Back to Basics

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Back to Basics

Several years ago in the United Kingdom leaders from business, education, and government joined together to determine the “key skills” necessary for success in business and post graduate education. They came up with 4 key skills as the foundation for future success. These skills are the ability to work with numbers (basic finance and accounting), problem solving, working well with others, and improving one’s own learning and performance. In fact they started programs in the secondary school system to make sure these skills are being taught to all students. Many organizations also began teaching these skills and offering competency testing for the skills.


Compare these skills with what is typically thought to be necessary for success in business in the United States . These skills often include decision making, organization, delegation, negotiation, finance, project management, and communication. Several other experts including Kirk Cheyfetz, author of “Thinking Inside The Box” believe you must also add goal setting and customer service. One major difference is that we do not require our secondary or post secondary students to learn these skills.


The U.S. and U.K. skill sets do not really differ that much. Many of the skills in the U.S. version can be lumped into the category or working well with others (i.e. negotiation, delegation, communication, and project management). Both see the need for basic finance and accounting as well as problem solving. The big difference surfaces in the need to continuously improve one’s learning and performance. We do not often enough encourage the small business owner or entrepreneur to have life long learning as one of their goals. In fact Michael Gerber, Paul Lemburg and many other business experts encourage the business owner to hire the appropriate talent for the skill set needed. Their premise is we can not be experts in all areas of business and therefore we should focus on our strengths.

One caution is that the business owner needs to know enough of each basic skill to make decisions in the best interest of the business and avoid the pitfall of being taken advantage of. It is important to understand your costs, revenues and profits. Equally important is your ability to communicate effectively with both customers and employees. Finally you must be able to respond quickly to resolve problems that arise in your business. Whether you decide to learn the skills necessary for success or surround yourself with people who have the expertise you may lack, always keep your goals focused on success.