I actually agree with the statement that interpersonal skills should be valued more than technical skills or book knowledge. My reasoning is that in my experience, people who are skilled at dealing with people and know how to work with others are the ones who end up with higher-paying jobs and have more achievement. I know that employers strive to have an ideal workforce, and having an employee who can’t get along with others or is simply shy can have severe negative impact on the company, depending on that person’s position. Another way to think about is that interpersonal skills cannot simply be taught or learned from reading a book, it involves actually practicing with other people in real-life situations, not simulations. Learning technical skills is something that anybody can do because there are resources for people to get in order to eventually master them. It’s knowledge that can be taught from reading a book or taking a course. Dealing with people is something that happens constantly in a person’s life, whether it’s having dinner or speaking to someone on the phone or a job interview. Humans are, by nature, social animals and dealing with people is inevitable therefore it’s worthwhile to focus more on interpersonal skills rather than technical skills because those are applicable in many different aspects of a person’s life. I think the ration 70:30 is pretty accurate so I agree with the author.