We had three class captains on fourth grade (class 4) in my school. Done based on academic performance, I was the 3rd captain (being placed 6th and others in-between not being interested in the role). As captains we had a very complex reporting role, on each period, we had to note down who missed homework and who failed to answer the teachers’ questions. We kept record on a daily basis (see system A in photo). At the end of the semester/term, all three of us, alongside our class teacher, would go through all the pages counting the points for each students, which the class teacher then reported as individual feedback to the respective parents. It was an arduous task, looking for one name each time through all the daily reports to add them up. It took us hours for the four of us to finish.
After the first term of doing this, I suggested our teacher a different solution, why don’t we track it based on the individuals to begin with, in tally (yes we did learn counting in tally by then), for the whole semester so that we don’t have to do all this counting to make the individual report. (System B in photo). The teacher was convinced, agreed and now I was suddenly in charge of explaining this new system to the other two captains. Hence the 3rd Captain was suddenly leader the other two, even if for the training only. We enjoyed the result of it in the next to terms.
To put things into perspective of how a change leader looks, this is a very cool (according to the then-me) photo of my 4th-grade-self:
It never dawned on me how surprising all of this was, a fourth grader version of me convincing the teacher to change an old system and leading the next steps in development. Only yesterday I remembered all of this in a new light.
We observe the same rule in the context of careers in a large organization. Young employees DO have the capacity to be the initiators of change, provided they observe the 3 rules below:
So what are you going to do with this lesson from a fourth grader?
Go ahead, as the marketing guru Seth Godin says, Make a Ruckus!
Thanks to Shamsur Rahman Talukder sir, my class teacher for trusting me and nurturing the change leader in me.
Keep Creating.
After the first term of doing this, I suggested our teacher a different solution, why don’t we track it based on the individuals to begin with, in tally (yes we did learn counting in tally by then), for the whole semester so that we don’t have to do all this counting to make the individual report. (System B in photo). The teacher was convinced, agreed and now I was suddenly in charge of explaining this new system to the other two captains. Hence the 3rd Captain was suddenly leader the other two, even if for the training only. We enjoyed the result of it in the next to terms.
To put things into perspective of how a change leader looks, this is a very cool (according to the then-me) photo of my 4th-grade-self:
It never dawned on me how surprising all of this was, a fourth grader version of me convincing the teacher to change an old system and leading the next steps in development. Only yesterday I remembered all of this in a new light.
We observe the same rule in the context of careers in a large organization. Young employees DO have the capacity to be the initiators of change, provided they observe the 3 rules below:
- Acquainted to the way things are done and have shown that they can follow the traditional way.
- Suggest a better way and to get the top management to buy-in to their suggestion.
- Have the willingness to follow through to lead or help with the implementation of the new system.
So what are you going to do with this lesson from a fourth grader?
Go ahead, as the marketing guru Seth Godin says, Make a Ruckus!
Thanks to Shamsur Rahman Talukder sir, my class teacher for trusting me and nurturing the change leader in me.
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| SRT sir - as we called him |
Keep Creating.
Radi Shafiq
11 August 2020
11 August 2020
Dhaka