My Ears Must Have Been Ringing

I was just catching up on my old news feeds, and I noticed an article written posted in the HBR Leadership discussion about “What Leaders Can Learn From Children.” Posted the same day I posted my “Risky Business” entry, this posting makes many of the same points I wrote about…we need to take risks, get wet, stay curious, and play. My ears must have been ringing!

Risky Business

As a new parent, I am amazed by the depth of learning opportunities kids provide to the people around them (maybe Finn should be called Professor from now on).  Moreover, I am surprised by how relevant these lessons seem to be to my own “grown-up” life.  A simple example of this is laughter: I read the other day that kids, on average, laugh 400 times a day versus adults, who manage a mere 15 chuckles in the same timeframe.  Kids out-laugh us by a factor of 26, and I’ve been wondering what we can do to close the gap.

The other lesson I’d like to talk about – and the one that I think is most relevant to working well – is the importance of risk-taking.  Parenting experts talk about the importance of risk-taking in building self-confidence, and challenge parents to empower their kids to solve their own problems.  What, who, when, where – and most importantly – why and how – are some of the most important words we can teach our children.  These simple question words are equally important in our adult lives and have the power to transform the way we work.

For me, open-mindedness, and open-ended questions are the key to enabling progress, and they are central to how I like to work.  However, asking questions is risky business, both for individuals and for companies.  Especially when we ask big, tough questions.  What does it mean to be well?  How can I bring my values to work?  How can I help my customers live up to their potential as human beings?  It is questions like these that really stretch our thinking and force collaboration between sectors, between businesses and customers, and among employees working in different arenas in the same company.

So, without seeming too simple or trite, I’d like to suggest that we all might work better if we were more open to working the way our kids live…with more laughter, more questions, a willingness to take risks, and an openness to falling down.  Just like our kids, if we fall down, we’ll get up and do better next time.  Oh yes, and I’d also like to have recess at work.