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Study material - 21st-century skills identified by the World Health Organization

Overview

The World Health Organization identified ten 21st-century skills (also known as Life skills) in 1993. They expected all schools across the world to teach these important skills.

They defined these skills as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”.

These ten skills are - 

• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Creative thinking and critical thinking
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Self-awareness and empathy
• Coping with emotions and coping with stress

When planning to study these skills, I had to struggle to find proper reading material in one place. Also, I found that most of the material was for school children (examples - UGC, CASEL).

So I decided to create one for my professional friends. 

In the process of learning and creating this study material, I had the opportunity to study over 250 articles, blogs, talks and books… (links to these are provided in annexure).

This study material is organized in the following manner -  Principles, Process, Techniques, TED Talks, Books, Movies, Stories from mythology.

My firm belief is that regular reading/ practicing these skills will -

• Build a robust mind to face life’s challenges with ease
• Accelerate career growth
• Open new possibilities that will ‘surprise' us

My best wishes for your life’s ‘well-being’ journey.

Skill 1 - Decision-making

Definition - Decision-making is the ability to use a decision making process/ technique to arrive at a decision

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	निर्णय घेण्याची क्षमता (Decision-making skill)

Skill 2 - Problem-solving

Definition - Problem-solving skill is the ability to determine the source of a problem and find an effective solution

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	समस्या सोडवण्याची क्षमता (Problem-solving skill)

Skill 3 - Creative thinking

Definition - Creative thinking skill is the ability to look at things differently, and find new ways of solving problems

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	सर्जनशीलता (Creative Thinking skill)

Skill 4 - Critical thinking

Definition - Critical thinking skill is the ability to think in an organized and rational manner in order to understand connections between ideas and/or facts

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	चिकित्सक विचार करण्याची क्षमता (Critical Thinking skill)

Skill 5 - Communication skill

Definition - Communication skill is the ability to effectively give and receive information to effectively inform, express feelings, influence or to meet social expectations

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	संवादक्षमता (Communication skill)

Skill 6 - Interpersonal skill

Definition - Interpersonal skill is the ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions. The subskills under this umbrella are negotiation, conflict management, assertiveness, refusal, influencing/ persuasion, networking and motivation skills

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	Youtube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	भावनिक संपर्क क्षमता (Interpersonal skill)

Skill 7 -Self awareness

Definition - Self awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	Youtube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	स्वची जाणीव (Self-awareness skill)

Skill 8 - Empathy

Definition - Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	सहानुभूती, संवेदनशीलता, हमदर्दी (Empathy)

Skill 9 - Coping with emotions

Definition - Coping with emotions the ability to understand the patterns of emotions and our responses to emotions; and taking corrective and preventive actions

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	भावनांचा वाटाड्या (Coping with emotions)

Skill 10 - Coping with stress

Definition - Coping with stress is the ability to use mental, emotional, or behavioral strategies to manage and reduce the negative effects of stress

Particulars	Links
Articles published as part of the 66-Day Challenge	Principles Process Techniques TED Talks Books Movies Stories from mythology
Audiobook created as gift for an uncle who had lost eyesight (collaborated effort by nearly 100 of us relatives)	YouTube
Facebook posts as part of the 100-Day Challenge (Marathi)	तणावशी दोन हात (Coping with stress)

Annexure 1 - Definitions

Decision-making skill is the ability to use a decision making process/ technique to arrive at a decision

Problem-solving skill is the ability to determine the source of a problem and find an effective solution

Creative thinking skill is the ability to look at things differently, and find new ways of solving problems

Critical thinking skill is the ability to think in an organized and rational manner in order to understand connections between ideas and/or facts

Communication skill is the ability to effectively give and receive information to effectively inform, express feelings, influence or to meet social expectations

Interpersonal skill is the ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions. The subskills under this umbrella are negotiation, conflict management, assertiveness, refusal, influencing/ persuasion, networking and motivation skills

Self awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Coping with emotions is the ability to understand the patterns of emotions and our responses to emotions; and taking corrective and preventive actions

Coping with stress is the ability to use mental, emotional, or behavioral strategies to manage and reduce the negative effects of stress

Annexure 2 - My life-skills calendar

My life-skills calendar is created based on the following criteria - 

• The calendar should have some daily, weekly and fortnightly tasks
• The tasks should touch as many aspects of well-being (viz. Emotional, Physical, Occupational, Social, Spiritual, Intellectual, Environmental and Financial well-being) as possible
• I should create some time for my projects (studying and creating study material) viz. The art and science of happiness, life-skills, management tools, theory of multiple intelligences, lateral thinking, UNO’s SDGs, Mr Ten’s Gym, Appreciative Inquiry, Staff management etc.

