's what politicians do all the time, even if people can hear the reporter's question.

[H2ODude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Hey, that's what politicians do all the time, even if people can hear the reporter's question.

Oh God, I've been identified as a politician. I'm out onto the deck to slit my throat now with this rusty old knife.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude After that I honed the ability to explain fairly technical issues at a level a politician (think eighth grade level or less) could grasp.....

I think you are overestimating some politicians, unfortunately.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I believe that if I can articulate something technical to a layman in simple terms, then I have truly understood the problem myself.

+1
I knew a guy who could break down the most complex issues into the simplest explanations. I remember asking how he learned to do that so wonderfully. He claimed it was from teaching kindergarten.

[NW-Bound]

Most things are conceptually simple. The devil is of course in the details. And people pay me good money to work out those details.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2ODude After that I honed the ability to explain fairly technical issues at a level a politician (think eighth grade level or less) could grasp

Back, waaaay back, when I was a Telco major communications systems sales rep, I had a request from one company for clarification of a user manual, (written by engineers); I rewrote/simplified it, gave it to them, (and then worried over the weekend that I might have been too 'basic').......the following Monday their office manager told me it was 'perfect'.