Voice Of Reason From Playroom To Boardroom

Once upon a time on a warm spring afternoon, a mother and her son sat in front of the TV watching a children’s program. A program that left quite an impression on the mother, more than it did on the child.

The mother in question was yours truly (me) and the child was my youngest. I remember being coerced into watching this program and quite shockingly, I happened to learn something vital from it. I’m sharing it in the hope that you would too.

This particular episode focused on ‘countries of the world’ (not sure if that was the title…). Anyway, the teacher taught the toddlers about some of the countries of the world and went on to tell them what was required for peace and harmony. The kids were then given a country name to bear for the rest of the day. Shortly after, the bell rang for playtime and the excited toddlers ran off to the playground.
After a few moments, there was an uproar. Some kids were screaming, some were on the verge of tears, some just stood by, while a few tried to sort out the ‘mess’.

Here was the main cause of the uproar: There was one sand pit and everyone wanted in at the same time; each wanting all of it. The issue was that the sand pit could only take a few people at a time, even though it was built for all the children to play in. There were other play areas at the playground but for some reason, everyone wanted this one…and at the same time too!

Sound familiar? It should!
When you think about it, the countries of the world are not that different in reality. Even our homes and establishments aren’t that different either.
Each person wants to ‘get in there first’ and as if that is not enough; that person wants all the resources available therein for himself/herself. In order words, one person will go to any length to gain control of an environment and all the resources within (human and material); and if anyone dares get in the way, woe betide such a person.
If you’ve ever been around kids or you have kids, you’ll notice that one of the first lessons you find yourself ‘yelling’ out is; “share!”
You’d think that this being the first lesson most of us hear as toddlers, it would set the ball rolling in the right direction as we head into adulthood. No chance!
We’ve heard this one word; “share,” for the most part of our lives, yet we still haven’t figured out how to do this.
We’ve struggled with sharing so much that we have now devised a whole lot of theories and policies for dealing with this one underlying problem. A problem that has become the silent cause of most of the global heartaches we now experience. We’ve found ourselves designing processes, legislations, and techniques to tackle this one problem of sharing.
How different would things have turned out if we had just listened to one of the first lessons we received as toddlers: ” Share!”

Imagine how different your home would be if the parents shared respect and responsibility; and if kids shared things and took turns. Imagine how businesses would flourish if companies and institutions had leaders and teams within them who are willing to share. Imagine how different nations would turn out if positional leaders and inhabitants started sharing.

Now here’s me just thinking. How about we change the ‘World Peace’ slogan to something more direct? Something that is more focused on the action required rather than the result desired. Something that tells us in unmistakable terms what to do. How about we simply have the word: “Share!”

Just thinking…