Memo to Google:
Written in Crayon!
Executives at tech giant Google were said to be surprised by a recent study which
pointed to the key personal attributes of their most successful staff. Read on to find
out why some Early Years Educators found this information somewhat LESS than
surprising...
This heavily analysed (and no doubt expensive) data pointed clearly to the fact that…
DRUM ROLL… the most successful staff at Google were those in possession of… superb
interpersonal and communication skills.
STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills? Important, yes. Vital even –
granted.
In amongst the list of important Google attributes though - dead last. Dead. Last! At Google no less!
Gosh, who knew? Who could have predicted that? We’ll tell you who…
The only thing our Early Years team found surprising about this news is that the top Google search of the same day
wasn’t ‘we told you so’. Typed solely, we might add, by frustrated Early Years Educators the world over.
But...what does this mean for busy parents of young children, who only use Google to establish ‘who made
Paw Patrol so annoying?’, ‘will I ever sleep again?’ and ‘how to get that stain out of the carpet?’!
Parents (and fans of WhichSchoolAdvisor.com at Google HQ), LISTEN UP. This is what Early Years Educators, Nursery
Teachers, Child Psychologists and parenting experts have been trying to tell us for years.
Early life experiences are vital – and link directly to well-being and success as an adult.
Consider children whose early experiences have been blessed with positive relationships and self-esteem building
attachments to adults and peers.
A robust attitude – check!
Think of children who have had a multitude of experiences which have extended and challenged their communication
skills; experiences which fired their imaginations and relationships with adults who have truly valued each child’s
individual passions and ideas.
Creativity – check!
Even more so, consider children who have watched the adults around them role model kindness, support and care for
others in their own interactions.
Empathy – check!
These are the children who have the best chance of becoming robust, creative and empathetic adults.
Conversely, these are the life skills that are painfully difficult to acquire (or even emulate) after those pivotal,
personality forming, life outlook creating early years (by which we mean 0-5 years).
And what, we hear you ask, does a robust, creative and empathetic adult have to offer Google?
Fearlessness
As the old adage goes – success is failure turned inside out. Work at Google? Get an algorithm wrong? What do you
do? Move on. Try again. Rinse and repeat until you get where you need to be.
Where does success truly lie? In being the best? Occasionally. But much more often in those who never give up and in
those who do not fear failure.