I am announcing a release of a new book: Skills Based Approach, a significantly revised version of A Skills Based Approach to Developing a Career released in 2013. There are many reasons for the revision:
First, there are all new graphics, updated references and quotes, and edited a few typos.
I added new chapters, such as ones on micro-credentialing and taking a scientific approach to mapping skills to learning and jobs. There is also a chapter on how the methodology works with many of the new learning trends.
Never hesitated in my work with skills, altogether investing more than 10 years in the medium of skills. Since the release of the book in 2013, I remained focused on skills in other platforms and applications:
I designed and created Skills Label TM, a system to manage and track skills released in 2016 and currently under review at the USPTO.
Around the same time, I started Skills Culture SM, a community to represent a growth mindset to learning. The blog received more than 70,000 views the last couple years.
In the new book, I describe how introducing these complimentary applications support Skills Based Approach and deepened my perspective in using skills. This simple equation shows how they work together:
Skills Based Approach (methodology) + Skills Label (system) + Skills Culture (mindset) = platform for lifelong learning
I made quite a few suggestions and predications in the 2013 book. In the new book, I highlight ones that hit the mark. For example, I proposed creating a standard representation of skills across industries and education institutions – there are large open source databases introduced recently.
What spurred me to update the book is all the relevancy of the methodology. There are numerous skills and workforce development initiatives. Many of them started gaining traction in response to the two Skills Gaps, some of them are in response to the COVID crisis to get workers back to work.
Finally, practitioners and workforce organizations are thinking in skills to move forward in education, higher education, and career preparedness. Skills Based Approach methodology is effective in all these areas. The advantage of Skills Based Approach is simplicity. Easy for all parties to understand the stages and the mechanics and goals of the stages: tasks, objectives, platforms, and credentials.
The book is a practical guide for high school and college students, great for education and career planning. The paperback is actually $7 dollars cheaper. Get yours on Amazon $19.45 for the paperback and $4.19 on kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/Skills-Based-Approach-Methodology-Lifelong/dp/B08CPJJXCN