How many of us really invest in ourselves - for our tomorrow, for day after and day day after...? I have been asking this question for quite sometime to my colleagues - most of them are highly educated and talented people. Some of them are from most premier institutes of the country -India. Some of them have good experience in Information Technology Industry. Few of them are rated highly within the organization.
No surprise, answer to my question is a big silence! And this is a typical scenario in every other organization. Though we are in knowledge economy but bulk of the knowledge workers don't invest in enhancing their knowledge for tomorrow. Organizations today spent a good amount of money in learning and people development programs but 100% (correct me if I am wrong) of these programs are for enhancing employees tool specific skills. Essentially, addressing the urgent needs of the organization and NOT the important needs - talent development for tomorrow. And I don't think this situation will change primarily due to the fact that Organization wants ROI quickly and particularly in IT industry the life span of employees are not long. So what is the solution? Most of you would agree that we need to invest in ourselves for our future but question is how and probably the bigger question is where? I believe "how" part is relatively simple to handle, problem is where.
Where to Invest : To address where to invest we need to understand what a knowledge worker does on day to day basis. The answer is quick and simple - Solve Business Problems. And, fundamentally our education systems focus is also on this subject - develop individual talents in problem solving.
