What really differentiates us ‘humans’ from the rest of the living beings in this planet?

That we have our unique personality, independent thinking, special abilities, interests and more importantly we can identify these and develop them with purpose.

Yet, our education system puts all individuals through the same universal templates, rituals and patterns of study and expects them to perform at extraordinary levels and more so also enjoy what they do.

My thoughts on this arose by observing a simple ritual in an Indian temple. Here was a family who had brought their little child who had started crawling for a ceremony called ‘annaprasna’ (where the child is going to have his first taste of solid food). Towards the end of this event, several objects were neatly laid out at a short distance from the child; which included books, tools and instruments, money, jewels etc. The belief is that the child when grown up will be inclined to or do well in areas based on his choice of object. For example, if he chooses books, he will do well in knowledge work, and if money is chosen then he would be wealthy; so on and so forth.

The origins of this can be traced back even to the times of Mahabharata. Each of the Pandavas picked up a weapon of their choice and then were trained on the same for many years by their great guru Dronacharya. That they became the masters of their trade points to the fact that if we can identify and build on the strengths or natural inclination of a child early in his life, he/she can become a master and achieve great success in the field.

I have been advocating this for many years in schools, colleges and organizations. While people tend to initially agree that it’s the best course of action, somehow resist to implement it in their real world. They prefer to choose certainty (which is not guaranteed considering the varied results we get of children who have passed out from the same school under the same tutelage and similar training) to making the leap. This was also amplified from my observations from the story above. I could see that the parents and the whole family were deliberately trying to attract the child towards what they felt would be the right object to pick. The free will of the child was lost then and from then on I am sure he will be put through the grind which may not necessarily be his choosing but what the societal norms demand.

Imagine if schools actually helped kids identifying their talents right from a very young age and growing their skills for the next 12 years instead of letting them all follow the same routine and leaving them confused in life after graduation.

Don’t you see that happening all around you and all of the time? Isn’t it time to change the way we enable growth and development?

Psychometric tools are highly useful in identifying the natural predispositions of individuals and our research after thousands of administration at a senior level in organizations have confirmed. The only problem we see is that it is too late for many to rewind and start again.

Have you ever felt that you or any of your near and dear one’s have been put through the grind against their will or inclination?

Please share your comments and share widely, together we stand a chance to influence the future generations.