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The youth of today need these four 21st century skills to succeed in entrepreneurship and life in general

The youth of today need these four 21st century skills to succeed in entrepreneurship and life in general

Critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity are key to success, but how well are we fostering these skills, particularly in Vietnam?

“Talent, you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.” — Will Smith

I have been traveling around Asia to share my experience, idea, skills and mentoring many young startups. I have been asked many times which skills need to be developed and how to obtain them. As the world is changing so fast, technologies like AI, IoT, and robotics will soon take over many current jobs.

What should the youth do to prepare?

We clearly foresee that entrepreneurship acts as our central comparative advantage. Nothing else can give us the necessary leverage to become an economic superpower sustainably. It is undeniable that the need of 4Cs including Critical thinking (and problem-solving), Communication, Collaboration and Creativity as integral in the global society.

1. Critical thinking

In fact, a person cannot learn well without thinking well. As I know, graduates in Vietnam specifically or Asia in general are lacking in autonomous learning, whereas researching and marshalling are foundation courses of educational system in international colleges and universities.

International schoolchildren learn to filter out unnecessary information and choose the reliable ones. Yet Vietnamese youth do not have this important skills because of what can be perceived as lazinesses in exploring and thinking leading to being unable to absorb pertinent knowledge and gain fulfillment after graduation. They complain that the Internet-based references are unreliable and misleading. And the reason is that they do not sift data or even estimate resources they had.

In addition, they figure out a problem with irrelevant questions — akin to insufficiently thinking well before asking. The process of making such inquisition helps you to deeply understand to problematic aspects that you endure. You want to exercise critical thinking. Ask the questions whenever you discover or discuss new information. Let us start with 5W1H: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Such questions regulate your decisions. I am definitely disappointed at those who are not able to make decisions. Even it fails or you make a mistake or fall short of a goal, you have not failed — rather, you have learned.

2. Communication

The ability to communicate effectively means that you communicate what think and feel. You are going to convey clearly a message and inspire someone to do better — good communication helps you to do it.

Also read: Inspiring happiness through innovation, creating value through collaboration

There are several ways to communicate well among individuals throughout face-to-face conversation, digital channels, or teamwork. People who get involved in a casual conversation will not grasp your thoughts or ideas properly unless you make an effort to practice communicative skills on a daily basis. In each case, you have to learn how to share information, how to present in public, and how to make a request effectively and efficiently.

You sometimes make the same mistakes when you demonstrate excessive information, or you explain ambiguously with unfamiliar words. If you ramble on, your listeners will either tune you out or will be unsure of exactly what you want. Good communication means saying just enough – don’t talk too much or too little. Try to convey your message in as few words as possible. Say what you want clearly and directly.

3. Collaboration

In the 21st century, collaboration is of significant importance among community. We are now living in a diverse society where people from different backgrounds, cultures and nationalities work together.

We tend to integrate ourselves into this community to achieve a defined and certain purpose in the global society. Therefore, Vietnamese youth should learn collaborative skills in order to work effectively with a particular group of people and lifestyles. You should learn interactive methods and empathy while working in a team to get a higher level of productivity, to share responsibility instead of devolving it to others.

I feel that Vietnamese people are inadequate in these skills, since many are afraid of taking responsibilities and in endeavoring to gain results. They have a preference for being secure and unwilling to take risks. Personally, I properly appreciate those who dare to change and shoulder different duties that let individuals lead and thrive in their organisations. I consider such people to be inspiring leaders, and I always advocate them to become more active in the community.

4. Creativity

Having creative skills is to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing.

Of course, critical thinking can support people to master creative skills. If you have ideas but do not act on them, you are imaginative but not creative. However, Vietnamese citizens, particularly young people, are not accustomed to innovation. They might be wounded when they demonstrate different ideas from others and get negative judgement. A judgment is just an opinion of someone else, and you should not mind to limit your ability.

Also read: Working for a millennial CEO taught me how to be confident, brave, and a little bit crazy

It could be a cultural quirk of Vietnamese people to be unreceptive of change or something new. Some might want to speak up, but they keep silence. Some might want to debut their products and ideas to the public but they do not, and then still remain living in imaginative world instead of a creative one. It is not alive. It is a glimmer. Get your ambition — which means to stretch on your own way and be creative in order to compete internationally.

Conclusion

I hope these 4 Cs can enlighten those who are still get stuck in common issues in my country. When the young generation acknowledges the need for these 4Cs and master these skills, we can surely expect prosperity in Vietnam.

Are you contributing enough to be a pivotal part of this development?

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