Magda, my 6 year old daughter, posted signs in the front window of our home. The construction paper marked with Crayola colors read: "AЯt for Sale $7". She had asked her Daddy and I to hold a garage sale and when we begged off that option, she created her own! With a little paper, crayons, and an amass of scotch tape, her entrepreneurial spirit was born.
While no one knocked at the door to buy her Art, the seeds were planted. She had pieced together the components of capital and self, and the elementary buds of a Start-Up Self took root. In today's New York Times, Thomas Friedman suggests that our present high unemployment is "something that will require our kids not so much to find their next job as to invent their next job". I couldn't agree more.
We are witnessing a marked change in contemporary work. As Friedman rightfully notes, "this is not your parents’ job market". College grads expecting to be hired simply because they fulfilled the minimum requirements for a degree were surely be disappointed. Heck, even the valedictorian types will be disappointed when they find the doors to middle management closed. Instead, the new work ethos suggests: consider your skills, create a position (or business) that highlights your value, and sell it. Sell. You.
No one need remind our 1st grader that she loves Art. Following two back to back weeks of eco-Art and Mixed Media summer camps, the connection between Magda as Artist as Producer was made. (Meanwhile, our 5-year old son, who took the classes alongside his sister, begged us to withdraw him. "I can't take another day of Eco-Art. Yuck!" While still not able to identify his value-add, he surely knew it wouldn't be in water colors.) Now, since she is a child, the question is raised: how, as her parents, did we encourage or discourage her Start-Up Self? Well, we didn't take down the signs (well, not right away...), but we didn't hold an outdoor sale with framed sketches or sculpted dioramas either.
Thus I puzzle. And I'm not alone. Recently, Caleb Gardner, wrote an Etsy blog post titled, "Teaching Kids to Think Big", in which he questions his own parenting in this regard. While Gardner notes that his parents may have focused on the traditional life trajectory of job, marriage, kids and financial security, "I’d much rather encourage him [his son] to do something he loves, to make a difference, to think for himself – to live life to the fullest".
And we come full circle. A mother trying to model a life of meaning work, all the while the daughter is already poised to begin the The Start-Up of Her-Self. Guess it's my turn to stand back and take notes!
What lessons are your kids teaching you about work today?!
2 comments:
very interesting post. I like friedman's work. I'd like to hear more of your view's on this topic.
Thanks shutsnplr for the comment--Friedman has another recent NYTimes op ed, "Average is Over," where he continues this line of thinking. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/friedman-average-is-over.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general) HIs premise: Given the changing world of work options, people cannot get by on being "average" or expect work to simply be there for them if they show up. Instead, they need to bring something dynamic to the work party, be it unique skills or even passion for the pursuit. The challenge for me is how to plant these 'passion' seeds in our kids so their view of work doesn't stall on antiquated models of occupation. For example, "I want to be a police officer when I grow up" may be a noble pursuit, but limiting in the ways in which one could imagine bringing safety to a community. Guess I just want my kids to think out of the box since it seems the box might not be working much these days...
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