Andrew Hofmeyr mentioned that were he given the choice to hire a B.A or a B.Com graduate, he would definitely take the B.A. In his experience, business are increasingly searching for a different kind of skill, and coming to value the qualities that a social sciences student can bring with them.
A course recently launched by UCT has shown that Mr Hofmeyr’s view is increasingly shared. Their Graduate School of Business has introduced a course that harnesses the creative arts in the development of teamwork (http://www.bizcommunity.co.za/). The course, Creative Tools for Optimising Team Performance, will use music, storytelling and the dramatic arts to enhance teams and unlock their potential. In an increasingly competitive world, the traditional management tools of analytical thinking are no longer enough. Team leaders need to be able to approach management in much more innovative ways to stay ahead of the game. By focusing on the creative arts, the course will allow people to tap into the discipline, listening, observation, and problem solving skills that importantly are utilised in the environment of creative teamwork.
The participants in the World of Work programme mostly come from a social sciences background. It’s encouraging to know that the world at large is becoming more receptive to utilising a range of creative skills in a business environment. The challenge for us, as Mr Hofmeyr spoke about, is to be able to package our skills in a way that will be attractive to businesses.
This blog reflects on life at work at comments on the latest news that shapes my 9-5 working day in a Corporate Communications consultancy.
About Me
- Susan Arthur
- I am a born and bred South African who has always loved to read and write. As a child my mother used to read to me and my siblings, from classics like the “Lord of the Rings” but later also from her own stories. She would write children’s stories and then use us as her test audience, but I loved to hear what she had written long after my siblings had tired of it. So I grew up in an environment of reading and writing, which inspired my love of these things. I hope to write a great book some day, and have learnt first hand the determination and will that it takes. My love of English inspired me to continue my study of it at university. I majored in Law and English in a BA degree at UCT where I found that I took to English much more than law. I enjoyed learning about South Africa’s history and the development of our liberal Constitution, which increasingly made me committed to the hope this country has for the future. Ideally, I’d like to find myself in a job where I am able to write; that allows a good mix of time spent with people and being able to work on my own.
Tuesday, 01 May 2007
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