On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I participated in a very interesting seminar here in San Diego: The Art of Science Learning: Shaping the 21st-Century Workforce. As many of you may be aware, the United States faces an innovation gap that is growing wider with each passing year. According to John Lechleiter, chairman, president, and CEO of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, "A recent study ranked the U.S. sixth among the top 40 industrialized nations in innovative competitiveness, but 40th out of 40 in 'the rate of change in innovation capacity' over the past decade. The ranking, published last year by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, measured what countries are doing -- in higher education, investment in research and development, corporate tax rates, and more -- to become more innovative in the future. The U.S. ranked dead last." The bottom line is that our nation is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to innovation, and this problem is getting worse, not better.

Business executives and owners are quickly coming to the realization that their companies must become more innovative to compete in today's global economy. A recent General Electric survey of 1,000 top executives worldwide found that creativity is the #1 need in employees, and that there is a firm belief that individual creativity will drive innovation. Further, a recent survey by the Conference Board revealed that 85 percent of employers seeking creative employees said that they were having difficulty finding qualified applicants with the right characteristics.

It's not enough anymore that employees have great technical or work skills -- they also have to be creative.

The solution? The arts.

One of the highlights of Wednesday's session was a presentation by Sarah Murr, Community Investor -- Arts & Culture for the Boeing Company. According to Sarah, Boeing is dedicating a large amount of money to fund arts education in the hopes that this investment will result in more-creative graduates who will one day work for the company. In Sarah's region alone -- Southern California -- Boeing is funding arts education as delivered in classrooms to the tune of $750,000 a year. Boeing is convinced that the arts are an essential part of a complete education and they can provide students (and workers) with the skills and abilities they will need to succeed in life and navigate careers in the 21st century.

Really? Really. The competencies needed in future Boeing workers, as listed on job requisitions include:

• Inquisitive
• Communication, verbal and written
• Creative
• Abiliity to work in a team
• Analytical
• Innovative
• Problem solver
• Self confident
• Initiative
• Strong work ethic
• Flexible/adaptive to change

All of these competencies are byproducts of an arts education.

Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the need to hire employees who are creative and innovative, and they are increasingly looking for employees with arts backgrounds -- poets, musicians, actors, writers, singers, dancers, and more. Sure, these employees must have the technical chops required by their jobs. However, when you find an employee who has the technical skills required by the job, combined with the creativity that an arts background brings with it, then you've got a very special -- and very valuable -- employee indeed.