Welcome to the Age of Personal Innovation

I was recently inspired by Thomas Friedman’s latest New York Times column entitled “Need a Job? Invent It.” What I believe this article tells us is that we have to become innovators of our own careers. Companies have always needed to innovate in order to stay relevant and competitive in their marketplace, but now so do people. The skills of yesterday might not be as important in five years and the technology we use today may be obsolete next year. We have to constantly evolve, adapt to new realities, be accountable for ourselves and think creatively if we want to survive. That’s why today, I would like to introduce a new concept that I think will resonate with a lot of people and become the next wave of career development. Starting today, we need to become innovators and embark in “personal innovation.” Here is how I define it:

Personal Innovation: The ability to see new opportunities where others don’t, create new positions/jobs that never existed, while undergoing continuous learning and adapting to economic change.

We can’t remain stagnant, feel secure and ignore what’s going on around us any longer. We have to constantly review the latest news, research and trends that are going on in our industries and tweak our positioning and value propositions accordingly. We have to gain new skills  – not just any skills but those that align with the demands of the economy. We have to stay educated, connected and confident despite these economic shifts and be able to come up with solutions to new problems that might not exist yet. Personal innovation is about critical thinking, problem solving and aligning your interests with the current and future market needs.

Pre-order Dan Schawbel’s highly anticipated new book,
Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success.