Thanks Indigo - I like dual quotations which succinctly encompass wealths of wisdom.
Over the years, there’ve only really been two quotations that I bring up with my kids and they also go hand in hand.
The first, ‘She’ll be right, mate’, goes completely against the second law of thermodynamics wrt entropy. It is such an upbeat quotation but its use is often as an excuse from putting in required effort, so I quote it often in order to dispel the seductive lie - the truth is that good reliable systems require a lot of knowledge, skills and efforts to design, implement and maintain. It is with this attitude a lot of people try to get by with less effort and slipshod work that leads to someone having to expand even more energy later to fix the foreseeable problems which ensue. Since on many occasions, I have been that ‘someone’ and their lack of care has cost me time with my young family, my kids are quite aware of how insidiously destructive such an attitude can be.
The second, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’, is consistent with the biblical parable described in Matthew 25 and somewhat redirects the implications of the first quotation back towards us, for those who don’t/ can’t understand the consequences of their (in)actions can claim ignorance as an excuse whereas responsibility lands on the ‘gifted’ with the ability to recognise the dangers and pitfalls.
The solution for the gifted therefore is to try to mentor others to develop appropriate skills and take on more responsibility. I’ve been in a more senior role in my profession for the last ten years and have had rewarding experiences of mentoring a number of younger colleagues in my own and in allied professions (many of whom now work in other organisations) and promoting a culture which incorporates both individual ownership and group collaboration.
