No Do Overs
Sunday is Groundhog Day. That is the day that reporters and camera crews from media outlets worldwide descend on Gobblers Knob Park in Punxsutawney, PA to find out if a local groundhog known as “Punxsutawney Phil” will see his shadow.
Folklore has it that if Phil sees his shadow spring will come early. If he does not, we are in for six more weeks of winter. As it turns out, Phil’s predictions are accurate about 40% of the time.
In 1993, Bill Murray starred in a movie set on Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney where he wakes every morning to relive the same Groundhog’s Day. It happens thousands of times until he learns what it takes to change his ways and become a better person. As a result, the term “Groundhog’s Day” has been appropriated to a catchphrase for events that repeat again and again.
But Bill Murray’s movie was a comedy. There are no “do overs” in real life.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” is a statement attributed to Albert Einstein. One small problem. Einstein did not say that, but the famous scientist would have agreed that doing the same thing repeatedly would not produce a different result.
So what? Hopefully, none of us fall into that logic trap. At societal levels, however, people often follow the herd mentality to their detriment. The logic behind “This is the way we always have done things” thinking is not far removed from an ostrich burying his head in the sand when faced with danger.
People do not like change. Many are petrified by it and refuse to admit that change is on the horizon. In the 1930s, France built a supposedly impenetrable wall of fortifications called the Maginot Line. Germany, however, shocked the French at the beginning of World War II by using new technology and strategy to slice through the Maginot Line to quickly invade and overwhelm France.
What do Groundhog Day, the ostrich, and the Maginot Line have in common? You can’t wish away fear by relying on old thinking. And, just as importantly, there are no “do overs” in life.
You need to get things right the first time, especially when preparing your children for an increasingly competitive world that is daily due to new ideas and technology. They need Future Skills.
The idea that your son or daughter go to school, grow up, and do a job similar to yours is pretty unlikely. Artificial intelligence will eliminate many low-skill jobs, but it will augment other jobs and make them more desirable.
High school and gap year students who learn storytelling, data literacy, design thinking, empathy, cultural intelligence, cybersecurity, and other Future Skills will start out ahead and stay ahead of the pack in the years to come.
The sooner they learn those skills, the better. Will Future Skills improve their chances of being admitted to their dream school? Probably. Will they enable your children to excel in college? Those skills will do that. Will those equipped with Future Skills become sagacious and recognize opportunities and threats before others and optimize their opportunities? Bingo!
Two hundred years ago, there was a political movement by English textile workers opposed to technology. They were called Luddites. They and their arguments did not prevail. That same fear and concern exists today. Just like those who preceded them, modern Luddites have no alternative to accepting the new reality of a changing world except to bury their heads in the sand.
Encourage and support your high school and gap year children to explore and embrace Future Skills. This is the path for them to attain their dreams – and yours for them.
No one wants to face a Groundhog Day work life with no good alternatives and the only constant is having to ask customers Would you like fries with that?”
