The world of work: A child’s
perspective
I have recently returned from the UK visiting
friends and family and have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with our
grandchildren. One day whilst I was getting
ready to travel to London for a business meeting, my 3-year old granddaughter
asked where I was going. I explained and
she responded, “So are you going to be working like Daddy?” “Yes” I replied. “What does Daddy do at work?” I asked. “Well”, she replied, “He does numbers,
letters and drawing”.
I thought about what she said and of course
when you boil it down, that is really what most business is about. We manipulate numbers that turn into
spreadsheets or financial reports; we arrange and organize letters into
coherent sentences, paragraphs and logical arguments that inform our
decision-making and we might add in a few pictures and visuals to help convey
our messages.
If clarity is our goal, keeping things
simple is important. We can become overloaded with information and our judgment
can become clouded. Innovation is
sometimes driven by the need to do something in a simpler way, so by
looking at a problem or challenge through the eyes of a child whose world is
simple and uncluttered, might help us achieve the breakthrough we are looking
for.
Of course, it was the last comment my
granddaughter said that made me smile the most.
In addition to doing numbers, letters and drawing, according to our
granddaughter, our son’s work also involved “cuddling teddies”! What a lovely working environment that would
be?
Manila
13 September 2013
