ABSTRACT
Formal education typically prepares us for applying basic literacy skills and performing the technical skills required for professional competence. Unfortunately, the learning necessary to become fully self-actuated human beings is left to chance. Life offers relatively few formal opportunities to learn how to:
• Be a good spouse or significant other • Become a good parent • Become an active follower and team member • Address conflict situations • Effectively interface in complex work settings with others who have
diverse motives, capabilities, and expectations • Effectively advocate for oneself • Manage personal finances • Make effective decisions • Learn from our mistakes
Most objectives of formal education assume that instruction for these capabilities is unnecessary. Capable individuals should naturally solve the issues before them. The vast numbers of divorce, cases of depression, levels of dissatisfaction with work, and divisiveness in government suggest otherwise.
