Education now, and why I expect my courses and book to make history

April 4, 2017 by Joshua
in Education

100 years ago, in education it was important to learn to produce physically—to work in a factory, on a farm, etc. People could succeed in life by becoming manual laborers.

50 years ago it was important to know things, to process information. People could succeed by becoming knowledge workers. You could still learn manual labor, but you’d end up working for knowledge workers.

Today, machines and computers are better in both of those domains—physical labor and processing information. Where they aren’t, they’re closing in.

But people still need food, protection from the elements, and other goods and services. You still need to give the economy reasons to distribute what you need to live to you.

The needs of the next decades are to show that you belong as part of a community—in other words, to practice the social and emotional skills that make people want you around. These skills include things like identifying and solving problems, creating teams and leading them, and creating meaning and value for yourself and others.

My courses teach those things beyond what I’ve seen any other course do. That’s why students and clients give testimonials like

“This is one of the greatest classes I have ever taken. It was engaging, thought provoking, challenging, and fun. Josh is an incredible teacher, mentor, and friend to everyone in the class who is passionate about the subject matter. If I could take this class all over again, I would”

and gurus like Marshall Goldsmith say things like

“His insight to give a progression of exercises to practice is a once-in-a-lifetime game-changing advance in our field everyone else will follow. It’s better than business school courses.

You can still learn intellectual skills and be a knowledge worker, but you’ll end up working for people with social and emotional skills, who will enjoy their lives more. I’m not sure what purely manual labor skills will get you.

I expect other educators will learn to teach the skills of tomorrow. I believe my book will help that transition.

If you’re looking to work in the future, I recommend my courses and book, and not traditional, lecture-based, compliance-based education.

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