1. “A good player goes where the puck is, while a star goes where the puck is going to be.”
- Wayne Gretzky
How do you prepare students for jobs that don’t exist?
Emphasize the value of learning problem solving skill.
Problem-solving is really just curiosity unleased
Problem-solving gives you the ability to ask why, invent something new, innovate a better way to do something
Problem-solving is the skill you need to be successful in life, at school and in a job
If you are a good problem-solver, you can get a job anywhere. You will always have a good job.
As a problem-solver you will be ready to take the jobs of the future because you will know how to ask good questions, learn new skills, and see problems and solve them. You will become the inventors and innovators of the future

2. Tony Wagner &Ted Dintersmith
65% of today’s grade school children will end up in jobs that haven’t been invented yet.
Tony Wagner &Ted Dintersmith
Most Likely to Succeed
How do you prepare students for jobs that don’t exist?
Emphasize the value of learning problem solving skill.
Problem-solving is really just curiosity unleased
Problem-solving gives you the ability to ask why, invent something new, innovate a better way to do something
Problem-solving is the skill you need to be successful in life, at school and in a job
If you are a good problem-solver, you can get a job anywhere. You will always have a good job.
As a problem-solver you will be ready to take the jobs of the future because you will know how to ask good questions, learn new skills, and see problems and solve them. You will become the inventors and innovators of the future

3. Value Improvement Process
Emphasize that PDCA plays a big role in US Synthetic’s VIP (Value Improvement Process).
We want an environment where we can all be utilized for our minds first and hands second. Hired from the neck up, and not just from the neck down. This is opposite from the traditional blue collar management culture of telling employees what to do and don’t think, you are hired to push buttons. We are really problem solvers 1st and manufacturers 2nd.
Problem Solving is really our competitive advantage. The faster we learn & improve, the better we can deliver into the market. For example: at USS our R&D used to take 45 days for a new idea to be tested and have a result days is a long learning cycle. Now with our problem solving culture USS is at 3 days.
Chess game example. Say we are playing against our competitor in a game of chess, given everything equal, there is an even or 50% chance of winning the game. But what if we were so good at problem solving and improving that we could make 5 moves or 50 moves for every time our competitor made 1 move.
At USS we are really in the business of developing and growing people, it just so happens that we manufacture diamond drill bits too. Keep things in perspective.
Value Improvement Process
CULTURE TRANSFORMATION

4. Ask Questions Make Observations
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Ask Questions Make Observations
PLAN
You are all familiar with the scientific method. The steps to using the scientific method are the same steps we use to problem-solve.
Did you realize you can become an “Everyday Scientist” simply by using the scientific method with every problem you encounter—every question you face?
It is not just to be used for science projects only. You can use the scientific method in all aspects of your life.
Pretty cool –huh? Who knew you could actually use the stuff you learn in school in your everyday life!!
Form a Hypothesis
Conduct Experiment DO
Analyze Results
CHECK
Draw Conclusion
Report Results
ADJUST