As a city, we need a plan to continuously develop our competencies better and faster than any other. To start, we need to align on the important enabling competencies and just as important, we need to agree on what we call them.
To do with this, we spent the past two years developing the Competencies for Life. The Competencies for Life are an integrated set of 25 enabling competencies anchored in six clusters. Today we will be exploring three of the six clusters, Problem Solving, Self-Reliance, and Collaboration.
Problem Solving is important because it allows you to analyze and connect the dots to solve problems, big or small. Applying problem solving competencies to real-world situations - not just essays and exams - is key to proving your value as most problems’ employers face go beyond the obvious. Problem Solving allows you to consider the past, present and future all at once and come up with new ideas to make decisions. Your ability to consider evidence and apply it to a problem is an enabling skill and you need these problem-solving competencies for everything you do.
The enabling competencies included in the Problem Solving cluster include; Analytical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Creativity, and Curiosity.
Analytical Thinking is your ability to deconstruct issues into smaller, more manageable pieces, use evidence and reasoning to identify unique relationships between concepts and weigh the costs and benefits of the alternative actions available. For example, “I consider opportunity costs when evaluating job offers, including distance, benefits, wage, and challenge.”
Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new and appropriate for the problem at hand. For example “I started a blog to share experiences and photos while staying in touch with my entire family overseas.”
Curiosity is your ability to explore a deeper meaning than what is being overtly expressed. It can lead to the expansion of social networks and learning opportunities. For example, “I engage with groups and events outside of my own circle of influence.”
Systems Thinking is your ability to evaluate the independence of discrete components of a whole, as well how these components affect the whole and vice-versa. This includes an individual’s ability to understand complex systems, enabling the ability to anticipate potential outcomes and develop approaches to influencing these outcomes. For example, “When setting up a class schedule, I consider multiple factors including course workload, travel times, prerequisites for future classes, alignment to future goals, and part-time work schedule.”
Next, the Self-Reliance cluster. Self-Reliance is important because it allows you to prevail in the face of difficulties. Self-reliance allows you to push back against obstacles or setbacks, with confidence to achieve goals and continue moving forward.
The enabling competencies included in the Self-Reliance cluster include; Taking Initiative, Determination, and Adaptability.
Being Adaptable is the ability to work well no matter the context. The contextual setting can include the culture, socio-economic conditions, organization size, industry type, culture, and team composition. For example, “After performing badly on a test, I ask the teacher questions, do the homework, and go to the after-school tutorials.”
Taking initiative is the discipline and ambition to start a task, regardless of difficulty, with limited guidance from others and be self-reliant under pressure. For example, “I go door to door cleaning cars, shovelling snow, and mowing lawns to fundraise money for a summer camp I want to attend.”
Determination includes the improvement of control in your emotional reactions to an intellectual or professional challenge. It is learning from failure and understanding how to manage obstacles in career advancement, and personal hardiness when faced with adversity. For example, “I ran my first half-marathon and could not complete it. I was committed to not fail again and trained extra hard and completed it on my second try. I am now training for a full marathon.”
Finally, the enabling competencies included in the Collaboration cluster included: Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Management, Inspire and Lead Others, Trust, and Value Relationships.
Emotional Intelligence is your ability to identify, assess and modulate one’s own feelings and understand the feelings of others. Emotional intelligence requires a mix of self-awareness and empathy towards others. For example, “I recognize a group member is struggling and offer to help them with their work to ease the strain on them.”
Conflict Management is your ability to resolve conflict or create common ground and reach a consensus when different options in an organization are considered. This competency encourages people with diverse perspectives to work together to evaluate options and resolve a shared problem. For example, “A customer is upset over the total cost of car repairs, so I provide a thorough breakdown of the invoice to help explain why.”
Inspire and Lead Others is the ability to guide others to complete a task through charisma, rank, intellect, will or experience. This includes the ability to establish a clear goal and the ability to communicate this goal to others. For example, “Instead of getting mad at a co-worker for making a mistake, I encourage them to ask questions and improve, so they feel more confident.”
Trusted is displaying consistent principles that conform with socially acceptable standards within the context of a place of employment. For example, “I was promoted at work and I am now responsible for closing the store and depositing cash in the bank.”
Value Relationships is your ability to develop and maintain relationships with individuals who may share common interests or future goals. For example, “I ask for business cards and social media information, so I have a network of professionals to reach out to.”
Visit the Competencies for Life website for more details and examples of the enabling competencies included in each cluster and how you can start developing them today. Our website includes a robust list of tools and resources to help support you in developing these competencies so we can be more adaptable in this changing economy. Some of the tools included on our website include short video videos explaining the competencies and how they are used in everyday life, quizzes to help test your knowledge and podcasts with community leaders who speak about how implementing the Competencies for Life in their own life helped shape who they are today. You can find more about Competencies for Life model and these tools at www.CompetenciesforLife.ca.
