Research
Advancing the Teaching of Soft Skills Through Third Space Thinking
By Dr. Liane Hypolite, University of Southern California
The Generative Role of Curiosity in Soft Skills Development for Contemporary VUCA Environments
Journal of Organizational Change Management
By Dr. Alison Horstmeyer
University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Third Space Thinking
Third Space Thinking: A New Pedagogy
By Dr. Liane Hypolite, University of Southern California
Leaders and key faculty from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism have conducted deep dive consultations with 75 C-suite and senior communications executives, from a broad range of industries and from Fortune 50 companies to media start-ups, to better understand the depth and breadth of challenges they’re facing. Read our white paper that further defines the scale and scope of Third Space and its core attributes.
Learn how executives applied the Third Space competencies in Walt Disney’s acquisition of Pixar in 2006.
Additional Resources
"Importance of AI for soft skills training,"
"The 5 soft skills needed to succeed in an AI-dominated workplace,"
"5 Ways to Develop Talent for an Unpredictable Future,"
"9 Best Practices to Improve Your Communication Skills and Become a More Effective Leader,"
"The Soft Skills “Debate” Is Over,"
"LinkedIn 2023 Most In-Demand Skills: Learn the skills companies need most,"
"In the Age of AI, Major in Being Human,"
"CMS cyber chief puts focus on ‘soft skills’ in the cybersecurity field,"
"I talked to 70 parents who raised highly successful adults—here’s the ‘rare’ skill they all taught their kids,"
"The Unexpected Power of Random Acts of Kindness,"
"My College Students Are Not OK,"
"Why Empathy Is Key To Effective Leadership,"
"Can video games teach people to be more empathetic? Maybe.,"
"14 Essential Steps For Building An Adaptable Business Culture,"
"Getty Foundation program aims to help emerging arts workers get a foot in the door,"
"Therapists Should Build a New Cultural Competence: ‘Onlineness’,"
"The Three Degrees of Organizational Adaptability: Minor, Medium and Macro,"
"Women Making History Today In The Ukraine War: International Women’s Day 2022,"
"Empathy, not argumentation, is how Democrats try to focus economic message,"
"10 Leadership Essentials for 2022,"
"Developing a ‘muscle of learning’ will ensure adaptability and resilience,"
"Jamie Oliver says he’s hired cultural appropriation specialists to advise on cookbooks,"
"Why Adaptability Is Crucial For Meeting Shopper Expectations,"
"Leading Through Omicron, The Great Resignation, And Other High-Impact Risks,"
"Fostering Curiosity, Self-Awareness And Authenticity In The Workplace,"
"Amid the Great Resignation, Curiosity is an Increasingly Important Skill for Employees, According to New SAS Study,"
"Creating a Diverse Board Isn’t Easy, but It’s Well Worth the Effort,"
"How Leaders Can Turn Empathy Into Action,"
"Editorial: Academic and emotional setbacks: The LAUSD kids are not all right,"
"Jobs 3.0: How You Can Prepare For The Future Of Work,"
"Soft Skills are a Hard Requirement for Organizational Success,"
"An arduous year and a half at work punctuates soft skills,"
"Future proof: Solving the ‘adaptability paradox’ for the long term,"
"The Secret to a Data Scientist’s Success Goes Beyond Technical Expertise,"
"Remember the MOOCs? After Near-Death, They’re Booming,"
"Building workforce skills at scale to thrive during- and after- the COVID 19 crisis,"
"Curiosity And Marketing Go Hand In Hand,"
"5 Essential Return-To-Work Skills For Managers This Year And Beyond,"
"4 Reasons Why Empathy in the Workplace Makes Business Sense,"
"How to Build a Culture of Adaptability,"
"HR Leaders Share 14 In-Demand Skills Employers Want In 2021,"
"Adaptability, generosity, empathy: what makes a truly great pr employer?,"
"56% of security professionals say today’s cyber workforce lacks soft skills,"
"14 Important Transferable Skills To Help Drive Sales Success,"
"Reimagining the Workforce Post Covid,"
"A publicly-accessible view of daily edtech engagement by different student groups.,"
"The Digital Disruption Of Higher-Ed Is Inevitable: Alternative Models Will Challenge Status Quo,"
"The Secret To Success For Future Leaders? Curiosity,"
"Bradshaw: Employees look for good leadership, communication skills regardless of major,"
"Why more empathy among employers is key for post-pandemic recovery,"
"Working to Learn: New Research on Connecting Education and Career,"
"Empathy And Belonging: The Gateways To A Human Workplace,"
"The Significance Of Soft Skills Development,"
"New and essential soft skills? Start here,"
"Empathy Vs. Indifference: How To Attract Opportunities And Connect With Others Authentically,"
"How the pandemic transformed some of America’s top female execs,"
"how culture can empower the next generation of female leaders,"
"Why we must deliberately embed curiosity instead of conformity,"
"Using Empathy And Emotional Intelligence To Navigate Workplace Conflict In The Covid-19 Era,"
"Google — Year In Search 2020,"
"Empathy: A New Kind Of Leadership,"
"How To Tailor Your Job Applications To The COVID-19 Economy,"
"The Importance Of Soft Skills In A Post-Pandemic World,"
"Preventing Burnout Is About Empathetic Leadership,"
