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.
chibuike says
March 31, 2013 at 3:43 pmHey dan!
This is so creative of you to come with such thing as “personal innovation”. You’re right on point. People keep on seeking jobs while they can go back in a quite place and come out with great ideas. But obviously for an idea to become reality, one has to deal with the doubts.
Bill Connolly says
March 31, 2013 at 9:05 pmBOOM!
Andrew says
April 18, 2013 at 6:52 pmRight on Dan! There’s no such thing as ‘job security’ or any of the terms that used to be relied on. If you want to get ahead now, innovate! Get out there and make something for yourself. All successful entrepreneurs out there have started by solving a problem for people and doing it better than it has been done before.