by Jamie Grant, C’98 GEd’99
…..Thanks to our friends at Sesame Street for the inspiration for today’s blog! And, it gives me a great way to introduce a career success theory that may be helpful for you no matter your level of expertise – T-Shaped Skills.
“T-Shaped Skills” as a metaphor for what is demonstrated by the most talented and successful members of an organization was first introduced in the 1980s by McKinsey & Co., then more widely espoused by Tim Brown as CEO of design firm IDEO as a way to define the ideal professional and embraced as an ideal way for leaders to think about organizational talent.
The concept is quite simple* – across the top (or stroke) of the T, you have a broad range of transferrable, boundary-spanning and arguably essential skills important for success across an entire enterprise – for example, critical and strategic thinking, creativity, problem solving, strengths in using technology; the |(or stem) of the T is your specialty area, your “subject matter expertise.”
If you’re a student or early career professional, your stem is likely your major; your T’s stroke are all of the skills and abilities you’ve honed through classes like Critical Writing Seminar and interdisciplinary general education requirements. BOTH stroke and stem are essential.
So, the next time you’re thinking about the qualities that may serve you exceptionally well as you pursue or journey along your career path, this metaphor for potential success may just be what you need to communicate all the amazing things you’ll bring to your next opportunity.
