Careers: A New Form of Illiteracy

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

I ran across this quote from Alvin Toffler the other day; he of the mega-sellers Future Shock and The Third Wave (and now, Revolutionary Wealth). I think it speaks volumes to career seekers and all those young leaders-in-the-wings that will soon be running our corporations, churches, civic organizations and other associations - and to the educators that will be preparing them.

Consider the globalizing impact of the "death of distance"- all those communication technologies; the easier travel access to far-flung places; the lowering trade barriers which promulgate greater exchange of goodies across our borders. It follows to reason that not only industries, but practices, philosophies and "truths" which were taken for granted are constantly getting rearranged and even discarded.

Thus we find, for example, marketers having to understand global finance and "cross-cultural consumer psychology"; we find teachers having to learn the technical nuances of eLearning ("Distance Learning") and virtual classrooms; we find history majors (such as digital historians) needing to master cyberspace; and graphic design; we find architects forced to bone up on "permaculture" disciplines such as botany and environmental science (so that their overall grounds design meets Green /sustainability standards); and, we find retail chains delving into meteorology - by hiring retail climatologists - so that inventory is in the right place when seasonality-sensitive shoppers show up (or not).

Or...factory workers who spent a decade learning hands on Just-in-Time ("JIT") manufacturing techniques now cramming to understand "invisible" CRM (Customer Relationship Management) processes; or French language majors playing catchup with Mandarin Chinese, Russian or Arabic. Oh, and how many former realtors or mortgage professionals are learning to hang new shingles now that the myth of the "buy a McMansion for nothing down" bubble has dissipated?

World literacy tripled in the last century, from about 25% in 1900 to 75% in 2000. In industrial democracies such as the U.S., Western Europe and Japan, literacy exceeds 98%. Yet I wonder, as emerging countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia and others aggressively compete in "our" (formerly) playing field, will we have the fortitude - institutionally and personally - to commit to "change as the only constant"?