Friday Flush

Forbes magazine just researched and released the “top 20 most important tools” in history.  Yes, I know what you are thinking…”People got paid to research that?”…yes, I guess they did….so now we can move passed that.

Now the ground rules were that it had to be a tangible object.   It couldn’t be a tool like “your mind,” “language” or “love.”   I found it interesting that they claimed, if they left it that open, language and knowledge would for sure be among the top.  

I could take this in several directions…but I wanted to point out a couple of my observations:

1.       The abacus and the pencil are in the top 5.  That shows the power of what we do each day.  The tools of our trade are the most important in the world.  Both are driven by and to create more intellect.  The pencil is a tool that takes what is in our brain and preserves it for all time.  It allows us to not be bound by the audience that can hear us…it truly allows us to share ourselves with the world.  I think we should remember the power of that pencil in our teaching because we are training children to use their mind and abilities in a way that connects them with others.  The abacus gave us a way to organize numbers and utilize math concepts.  It is the predecessor to the slide ruler, calculator, and ultimately the computer.  Organizing numbers is a vital skill that actually transformed history and cultures.

2.       All of these items are somewhat “simple.”   They are also items that changed the world.  They made life easier or made us more productive.  They were the basic building blocks of more invention, and they took us giant leaps from where we were.   I was struck by the fact that one person took the time to see a need and meet that need.  Then it actually transformed history.  So one person…most likely nameless to us…changed our world.   There are things that are out there that someone just needs to invent…they may be simple, and they may change the world.  Our kids need to have the background knowledge to understand science, math, and language, and they need to understand how to see a problem and look for a solution.  They need to think out of the box enough to be a problem solver.  I am sure all the guys holding a sharpened stick kinda laughed at the first guy to throw a hook in the water until they realized he wasn’t going to be hungry. 

This weekend reflect on the power of what you do…your audience….their potential.  We have an important job that uses important tools.  Don’t forget that.

Happy Friday!