A question posed: Do we really educate talent to think for themselves and ask questions?
It is a fair question which has been posed. The rationale went along the lines of “We complain that not enough talent challenge and question senior players; don’t use their initiative but don’t we train people from an early age not to question their elders and seniors, to learn facts which will pass exams and to go from A to B to C without question. We then throw them into a world which asks a whole new set of questions and we tell them that they are failing. No wonder there is a rise in anxiety, fear of failure and disengagement.”
The answer? “Don’t we almost need to go back a number of steps and teach psychological robustness through a greater freedom of expression at an age of age and aid those aged 16-18 to start thinking for themselves way before work or university?”
A fair question which is left open for debate. Most accept that there is a need to help develop, in the young, greater psychological strength and robustness for the modern world and that it needs to start from an earlier stage than it has been left to presently. The counter, of course, is that school and education has long dictated what pupils should think and arguably it was far worse in past times. The difference today is that there is both less time to reflect, less individual freedom, certainly less freedom to make mistakes and also far greater "noise" which makes many feel more restrained in their voice. Altogether it hinders the development of fresh and strong voices rising to challenge.
It needs a new system and process of development and thinking than has existed previously. It was again easier in past times to place bad days and issues into perspective as it would be less highlighted and obvious. The world has become faster and social media has added an extra line of pressures which one has to wonder if it has been as beneficial as is often stated? So many are concerned by their followers and numbers, what others are saying in public forums than about what is right or wrong. It is an old saying that social media made the introvert able to be an extrovert without having to socially interact. Vice versa, many natural extroverts and leaders were left bemused by the rise in social media which did change dynamics.
In discussion, one entrepreneur noted that every time he writes a tweet, he will be naturally challenged online for even the most ridiculous of points. As an example he showed a tweet of two penguins hugging one another to which he had added the simple comment “they have found one another” to which he was questioned as to how he could know this was truly the case. His silent response was “Who cares?” but the truth is that people do and it creates a caution when tweeting or engaging on any social media platform.
The underlying point is that there is far less time today and far more noise which creates barriers to progress. The challenge is to ensure that emerging talents possess the resolve and strength to shut out what is unimportant and to be able to focus the mind on what is a priority and to be able to place into context adversity, stress and anxiety.
The truth is that the development of new leaders and talent almost needs new frameworks to support development from an earlier age. The aim has to be to inspire growth mind-sets and voices from the last years in school which then can be developed thereafter. Similarly, companies now too need to develop strong frameworks to help support the development of mental robustness within their talented workforces. It does need a shake-up.