What is the number one most important skill required for business?

Tamara: Numeracy.  You have to budget accordingly and make sure you consistently bring in more money than you send out.  Everything else is strategy and theory.

Scott: Adaptability.  Things change quickly.  Being able to learn on the job is critical.  Being willing to jump in and say, “I can do that!” is a huge asset.

Bonnie: Communication is most definitely the number one skill for success in any form of business. The flow of information is crucial to whatever you are doing, whether it’s teaching a class or producing a video game. Coworkers need to make sure they are on the same page; companies need to make sure they deliver exactly what their clients want. Breakdowns in communication cause business failures.

Ellen: Communication! Making an impression based not only on the desirability of your product/service, but on emotions, too! Maya Angelou once said that people forget what you are and who you did, always, but they remember how you made them feel. So that’s my answer. =)

Serdar: The big skill I’d say is understanding finances and economies — if only because so many people simply don’t. Especially on the geek level — I’m reminded of the panel discussion I sat in on where Mike Pondsmith told a group of pie-eyed would-be RPG creators just how easy it was to go broke trying to sell their RPG starter book for $15 a pop. You need to understand where money comes from and where it goes, and because so much of that is often so boring (at least from the outside), I’m not surprised a great many folks who want to do something both creative and lucrative skip (or at least skimp) on that step.