Maldives is seeing drifting away from the conventional company cultures to the more modern organisational structures. Worldwide, start-ups are growing at an unprecedented rate. Companies are scoping challenges that have never been done before. Maldives recently saw its first ever hot air balloon festival as well as the first travel trade show (TTM). Smart individuals are required to plan and execute such challenging tasks. Although organisations may differ on this matter it really is a matter of being street smart or book smart or even both at times.
Scott Berkun, award winning creativity publisher and speaker describes being street smart as having situational awareness. Someone who is able to assess the environment he or she is in, who is in it, being able to trust his or her own judgment. Being street smart often comes from experience. In a recent interview with Corporate Maldives, High rise Director of Marketing Ismail Hameed mentioned the challenges and hard work involved in working in the events industry. They have been at the forefront of attracting risk takers into the firm that often comes from experience and the desire to achieve a bigger goal.
Scott described being book smart as someone who is good at following rules. They often get straight A’s, sit in the front, adapt themselves to singular answers, and most importantly, they like to believe that the volume, precision of their knowledge can somehow compensate for their lack of experience applying it in the real world. Mr Hassan Manik, Managing Director of the Maldives Stock Exchange said that the young company required plenty of theoretical financial expertise as well as exchanging of views from regional and global partners in order to revolutionise the financial industry of Maldives.
On an organisational level, this might be an on going debate. To put things into perspective more than 95% of the average global job seeker has at least bachelor’s degree, while more companies are seeking experienced labour. A fancy certification could get an individual into a company, but to really survive and make it depends on the instinct of knowing what works and what doesn’t, and adapt accordingly. We believe that there is no doubt in our mind that street smart outlasts book smart in every way.
Descriptive sourcing :Scott Berkun
