The Most Appealing Ideas Expressed by the Author
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida is full of deep and interesting insights for the contemporary audience. The major intention behind this book was to raise awareness of the social impact produced by the process of globalization that has been in place for many decades now. In particular, the author points out the changes that the globalization inflicted over the years that affected the global workforce, the professions towards which the modern employment seekers tend to gravitate, and the jobs that produce the best social and economic effects and profits.
In his book, Florida describes a segment of the global workforce that he calls creative calls. According to the author, the creative class is a growing portion of the labor force comprised of young professionals mainly. The author emphasizes that this segment is not only densely populated but also rather diverse. To be more precise, Florida maintains that the creative class includes representatives of many different career fields and is not limited to artists alone.
Apart from the art segment, this class also includes many sciences, information technology, content creation, finance, management, and leadership jobs. As a result, it is possible to make a conclusion that the creative class is a powerful community of high-performers working in various specializations who are involved in the facilitation of change in their working environments and professional fields in general.
The author specifies that one of the major issues in business today is the formation of strategies for attrition of the creative class because it is truly one of the most valuables resources. It is an interesting idea that recognizes that the contemporary skill sets valuable for a high-performing professional is very different from the ones that used to be popular several decades ago. Fortunately, there exists a large segment of people who possess such skills. The only issue is that such people require particular conditions that, in turn, face their employers with the need to adjust their workplaces, making them more flexible.
The Implications of The Ideas in the Book for Me as an Educator
Even though this book by Florida is aimed at business leaders primarily, educators can benefit from the author’s ideas as well. To be more precise, reading this book from the point of view of an educator, I learned some interesting details about the contemporary society and the kind of people that are likely to succeed and prosper in it. Specifically, it seems that the process of globalization alongside the rapid development of technologies has stimulated the growth of a unique kind of community. Namely, young people from all around the world who grew up in tech-savvy environments that fostered creativity, flexibility, and extraordinary approaches to problem-solving are becoming a demanding but also very productive and influential part of the modern workforce.
For an educator, this book is a reminder of the kind of personalities teachers have to work with on a daily basis. It is likely that the conditions that the creative class of young adults demands at work are also necessary in schools in order to boost the unique features of these individuals. In that way, recognizing the positive impact of the presence of the creative class in the modern workforce, educators can focus on its cultivation since early childhood. The book by Florida contains detailed descriptions of what the people comprising this class are like, what environment they come from, and which conditions help them develop, grow, and perform better. As a result, the advice in this book could be used by educators for the purpose of improving our practices and adjusting schools to the needs of the young generations.
The Ideas That I Challenge
In his book, Richard Florida raises a series of interesting subjects that are highly relevant to modern society – the emerging and rapidly growing creative class of workers and the changes that it brings along. This book could be used by business leaders in order to understand the young workforce better and adapt to its heavy presence in the global labor market. Businesses could benefit significantly from attracting the creative class representatives by opening their minds and welcoming the unique skill sets they possess.
However, there is one idea in this book that I would like to challenge. Richard Florida created this book as a selection of recommendations and pieces of advice for business leaders. He presents the issues related to the creative class as the concerns of businesses and industries whose major purpose is to attract the best talent. At the same time, the author overlooks another critical perspective on the issue of the creative class – its upbringing and development from children to adults.
To be more precise, discussing the rise of the creative class, the author forgets the mention of those who actually raise this class – parents, and teachers. Practically, the issue of the emergence of this powerful segment of young workers could be handled using an upstream approach engaging their families and educators in order to direct, guide, and stimulate its creative potential.