A story about the importance of telling your stories.
It was an outing to get ice cream. My granddaughters were excited about the flavors they would select. In front of them there were more than ten flavors. The younger lingered a bit, asked for samples, and ended up with a flavor she had chosen before. The older wanted to try something new. But which one? Despite all the tastings she was unable to choose and grew frustrated. “I don’t know how to choose,” she complained.
“Let me help you,” I said, “which flavors are you considering?”
She pointed out four flavors.
“OK, let’s take two of them – of these two, which one do you prefer?”
She selected one with no hesitation.
I pointed to the selected one and added the third flavor. “Now, which one do you prefer?”
Again, she selected one.
Her mother took over the next iteration and brought her daughter to the final choice. “You see,” she said to her, “now you know how to choose.” The girl got her ice cream and went happily to join her sister.
My daughter turned to me. “You were always giving us ideas on how to solve problems. I think you should write down these ideas. For your grandchildren, for me, and for yourself. Let people read them.”
“They are all in the literature, I have not invented anything.
“Put them in stories.”
“Too complicated… too time consuming… remember I am retired; I owe nothing to no one.”
“Maybe you owe it to your grandchildren. My children deserve to hear them from you. You’ve enjoyed that when you were training people; I am sure you would enjoy it now.”
I wanted to protest, but her words hit a soft spot. I remembered the stimulating intellectual challenges when I was training people.
She sensed my hesitation and continued. “These are street smart ideas, intuitive wisdom nuggets. I can even remind you of some you’ve told me.”
So, now I am writing and recording these stories for my grandchildren, children, to all of you who were with me at UMT and EY, and all who wish to read or listen to them.
Your stories are valuable, and people want to hear them.
Watch the video version on YouTube: click on the picture above