Annexure 3 - Links to the resource material

I am grateful to all those listed below who have enriched us - 

Decision-making skill

1. How to Make Decisions
2. Different decision-making techniques
3. The Effective Decision - Peter Drucker
4. Decision Tree Examples
5. The chaos during decision making
6. Tools for thought
7. Don Sahong hydropower project, Cambodia
8. Four Pests Campaign
9. The Hindenburg mishap
10. Berlin Conference 1884
11. 3 ways to make better decisions — by thinking like a computer
12. A Primer on Foraging and the Explore/Exploit Trade-Off
13. The 37% Rule
14. The Secretary problem
15. Knowing When to Stop
16. How to make hard choices
17. Martha Stewart’s questions
18. Book reviews - Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, The Best Books on Decision-Making, The 10 Best Books for Better Decision-Making 
19. Why CEOs should watch 12 Angry Men
20. 4 decision-making lessons from Captain Sully
21. Stories from mythology - The judgement of Paris, Dasharatha’s dilemma 

Problem-solving skills

1. Quality improvement fundamentals
2. 5 Whys analysis
3. The 5 Whys process
4. 5 Whys example - the best and the worst examples
5. Design thinking
6. 15 Times Design Thinking Re-Imagined Our World!
7. Philippe Starck on democratic design
8. Design Thinking 101
9. Charles and Ray
10. IDEO Design Thinking - Journey to mastery
11. All you wanted to know about Fishbone
12. Writes’ 5M model
13. McCarthy’s 4P model
14. Six Sigma Tools - Fishbone Analysis
15. Some Fishbone diagrams
16. Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast
17. Would you sacrifice one person to save five?
18. Ethics of Aristotle
19. Who Decides the Ethics of Self-Driving Cars?
20. Top 5 books on problem-solving
21. Summary of Problem Solving 101
22. Book review of - The Art of Thinking Clearly
23. Chauffeur Knowledge
24. Behavioural Economic Theory — The Sunk Cost Fallacy
25. How to Change Your Own Mind When It’s the Right Thing to Do
26. The 10 warped lessons from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory
27. Rudy’s role model traits
28. What was the Gordian knot?
29. The Gordian Knot & its leadership lessons

Creative thinking skill

1. 8 creative thinking techniques and tools
2. Mind mapping
3. The Phoenix checklist
4. Six Thinking Hats
5. How the CIA Defines Problems and Plans Solutions: The Phoenix Checklist
6. Picture Association
7. Random Word Generator
8. Other people’s view
9. Creativity and walking - Get Up and Go Out
10. Creative Thinking Techniques
11. Iconstorming for visual practitioners
12. The morphological matrix
13. How to use Morphological Matrix
14. For a more creative brain - follow these 5 steps
15. A technique for producing ideas
16. Mansukhbhai Jagani’s story
17. Forbes' list of 7 powerful rural Indians
18. Peter Ueberroth’s story
19. Want to be more creative? Go for a walk
20. The surprising habits of original thinkers
21. The Alternative Uses Test
22. Creativity and Creative Problem Solving Tests
23. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking
24. 15 Best Books on Coming Up With Genius Ideas
25. Beyond Competition to Sur-Petition
26. August book review- Creativity: Flow and The Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
27. Summary of sur/petition
28. The learning from the series - ‘Abstract’
29. 7 Lessons In Creativity From The Movie “The Imitation Game”
30. Hephaestus
31. Hephaestus in Greek Mythology
32. Hephaestus and how brokenness contributes to creativity
33. Hephaestus: The God of Design & Creativity
34. How to Train Your Brain to Think Fast and Think Smart
35. Thinking on your feet
36. Speed-thinking

Critical thinking skill

1. 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking
2. 15 Logical Fallacies You Should Know Before Getting Into a Debate
3. De Bono speech on critical thinking
4. The Six Hats of Critical Thinking and How to Use Them
5. How to solve problems using six thinking hats
6. The Six Types of Socratic Questions
7. Critical thinking handbook
8. Encourage critical thinking with 3 questions
9. This is what it’s like to go undercover in North Korea
10. ‘Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea's Elite
11. Why do people join cults?
12. Weaponized Lies
13. Summary of the book - Weaponized Lies
14. Summary of the book - Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking
15. Teaching with Girl Boxer
16. Teachers Look to Film to Foster Critical Thinking
17. Meet The Women Behind The Documentary ‘With This Ring’
18. Teachers Look to Film to Foster Critical Thinking
19. The boy who cried warming
20. Prashnopanishad
21. Questions that inspire India
22. Pippalada's answers to the unanswered questions
23. The Science of Prashna Upanishad
24. The questions that Buddha declined to answer

Communication skill

1. 5 Ways to Build Your Personal Brand Every Time You Speak
2. 3 Simple Frameworks to Give Effective Feedback
3. The McKinsey model
4. The Stanford method
5. Pixar’s top 6 Rules of Great Storytelling
6. Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling
7. 7 Basic Story Types and Why They Matter to Your Marketing
8. The 100 stories that shaped the world
9. The Element of Surprise: A Storyteller’s Secret Weapon
10. Importance Of Storytelling For Children In Today's Digital World
11. How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it)
12. Transmission models
13. The importance of emotional tone in the digital age
14. Behavioural analytics
15. Personalization
16. Top 10 Books On How to Improve Effective Communication Skills
17. Top 5 Business Storytelling Books
18. Skill with people
19. The mastermind within
20. Made to stick
21. Notes on made to stick
22. What is Hubris?
23. Hurtful communication
24. Steve Jobs' response when faced with hubris

