What sort of manager/leader do you want to be?
If you’re catching up with family or friends over dinner this weekend, here’s something to throw into the mix:
“Name the world’s greatest invention.”
Whilst it might sound a bit lame initially, trust me; it gets interesting. Two rules:
(1) There’s no right or wrong answer.
(2) Each person can change their mind as your dinner progresses.
Now the standard “correct” answers would likely include: the Wheel, the Nail, Language, our ability to make and control Fire, Penicillin, safe drinking Water from the tap, Cooking and Electricity.
But … once you make it clear to everyone that they can choose whatever they like – it’s whatever they personally feel is the best invention FOR THEM – then you’ll get some interesting answers. Here are some I’ve heard so far:
Computer
iPhone (or smartphone of choice if an Android lover)
Telephone (pre-iPhone … those wall and desk ones)
Sanitation
Televisions
Cars
Roads (no point owning a car without Roads to drive on, right?)
The Internet
Chocolate
Airplanes (it’s amazing that we can ‘fly’)
Rockets (forget ‘just’ flying; we’ve been to the Moon)
Vodka (and Alcohol in general)
Nuclear Energy
Tampons
Trains
Netflix
Washing Machine
Coffee
the Pill
Reading Glasses
Books (and then, Paper … err then, Writing … yes, it can become a maze)
Sandwiches
Vibrator (hey, don’t shoot the messenger)
Bring children into it and you will also hear Ice Cream, Lego, YouTube, TikTok (YouTube’s younger nemesis) and the Wiggles.
My choice?
The Dishwasher.
Why? Because when I was growing up as a kid, they didn’t exist (sorry, I’m a bit old). One of my chores was to wash the dishes by hand. Especially after a Sunday Roast = brutal, a very lengthy process and involved changing the suds-water multiple times. First-world-kid-problem, I get that. But when these little beasts came along, they ticked the box for me.
And so there’s only one question left: what’s yours?
P.S. In case you’re wondering, the answers to this question form part of some research I’m doing for an upcoming book. So there’s also a work purpose to the apparent randomness of this post.
