PSFK Skills of the Rockstar Planner: Insatiable Curiosity

The title of the next video in the PSFK Skills of the Rockstar Planner should really be "Traits of the Rockstar Planner." In one of my weekend workshops at Miami Ad School, our teacher talked about planners always asking the "why" to every situation. From the moment I could form complete sentences, to the onset of Google, I managed to annoy my father completely by following up his answer to every single one of my questions with "why." Not to get too kumbaya but isn't understanding the first step to solving a problem?The planners in the video talk about having an innate and deep curiosity about the world, seeing patterns where others don't and being able to synthesize vast quantities of information. Fortunately for us planners, our abilities to synthesize information has yet to be replaced by a super RSS Reader or Google algorithm. But it's not just about absorbing information like a sponge, but about knowing how to find those facts and insights. Why get a Library Science degree when you can enter the seemingly more exciting world of planning?

Dominico Vitale from People, Ideas & Culture takes insatiable curiosity to the next level, saying that the "ability to turn knowledge into ideas is the core of talent. It's about what hasn't happened yet and what could be."

Vitale touches on the idea of disruption and planning leading to a behavior change which ultimately leads to the behavior of using a particular product. But it also leads to another area of planning, that which leads to research and development. What's a good ad without a good product?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTqGmzCq1qw&w=640&h=390]