The Problem with the World...and a solution.
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| Eh! I thought I told you, no pictures... |
Uprisings, plane crashes, violence, corruption, hunger, poverty, pollution, bad governance, murder, robbery, protests, fraud, sectarian violence, suicide bombings, abuse, racism, discrimination, greed, to mention a few.
I listened to Nike Jemiyo give a speech at a Toastmasters session in Lagos Business School and it occurred to me that the problem with the world is that "too many people grow up".
If we all or at least most of us remained kids can you imagine what the world would be? Well, its easy, I can make a good guess by checking out the kids nearby.
1.) Kids are great at being serious without taking things too seriously. People call this the spirit of sportsmanship. Come to think of it, in the end, we are all dead so why take things so personal. Malice and terrible acts of violence occur when we take things too seriously, often times we do not realize how terrible and unnecessary an act of revenge is until it is done. So, learn from the kids, do not take things P.
2.) Kids ask questions. This is just phenomenal. As simple as it sounds, a lot of people do not get it because in the world we live in today, virtually everyone jumps into conclusion. People rarely listen talk less of ask questions, they make up their minds and judge even before giving you a chance. Steven Covey said in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", seek first to understand and not to be understood. if we could all ask the right questions and patiently listen, the world would be a better place.
3.) Kids trust. A man once put his son on a high platform and asked him to jump down, the son asks why? and the man says I am your father and I will catch you. The boy jumps and the father lets him fall. The man now looks at his son and says, lesson one, trust no one, not even me.
I ask myself every now and then, what is this world turning into? the reason it takes ages to get a visa is lack of trust, the reason it takes days to confirm a cheque is the lack of trust, the reason there is a queue at the airport is lack of trust. Bosses do not trust their staff and the staff do not trust them either, citizens do not trust their leaders and the leaders do not trust their assistants, guys do not trust their girlfriends and ladies would not even give the men a chance, there is so much distrust everywhere and you know what, it makes everything slow. imagine if the airline trusted that only people that bought tickets would board the plane, there would be no need to check and if the passengers trusted that the airline would only charge fair prices, there would be no need to go into the airplane without a ticket and at the end, there would be no queue at the airport.
So you see, the real problem with the world is that too many people grow up too fast and the solution is simple;
Even though we are eventually grown up someday, we must never forget the innate lessons we learn't from being kids and apply them to the present..
Segun Dada is a first year MBA student of Lagos Business School and can be reached at olusegun.dada@lbs.net.ng, you can also read more from him on www.segun-dada.blogspot.com, follow him on twitter @segundada
