What do you look for in a new employee?
“I look for someone who asks good questions. Our business is changing, and so the skills our engineers need change rapidly, as well. We can teach them the technical stuff. But for employees to solve problems or to learn new things, they have to know what questions to ask. And we can’t teach them how to ask good questions—how to think. The ability to ask the right questions is the single most important skill.”
What other skills are you looking for?
“I want people who can engage in good discussion—who can look me in the eye and have a give and take.”
“All of our work is done in teams. You have to know how to work well with others. But you also have to know how to engage the customer—to find out what his needs are. If you can’t engage others, then you won’t learn what you need to know.”
Clay Parker, executive at BOC Edwards (manufacturer of chemicals)
Interviewed by Tony Wagner, Harvard University
Tony Wagner's List of Survival Skills
We need to use academic content as a means of teaching the Seven Survival Skills every day—in every grade level and every class.
Tony Wagner, Harvard University