HSX Home > About the HSX > Human Skills Defined
Literacies

Skill Descriptions
The following are definitions of the skills included in the HSX.
- Critical thinking – objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment (www.Lexico.com)
- Creativity – use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness (www.Lexico.com)
- Entrepreneurship – ability to identify marketplace opportunities and discover the most appropriate ways and time to capitalize on them (www.cleverism.com/skills-and-tools/entrepreneurial-thinking/)
- Ethics – use of moral principles to guide thinking; characterized by consideration of the (1) benefits and harms each course of action may produce; (2) moral rights of affected parties, and course of action that respects those rights; (3) course of action that does not show favoritism or discrimination without justifiable reason; (4) course of action that advances the common good (www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/thinking-eth...)
- Systems thinking – ability to focus on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems (searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/systems-thinking)
- Comfort with ambiguity – tolerates or at ease with inexactness; open to more than one interpretation (www.Lexico.com)
- Growth mindset – belief that one’s basic abilities can be improved through dedication and hard work; that brains and talent are just the starting point (Mindset: The new psychology of success by Carol Dweck, 2007)
- Communication – ability to convey or share ideas and feelings effectively through verbal and non-verbal exchange; includes listening as well as speaking (www.Lexico.com)
- Collaboration – ability to work with another individual or group to reach a common goal
- Empathy – ability to indicate that others' feelings about issues are understood, and either take, or help them to take, action to resolve the problem (www.inc.com/justin-bariso/there-are-actually-3-types-of-empathy-heres-ho...)
- Negotiation – ability to discuss and resolve an issue in a way that both parties find acceptable (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/negotiation.asp)
- Relationship-curation – pursue and maintain contacts with those who have common interests or goals
- Self-awareness – conscious knowledge of one's own character and feelings (www.Lexico.com)
- Accountability – an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one's actions (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability)
- Adaptability – ability to adjust to new conditions (www.Lexico.com)
- Planning/Organization – ability to set goals, outline and prioritize activities to meet those goals, and create a schedule for meeting them (Effective Planning and Time Management by Vivek Bindra, 2015)
- Persistence – exert continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perseverance)
- Professionalism – dress, speech, and behavior reflective of appropriate workplace norms and respect for peers
- Initiative – willingness to assess and get things done without being told what to do
- Integrity – doing the right thing in a reliable way; honest and having strong moral principles that do not change (www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/integrity)
- Strategic vision – process in which images of future goals, objectives, and outcomes are made real and persuasive to serve as motivators for the present action (www.businessdictionary.com/definition/visioning.html)
- Empowerment of others – actions intended to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities to enable them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empowerment)
- Project management – ability to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close the work of a team to achieve specific goals, and meet specific success criteria at a specified time (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management)
- Performance management – ability to ensure that set of activities and outputs meets an organization's goals in an effective and efficient manner; can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, an employee, or the processes in place to manage particular tasks (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_management)
Literacies
- Digital literacy – ability to find, evaluate, and compose clear information through writing and other mediums on various digital platforms (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_literacy)
- Civic and Cultural literacy – knowledge of how to actively participate and initiate change in one’s community and the greater society (libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/civicliteracy); ability to understand and participate fluently in a given culture (www.definitions.net/definition/cultural+literacy)
- Financial literacy – knowledge and skills that allow an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_literacy)
- Organizational literacy – knowledge of how things get done within an organization – power or control, communication channels, and proper procedure