Monday, May 4, 2020
Saturday, May 2, 2020
A Trust Fall
A lot has been written about the agriculture age, the industrial revolution, spurt in the service sector, information age, knowledge age, and Industry 4.0. However, it is important to note that we are completing a full circle. The farmers, the carpenters, the goldsmiths of the pre-industrial age were self-employed. The education system of the 1900s was designed to create obedient employees. People who did not like to make mistakes, and who did not ask questions. The demerits of our education system are highlighted by Sir Ken Robinson in his book – The Element.
We have been brainwashed to believe that security is more important than freedom. Human beings learn from mistakes, and our education system punishes us for making mistakes. It makes us compete with each other for grades. Then when we step out in the real world, we are taught that it is important to cooperate and collaborate. This contradiction exists at every level. Our economic theories focus on the shortage of resources, and the need for controlling people and resources rather than creating value.
Our education system will not allow us to develop our entrepreneurial skills. It is, therefore, important that we do it ourselves. Here are a few things, we parents can do:
- Give our kids the freedom to think and choose. Let them make mistakes and learn from them.
- Many things can be done without money (resources). We need to encourage our kids to take up assignments that can enhance their skills (social work for example).
- Discussing with our kids about opportunities rather than pointing out the shortage of resources.
- Letting them get involved in team events.
- Making them responsible for their choices.
Things are fundamentally changing. Secure high paying jobs are bound to diminish. Wages are going to stagnate. It is, therefore, important to develop the entrepreneurship mindset in our children. Some of you would have heard of the trust fall. It is a team-building exercise in which a person deliberately allows themselves to fall, trusting the members of a group to catch them. It is important that we as parents, create that safety net for our children.
- Subodh Gadgil (May 2, 2020
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