There are important skills in any job, profession or occupation. Having the basic perception abilities of seeing and hearing, good balance, adequate sleep, appropriate body weight all matter. Traditionally, schools have emphasized reading, writing and arithmetic. These days, some skills and familiarity with computers, other connected devices and typical software such as word processing, spreadsheets and searches are often assumed.
But both the Harvard study of men's lives, explained by Richard Waldinger in his TED talk, in my blog of yesterday's link and Google's Project Aristotle found that having good people skills is more important than anything else. The famous marriage researcher, John Gottman, found that sympathizing and understanding one's partner was fundamental while expressing contempt is often associated with failed marriage. Sometimes, people ask if these skills are taught in school. Sometimes, they are an explicit part of the curriculum in any school at any level of age, maturity or expertise. But most of one's early years, say, from birth to age 10 are a continuous exercise in basic interpersonal skills.
You could say, I think, that basic skills in reading others and enjoying them and playing and working with them are part of the basic human abilities. It is certainly true that a person can lack them or even hold empathizing, commiserating, contributing to a group's efforts and such to be a waste of time or a sign of unacceptable weakness. Today's knowledge emphasizes that good relations with other people is the single strongest contributor to both personal happiness and actual longevity.
Insights of today often focus attention on the internal emotional state of an individual. Automatic fear, severely limited communication, zero expressions of appreciation of others are often tied to an internal state that can be examined and improved. If I think I am too dumb, too slow, too anything, to be worthy of contributions to the group or compliments to others, such a reflex or habit can limit my affection for and understanding of others. Prof. Tina Seelig's TED talk and her book "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" emphasizes the value of pushing the envelope and thinking outside the box. She teaches entrepreneurship. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur these days and daring, imagination and new and different approaches are indeed getting to be important skills.
But reliability, stability and enjoyment of self and others are still basic, too.