Interpersonal skill

1. Games People Play
2. Psychology games an employee plays
3. How to Express Feelings... and How Not To
4. Negotiation tactics
5. 5 methods of principled negotiation
6. The BATNA steps
7. Some good BATNAs to use as a buyer
8. Programme on Negotiation
9. How motivation can fix public systems
10. The secret to giving great feedback
11. Difference between influencing and persuasion
12. The 7 Best Books To Improve Influencing Skills
13. Influence without Authority
14. Summary of - Influence without Authority
15. Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Makes Us Influential
16. Summary of Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Makes Us Influential
17. 5 TED Talks That'll Make You More Persuasive
18. Lord Krishna – Role model of an effective negotiator
19. Not a Needle Point of Territory
20. Calliope: Muse of Eloquence

Self-awareness skill

1. What Is Self-Awareness and Why Is It Important?
2. Are you self-aware?
3. How Self-Efficacy Changes Your Self-Confidence
4. Self-Efficacy
5. How to Deal With It Imposter syndrome
6. What Is Imposter Syndrome?
7. How To Journal For Self-Awareness
8. 59 Journaling Ideas: What to Write About in a Daily Journal
9. Keeping a Daily Journal Can Give You Tremendous Power
10. How To Write In Your Journal To Improve Yourself and Achieve Your Goals
11. Writing a daily journal
12. The power of vulnerability
13. Should you live for your résumé or eulogy?
14. Book summary - “Insight: Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life”
15. Book summary - StrengthsFinder 2.0
16. Smultronställe—a hidden secret place
17. Film review “Wild Strawberries” - Ingmar Bergman (1957)
18. Psychoanalytic Notes on Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries
19. Making of Wild strawberries
20. Breaking down Bergman
21. Ingmar Bergman on 'Wild Strawberries'
22. Film Review - Ship of Theseus
23. Platonic Allegory of the cave
24. Thomas Hobbes’ twist to Plutarch paradox
25. The Flight of Icarus
26. Self-Awareness is the first step to spiritual awareness

Empathy

1. 5 People Who Changed the World By Taking Compassion to the Extreme
2. Six Habits of Highly Empathic People
3. How brands are using empathy to enhance marketing
4. Thank you mom
5. ‘Can you make it to the end?’
6. ‘Real Beauty’ campaign by Dove
7. Difference between Emotional Intelligence and Empathy
8. Types of Unempathetic People
9. Trash cart Superheroes
10. Compassion and the true meaning of empathy
11. 7 Books That Will Help You Develop More Empathy
12. Well-Designed: How to Use How to Use Empathy to Create Products People Love
13. Speed Summary: Well Designed
14. The importance of ethnographic research in product design
15. When and How to Use Ethnographic Research
16. Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy
17. 15 movies that teach empathy and compassion
18. Culture Shock Lessons from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
19. 5 Life lessons to learn from Greek mythology

Coping with emotions

1. The Emotion Wheel: What It Is and How to Use It
2. Ways to cope with emotions
3. Chakra Therapy
4. Balance Your Chakras and Create Higher Self-Esteem
5. The Biology of the Chakras and the Vagus Nerve
6. Vagus nerve
7. The 7 Chakras – A Guide about their Attributes, Strengths and weaknesses, related yoga postures
8. 1-Minute Mindfulness Exercises
9. Career as a Radio Jockey
10. The gift and power of emotional courage
11. Why we all need to practice emotional first aid
12. How to distract yourself from loneliness
13. 12 Must-Read Books That Will Raise Your Emotional Intelligence
14. The Book of Human Emotions
15. The Best Books on Emotions
16. Emotional Intelligence 2.0
17. Book Review: Emotional Intelligence 2.0
18. EQ
19. Total Life Counseling
20. Identify emotions
21. Accept emotions and not repress them
22. Express emotions correctly
23. Regulate emotions
24. The Iliad and what it can still tell us about war
25. Achilles by Britannica
26. The story of Dhruv
27. Character analysis of Achilles

Coping with stress

1. Reminiscences of Hans Selye, and the Birth of “Stress”
2. Inspirational story about stress and stress management
3. Carpenter and his worry tree
4. Common symptoms of stress
5. Main causes of workplace stress
6. Holmes-Rahe stress inventory
7. Career workout
8. What’s the difference between anxiety and stress?
9. Stress vs Anxiety: How to Tell the Difference
10. The Real Difference Between Stress & Anxiety
11. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
12. All it takes is ten mindful minutes
13. Ultimate anti-stress weapon called 365-method
14. How to make stress your friend
15. 16 Best Stress Management Books for 2020
16. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
17. Book summary of ‘Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers’
18. Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress
19. Ten moments that made us fall in love with ‘Amélie’
20. Stress management guide
21. Review of the movie Destressed
22. Ashtavakra – the Self-Realised Saint
23. Janaka and Ashtavakra: A Journey Beyond
24. Death anxiety. The worm at the core of mental health
25. Psychology Analysis: The Epic of Gilgamesh
26. The Epic of Gilgamesh