"Teaching Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility in Dental Medicine,"
"The power of curiosity and critical thinking in healthcare,"
"Why Is Empathy Only Mentioned In A Crisis?,"
"These are the top non-technical skills you need to succeed in the best jobs of the future,"
"5 People Who Can Help You Strengthen Your Empathy Muscle,"
"Newsflash: Soft Skills No Longer Enhance Your Candidacy For A New Job,"
"Employers Want College Graduates With Superior Soft Skills: Adaptability, Collaboration And Entrepreneurial Mindset In Demand,"
"3 Reasons Empathy is Good for Business,"
"Uk – Third of Employers Redesigning Roles; New Focus on ‘Soft’ Skills as Pandemic Drags on,"
"A medical student couldn’t find how symptoms look on darker skin. He decided to publish a book about it.,"
"How curiosity in the contact center leads to better CX,"
"Third Space Thinking: A New Pedagogy,"
"The generative role of curiosity in soft skills development for contemporary VUCA environments,"
"5 essential skills to expand your job prospects after coronavirus,"
"Resilient and Adaptable Teams are Key to Business Success,"
"Transitioning From Founder to CEO,"
"Five Characteristics You Can Develop To Become a More Productive Leader,"
"The Importance of Soft Skills in the Healthcare Profession,"
"The Importance of “soft” Skills in Healthcare Professions,"
"4 Soft Skills That Can Backfire On You,"
"Work in the 2020s: 5 essential skills to succeed,"
"The role of curiosity in workplace automation,"
"The Skills Companies Need Most in 2020—And How to Learn Them,"
"LinkedIn: Leaders must hone soft skills for future of work,"
"So, what exactly are soft skills? USC experts have developed some parameters.,"
"How 8 Large California Districts Are Using Data to Decode Social-Emotional Learning — and Predict Students’ Academic Success,"
"The Increasing Demand for Hybrid, ‘T-Shaped’ Workers,"
"120 million workers will need retraining due to AI—but they may already have the skills employers want most,"
"Taking Leadership from Good to Great,"
"Intellectual Curiosity: 4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team,"
"LinkedIn Report: These 4 Ideas Are Shaping the Future of HR and Hiring,"
"Job Training Can Change Lives.,"
"Aspire to Lead in Industry 4.0? Hone Your Soft Skills,"
"Emotional Intelligence for Physician Leaders,"
"WHY EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS IMPORTANT IN LEADERSHIP,"
"IBM Study: The Skills Gap is Not a Myth, But Can Be Addressed with Real Solutions,"
"Putting Hard Edges on Soft Skills: The future(s) of artificial intelligence and skills in the emerging digital economy,"
"There’s Nothing Soft About These Skills,"
"Using Curiosity to Enhance Meaningfulness of Work,"
"Why Inclusive Leaders Are Good for Organizations, and How to Become One,"
"Building Empathy in Healthcare,"
"STEM Workers Need Soft Skills, Too,"
"Why the World Needs an Empathy Revolution,"
"Data Reveals Why The ‘Soft’ In ‘Soft Skills’ Is A Major Misnomer,"
"Shake Shack Founder Danny Meyer Says These Are the 6 Skills You Must Look For When Hiring (and They Can’t Be Taught),"
"Growing Talent for the 4th Industrial Revolution,"
"The Business Case for Curiosity,"
"The surprising thing Google learned about its employees — and what it means for today’s students,"
"Golden age for team players,"
"These Are the Top Skills Businesses and Job Recruiters Are Looking for Most in 2019,"
"Survey: Employers Want ‘Soft Skills’ From Graduates,"
"Forget coding. It’s the soft skills, stupid. And that’s what schools should be teaching.,"
"The Surprising Thing Google Learned about its Employees–And what it Means for Today’s Students,"
"Why soft skills are so important to the future of work,"
"Putting Lifelong Learning on the CEO agenda,"
"6 Soft Skills Technical Employees Need To Thrive,"
"Tech’s Damaging Myth of the Loner Genius Nerd,"
"In the AI Age, “Being Smart” Will Mean Something Completely Different,"
"Why Soft Kills Matter and the Top 3 You Need,"
"Why Artificial Intelligence Needs Some Emotional Intelligence,"
"Soft Skills Training Boosts Productivity,"
"Why Start Up Leaders Need to Use Third Space Thinking,"
"Hunting for Soft Skills, Companies Scoop Up English Majors,"
"Soft Skills Are Increasingly Crucial to Getting Your Dream Job,"
"Employers Find ‘Soft Skills” Like Critical Thinking in Short Supply,"
"Employers Find ‘Soft Skills’ Like Critical Thinking on Short Supply,"
"An unexpected path to business insight: Internal Communications,"
"Empathy, not Bureaucracy, Makes Organizations Great-Leadership Lessons,"
"The Power of ‘Why?’ and ‘What If?’,"
"What the Best Cross-Cultural Managers Have in Common,"
"Companies Try a New Strategy: Empathy Training,"
"What’s the Value of a Liberal Arts Education in Our 21st Century Digital Economy,"
"Job Skills Report 2016: What Recruiters Want,"
"The 5 Skills Employers Seek in Today’s Digital Economy,"
"Eight Careers Skills You Need to be Competitive in 2016,"
"Empathy is Still Lacking in the Leaders Who Need it Most,"
"The ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech’s Hottest Ticket,"
"5 Skills Employers Want that You Won’t See in a Job Ad,"
"Wrapping up Innovation for Winter 2015,"
"Reforming Engineering Education: The Changing Face of Engineering Education,"