There is this constant self debate that I have regarding the merits of academic knowledge vs practical experience. Is it worth our while to push kids to do increasingly well in school tests and exams at the exclusion of all else?

In this connection I came across this rather interesting story............

Two friends, one a scientist and the other an executive were making their way, on a trek, through a heavily wooded portion of a forest, when with much rustling of leaves and heaving of thickets a dark and furry bear appeared. The friends and the bear froze, each paralyzed, with the appearance of the other. The two men, overcome with fright and rightly so, recovered first and scooted for their lives, with the bear rumbling along in their wake. After a while, the scientist panting heavily told his friend that, there is no point in running, because as per his calculation the bear will eventually overtake them. The executive, a man of some experience, does not break a stride and keeps running, even as he said that he does not have to outrun the bear, he just has to outrun, his friend to survive.

You can guess how this episode would have ended.

The point is, much of success, in life comes from being alert to our environment or in terms of OB, being 'Open to Experience'.I'm afraid, with our over emphasis on class room learning, we are destroying that 'openness' and placing kids at a disadvantage.

While academic knowledge is important, is it the only knowledge that we need to have to navigate complex jobs and an even more complex world? It is probably the reason why you have mediocre students doing very well in jobs and vice versa...

Challenge & bliss!

There is a frenetic routine to our lives everyday.

A rush to the office & back home in the evening, and I was surprised to hear my wife say that it's been a year since we have been watching 'Jyoti' on the tube. The serial, in Hindi, is about a lower middle class families, struggle to keep its nose just above water, lead of course by - Jyoti the heroine, as they stagger from one crisis to another.

Jyoti just about governs our evening schedule & I can say that we have been snared by the petite girl (Jyoti), hook, line and sinker.

Not disregarding the fact that the main protagonist is very pretty, should an inane soap, have taken charge of our evenings? It is a just cause for reflection and since taking to academics and supposedly turning cerebral, I do reflect. My now burgeoning knowledge of Organization Behavior also helps, in these reflections.

I have deduced that we watch the inane serial for the very reason- its innaneness! There is great deal of comfort in the the common, the ordinary and the routine. We cherish the comfort zone that commonality creates and its inability to challenge us.

It is said that in Confucian China, you could consider yourself rather unlucky if an elder blessed you with ' May you live in changing times'. Changing times was anathema to the Chinese who as a culture have deep roots in being oriented for the long term.

While being in a comfort zone and being somnolent could prevent hyper tension, it is not what corporates are looking for in an employee and most do check out levels of flexibility and openness to learning either during the interview or as a personality test.

A friend of mine who runs a tiny soft ware firm quizzed me the other day on an issue that he had. He needed an engineer with a good understanding of 'JAVA' and had two potential aspirants, one a steady type with deep understanding of JAVA, while the other having a good understanding, but came across as a flexible guy with wide interests. Whom should he take? I plumbed for the latter. The reason being that when JAVA turns obsolete, and a new language is to be learnt, whom would I fancy ? My friend thought me Quixotic but seems to have gone with my recommendation.

Being ready to take risks and keeping yourself open to learning is a factor that would determine both intrinsic & extrinsic success in a career and is a mark of high achievers.Ability to take up and learn new facets at work is fundamental to progress.The next time you find yourself refusing a challenge, rap yourself on the butt and change course pronto!

If you are a manager then look to create a 'Learning Organization' and challenge old ideas, where enquiry and feedback are inbuilt tenets of work life.If you wondered, why kids learn, at an exponential pace, then you have only to look at their curiosity and ability to challenge themselves at every turn.

As for me......................I'm waiting with bated breath to see how Jyoti puts her mother-in-law in place, come Monday.