Thus goes a scene from the movie Rocket Singh, salesman of the year - Interviewer for a sales position: 'sell this eraser ripped pencil', to test the candidate's ability to think out-of-the-box. The Interviewee played by Ranbir Kapoor, a wanna-be sales guy, tries desperately to hard-sell by enlisting the ways in which the pencil could be used only to come up with mere 'order qualifiers'. However, i feel that he would have fared superlatively in his little test had the character been a parent. Now, at this point you (especially those that have never been even remotely involved in raising children) might stop reading further thinking that I have totally lost the plot as you can't quite find any correlation between parenthood and management skills. Well, then, let me tell you, there is and here's how (hoping that the already initiated will rally around in legoing my case).
That we get inspired a bit from children is a fact many acknowledge & hence let me start off from this common ground. While their innocence, joyous state of mind, carefree attitude & ability to live in the present & short memory might sound like 2g material for the not so-philosophical minds (moreover, with the duration of this phase shortening with each generation, does anyone really seem to bother?), their ability to think laterally can be highly motivating for the worldly 'we'. For instance, my toddler son finds multiple uses for simple everyday things such as an Umbrella, his current favorite showcasing his wide power of imagination just like an open umbrella held up high; It's his tag along toy, aside from something to swing & swirl or play peekaboo with, in addition to being his instantly fixable tent or even a house, an extended arm, a bat and a stick amongst many others.
Before long he will learn its primary use, and there is a chance that he might be tripped into conventionality with his thinking getting narrowed and finally tied down - just like a closed umbrella.
However, as we get inspired by children & their oblivious teachings to us, we know better to help them keep their minds open - a challenge to be geared up for!
That we get inspired a bit from children is a fact many acknowledge & hence let me start off from this common ground. While their innocence, joyous state of mind, carefree attitude & ability to live in the present & short memory might sound like 2g material for the not so-philosophical minds (moreover, with the duration of this phase shortening with each generation, does anyone really seem to bother?), their ability to think laterally can be highly motivating for the worldly 'we'. For instance, my toddler son finds multiple uses for simple everyday things such as an Umbrella, his current favorite showcasing his wide power of imagination just like an open umbrella held up high; It's his tag along toy, aside from something to swing & swirl or play peekaboo with, in addition to being his instantly fixable tent or even a house, an extended arm, a bat and a stick amongst many others.
Before long he will learn its primary use, and there is a chance that he might be tripped into conventionality with his thinking getting narrowed and finally tied down - just like a closed umbrella.
However, as we get inspired by children & their oblivious teachings to us, we know better to help them keep their minds open - a challenge to be geared up for!
