Design

According to our current society’s standards for business and consumer goods, beautiful
and ‘aesthetically pleasing’ designs are both crucial elements of popular products. John
Bradshaw’s claims that in the future, skills as predictable as those of an attorney will become
programmed into machines, rendering the repetitive task obsolete, reinforces the notion that
design and creativity are increasingly valued in the job market. In our reading on the six senses,
Daniel Pink states that our society is so overrun with consumer goods that functionality is no
longer a question and design has risen as a necessity. Applying that logic to John’s predictions
about robots taking over human’s jobs, we can see how set of skills that cannot be replicated by
machines are becoming more and more valuable. If you can choose between a bunch of
products that functions well, you will most likely choose the one that looks the best from among
the options. This same principle can very easily be applied in the job market- if you can hire
someone who has the technical skills necessary to complete a particular job or someone with
the technical skills who can complete the job with finesse and creativity, you’re going to choose
the creative person. The knowledge that can be taught in a classroom is now a given; it has
become a requirement or an expectation, but both Bradshaw and Pink claim that the most
valuable skills, namely creativity and innovation, are becoming the most sought after skills in job
applicants, which really does, as Bradshaw put it, change the traditional view of college and its
purpose. In this day and age, if you want to get a job in the competitive business field, for
example, simply declaring yourself a business major isn’t going to cut it. I agree with this idea
and this is the same reasoning I used in determining which major I wanted to pursue. I
ultimately want to go into business and I know that the job-specific skills I need will be taught to
me after I get an offer, so what I need to do in college is distinguish myself from the rest of the
competition and prove my abilities through my creativity and knowledge of design, which I
know I will develop further in my humanities classes than I could in traditional business classes.

Symphony
As previously stated, both John Bradshaw and Daniel Pink claim that routine jobs will be
rerouted to Asia or reduced to software programs, leaving behind a demand for more creative
and innovative workers. If we believe this, then the ability to cross boundaries and make
connections between apparently unrelated subjects and disciplines is also crucial to becoming
successful in a competitive job market. As John repeatedly said, to get a good job in your
desired field, you need to get out of the classroom and gain experience in the ‘real’ world.
Connections can’t be made in a bubble; though a classroom education may help you learn how
to draw connections between historical events and works of art or literature, for example,
actually applying those skills in a business (or any other work) environment is a different skill- it
requires experience in your chosen field and understanding of the specific challenges that field
faces. I think the point John was trying to make about college is not that it’s entirely worthless,
but that it is more important for students vying for jobs in a competitive field to gain
experiences outside of the classroom and learn how to draw connections and break down
barriers in real world situations, not just in a teachers’ example. I would argue that if you keep
this in mind, then an education, specifically one in the humanities, can be very beneficial, you
just need to learn how to apply the tools you are given in class to your work.