Bill Drayton on Today's Most Critical Problem-Solving Skills

Story bubbles on world map
Source: Ashoka

Ashoka's Bill Drayton talked to the solution journalism site Dowser about empathy and collaborative entrepreneurship, each a "gigantic breakthrough" that is accelerating the work of changemakers. These two skills, Drayton believes, are essential to social change and must be mastered by anyone who wants to make an impact on today's world; without them, you're limiting your opportunities to contribute to society, and are at risk of being left behind.

"The rate of change is increasing exponentially in the world,” Drayton notes. “It used to be that if you mastered a body of rules, you could apply the rules and be a productive person.  But that doesn’t work anymore.  Rules work less and less.

“Rather, every child must master empathy. And anyone who hasn’t mastered empathy will not be helpful in this new world."

Check out Drayton's interview with Dowser