It was sports day once again last week. A lovely family day out, many well dressed parents glancing anxiously at a Blackberry, watch or mobile. Plainly not everyone took holiday that day!
This year we had a little more competition than normal, but everyone was a winner really. We have probably raised two generations since the idea of competitive sport died back in primary schools. The move seemed in part driven by philosophy and in part because a competitive sport involved more teacher hours outside the standard day.
It struck me that our modern society is possibly the most competitive it has ever been. The two most popular programs on TV in recent times have been ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and the ‘Apprentice’. My son loves ‘Dragons Den’ and we have recently embarked on a new series of ‘Big Brother’. It won’t be long before ‘X Factor’ or ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ return to our screen. It’s far from a UK phenomena.
It strikes me that we love competition in football, business, entertainment. We love the battle, the stories the winners and the losers. The youngest in my house is quite capable of forming her own opinion as to the merits or otherwise of an act or idea and then extolling these virtues and selling the case of her favourite.
Once upon a time I would have frowned at my kids watching this kind of entertainment. Dumbing down I would have called it, but I have changed my mind. These skills are exactly the skills required to survive in the corporate or business life. Make a choice and back it, have an opinion, pick the winner.
Mike O’Connell, CEO, Isosceles Finance
Tags: Finance Director, Interim FD, Outsourced accounting, Outsourced finance, Part time FD