Have you used electricity today? Most likely you did. Although 20% of the global population, or 1.4 billion people, still lack access to electricity, odds are you used electricity in one form or another to read this post. Often overlooked by those who rely on it each day, the history of electricity demonstrates two valuable lessons for everyone to consider.

The first lesson that electricity teaches us is the value of thinking differently.  In The Element, Sir Ken Robinson writes "We need to think very differently about human resources and about how we develop them if we are to face today's challenges." 

One such example of someone who faced a challenge in his time by thinking differently is Thales of Miletus.  During the 6th century BC, this Greek philospher established the value of thinking differently when he rejected mythological explanations of natural phenomena.  As Thales observed “Nothing is more active than thought, for it travels over the universe, and nothing is stronger than necessity for all must submit to it.”

The other pre-Socratic philosophers that followed in his footsteps also attempted to provide an explanation of ultimate substance, change, and the existence of the world—without reference to mythology. "Those philosophers were also influential, and eventually Thales' rejection of mythological explanations became an essential idea for the scientific revolution."

The second lesson that electricity teaches us is the value of being a polymath. The word polymath means "having learned much" and refers to an individual who has a broad base of knowledge across many fields. 

A variety of polymaths were responsible for the creation, advancement and application of electricity throughout history. Girolamo Cardano (magnetism), William Gilbert (created word 'electricity'), Otto von Guericke (electrostatic generator), James Watt (international standard of power is named after him) and Thomas Edison (profilic inventor) are just a few examples of contributors to the field of electricity over the centuries.  Each person maintained a curious mind, a gift for life-long learning and a desire to work in various fields of interest. For example, Cardano was an Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler.

Despite some arguments for hyper-specialization today, the challenging global marketplace presents new challenges and dynamics on a daily basis and demand that professionals have a diversified skill set familiar to a polymath in order to achieve and sustain growth.

In her book The Shift: The Future of Work is Already Here Lynda Gratton writes that one of the themes driving professional development today is “for workers to keep upgrading and adapting their skills…since the pace of change will be so rapid that people may have to acquire a new expertise every few years if they want to be part of the lucrative market for scarce talent”

The September 10, 2011 edition of The Economist noted that “Globalisation and technological innovation are bringing about long-term changes in the world economy that are altering the structure of the labour market.”

To survive and thrive in today’s dynamic and ever changing environment professionals should rely on electricity to spark their need to think differently and be a polymath.

How often do you think differently and work on diversifying your skill set?