Polymathy And The New World Of Work
Last month, the RSA hosted an event on ‘a new approach to a new world of work’ that ran in partnership with the LIS. The talk focused on polymathy, discussing how it will fit in the 21st Century and can be applied to education and work today. The panel was moderated by Matthew Tayler(RSA) and hosted Waqas Ahmed (DaVinci Network), Ella Saltmarshe (The Comms Lab), Georgia Gould (London Councils) and Carl Gombrich (LIS).
The discussion began with Leonardo Da Vinci, where the 500th anniversary of his death provided an opportunity to reflect not only on his life and work but also his mindset. This is more important now in the 21st Century, as we have not come across polymaths of his calibre since his death. Waqas answered the vital question as to why. When the industrial revolution occurred, it created an organisational framework and a division of labour. It can be seen that the organisation of the workforce in this manner segregated fields and disciplines, leading people down a singular path to skill development. In this case, one would become an expert in a particular area as opposed to multiple.
Ella Saltmarshe supported this point when explaining that having one singular high-level skill was better praised than having many. Nowadays, this is no longer true; the idea does not attribute to the complex real-life problems we are facing. Ed Fidoe, Founder of LIS, uses the example of Malaria, where solving the problem involves an array of disciplines and not just science. Waqas finished his talk by questioning how we are to prepare a mind to tackle multidimensional issues. A polymath is someone of “exceptional versatility who excels in seemingly unrelated fields”. It’s vital to think about polymathy today as we strive to seek self-actualisation and mastery. This can only be achieved if we allow ourselves to be a multitude of things… succeeding through polymathy.
The challenges we face today, in and out of work, are complex and need creative solutions. With this in mind, how do we teach the right skills, enabling someone to harness exponential knowledge when solving a problem? As Ella mentioned, the world of work is rapidly transforming, and 2/3 students will get jobs that do not yet exist. There is an economic push that someone will need many skills to have multiple tasks within their role at work. There is also the need for a different approach to tackle the current problems we are facing.
The conversation continued to Georgia Goulds, who works on bringing STEAM agendas in schools. She focuses on making innovation and platforms accessible, providing a connection between communities to pioneer institutions. Inclusion and accessibility are a key focus point, ensuring that young people all get the same opportunity to grow and develop new skills.
Carl concluded the panel by discussing why the notions of expertise and education are now being challenged. While skills still need to be developed and learned, it is now also about combining existing disciplines in new ways. Carl mentioned how we could better structure the world of education to face challenges and solve problems in an interdisciplinary way. This is where the curriculum at the LIS comes in. They have designed their course based on merging vastly different skills to teach methods, concepts and disciplines. This is so that when you graduate, you are equipped with knowledge and skills from the arts, sciences, and humanities to face the new world of work.
Technology’s influence on the need for a new approach to the new world of work did not make its way into the conversation. However, one of the main reasons for 2/3 students going into unknown roles is because technology continuously shapes and transforms the future of work. Reviewing the need for new approaches should consider the way knowledge will be supported by technology and vice versa. Although polymathy and technology are highly compatible, there is a need to understand how learning should continuously adapt to future worlds of work. Schools like the LIS have a great approach to this dilemma. It brings learning and teaching forward with an interdisciplinary approach, where students gain the ability to think from the perspective of the problem and not to focus on only one area of the solution.
