Back to school....or maybe not?

According to the Office for National Statistics productivity continues to fall in the UK to levels recorded as far back as 2007. Now I'm sure there are far more academically qualified people than me who will put a spin on the stats to suit their viewpoint, political persuasion or opinion, nothing new there then. Indeed I myself have my own opinions involving how multi tasking, office distraction and gossip, open plan offices, short termism, poor training, lack of focus and concentration, poor processes, bad man management, lack of effective leadership, unclear goals, blame culture, presenteeism, silo structures, ineffective communication, poor self management and personal responsibility as well as fear all contribute to this issue. I would highlight all of those things wouldn't I because thats where I do my best work with my clients.

However I had a fascinating conversation with a Grandfather last Sunday on the touchline of a rugby pitch. The gentleman concerned was proudly watching one of his Grandsons play in a competitive match. He was doing rather well when the conversation between us turned to his other, elder grandson who preferred to play soccer. "I shouldn't hold that against him" I told myself and we started talking about how he was getting on at school. Proud Grandad announced how well he is doing although he had already had a couple of detentions. "What for?" I enquired.

The reason? Poor planning......yes thats right, the young man had not been able to complete his work on time because he simply did not plan and organise himself well enough and just ran out of time.

Sound familiar?

This got me thinking. If kids are not being taught this stuff at school, if they simply don't know how to plan and organise themselves around their priorities and goals, what chance when they get to work? Now I know that all schools will say their kids get a planner when they start school, that they are shown how to put things in their diaries, how to block time out for homework. We all know from personal experience that without the full appreciation of the power of personal goal setting and prioritisation that diaries count for nothing, we simply ignore what we entered and do the thing that someone is shouting most loudly about, or something that helps us escape from work....Social Media, Play Station or TV. I know some of you will be screaming "not me, oh no that's not me" but let me share some stats I picked up from ultra runner Nick Butter at a recent presentation

The average life expectancy is now 29247 days, approx 82 years

90% of that time will be spent indoors and 70% in front of a screen!!!

We will spend 9 years watching TV

I think there is an argument that might suggest going back to school and helping people to truly understand the power of written goal setting (not on a computer but with a hand writing implement as writing crystallizes thinking and the clearer we think the easier things become) And when I say go back to school I do mean take this into schools at the earliest possible opportunity, early intervention I think it's called, make it a habit. I also mean let's take executives back to school because they have forgotten how it works, they have fallen into the "technology trap" of thinking because they use the latest gadget or app then everything will work more effectively. Things might work more efficiently but what if you are doing the wrong things? You're simply becoming more efficient at doing the wrong things!

Time and again I hear that TIME is the biggest issue both personally and professionally, although I fail to understand why people don't adopt a whole of life policy when it comes to their time challenges.

So no more obsessing over the latest gadget, game , app, smart this or smart that, how about we all become smarter ourselves. Maybe we should all go back to school and learn the fundamentals all over again or indeed be introduced to them for the first time.

Then again having heard the story of the Grandson maybe school isn't the ideal place.

https://www.lmi-uk.com/lmi-uk/mark-tonks/