The next great skillset for geeks may not be XML, JavaOne, or improvements to Search. Instead, the next great skillset for geeks is likely to be improved intereractions with other people, the ability to tell compelling stories about what they're coding and why, or making their work and its results more playful, not less.

In short, just as many of us have suspected for a while, it will become as much as much (or more) about the soft skills as it is about the hard technical skills. And Daniel Pink of Free Agent Nation has the hard numbers to prove it in his book, A Whole New Mind.

If you haven't read it yet, it's worth perusing. For those who struggle spending time on a book, there is now a DVD available too. Only if you understand the arguments and his basis for them can you apply them - or refute them. The basic assertion is that rewards, business opportunities, and even the work itself, will come to those who are able to embrace what he calls the Conceptual Age while holding onto what has been good about the Information Age. In other words, going forward, we'll all have to be as good at design, empathy, play, deriving meaning, telling a story, and seeing the big picture as we are at the more logic-driven aspect of pushing bits and bytes.

It seems clear to me that Pink's conclusions apply both to us as leaders and the geeks that we lead. It's well worth the time to think about how his insights might change our overall goals as well as how we lead and help grow the people who are working toward them. Personally, I anticipate that those geekleaders who have already discovered that it helps to take a whole-brained approach to leadership (in general - and especially when it comes to geeks) will have an easier time shifting the whole kit and caboodle into the new paradigm Pink describes. And the people who listen to them are the ones most likely to stay well-employed.

Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it.

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