I read a great article today by Bruce Kasanoff (link below) and it really got me thinking about that whole work/life balance that everyone keeps talking about and what being a mom really means to my career aspirations. The article explains his “Theory of Seven”, basically, if you treat your colleagues and subordinates as if they were seven year olds, you’d be a motivational superstar!
He outlines his theory as (paraphrased from his article):
- Be clear about what’s next – being simple, focus on what’s next
- Don’t be intellectual – don’t be too ‘smart’ with your explanations, sometimes the simpler the explanation the better
- Don’t assume that others are idiots – on the other hand, just because you have to simplify, don’t “dumb down”, people aren’t idiots, YOU just haven’t figured out a way to motivate them yet
- Keep things moving – even adults get bored! Keep things moving and fresh
I couldn’t help thinking that this is how I treat my boy, and he’s only 5! In fact, point 1 was the reason that our “terrible twos” wasn’t so “terrible”, if a toddler knows what’s coming next, then it’s not such a shock and they don’t throw that tantrum you thought was coming!
In fact, thinking back on all those parenting websites i’ve read, it’s actually scary how close they are to all those business/motivational sites i’ve also read.
I think Kasanoff struck the nail on the head when he said:
“…adults are not much different than seven-year olds, except that we pretend to be different…”
You spend your entire childhood and teenagerhood having all the adults around you telling you to “grow up”, “stop being silly and immature” and then you spend your entire adult life trying to recapture your youth…pretending to be an adult when all you really want to do is run around, eat candy and sleep in.
So, with this revelation, I resolve to not only remember the wonders of my childhood in 2013, but to also be conscious to treat my kids like they are kids… After all, they are only kids once!
Vivian Chandra 