It’s been a few years that I’ve been thinking about the importance of the ability to observe. Well, last weekend, thanks to the FLL Euskadi 2016, I could confirmed again that entrepreneurs (teacherpreneurs included) need to be good observers.
Today I’m not going to talk about any particular person, but what I’d like to do is make you think about the ability to observe and its benefits. Would you like to do it with me?.
On my working table of the University of Deusto I have a toy of Mike Wazowski, and for those who don’t know him, he is one of the protagonists of the Disney Pixar movies Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University. He is a charismatic monster who doesn’t admit a “no” for an answer, a little bit grumpy, who is a leader, self-confident and sure of his possibilities, hardworking, with character and who is always fighting to achieve his dreams. Physically he is green (the color of hope) and with a big eye with which he observes everything that’s going on around him. Why do I have him on my desk? Mainly to always remember to observe.
But, what does observing mean? The other day I read an article in which they stated that observing is using your senses at their greatest capacity, is putting attention to the details, focusing, analyzing, reasoning and remembering things. Besides, observing helps us, among others, to be more aware, to be more intelligent in general and to increase our performance at work and our relationships.
Let me tell you that, in my opinion, observing, preferably in a critical way, is essential for the entrepreneur person. And it is because in that way: you can know other realities or the same one in other contexts; it’s possible to learn from others; you can identify opportunities, propose (innovative) solutions and, ultimately, improve and add value. To be more precise, knowing firsthand what the needs and expectations of the people around us are, and knowing what and how they do to satisfy them is imperative for entrepreneurs, because all this will give us a clue to where to go.
This year I had the opportunity to take part again as a volunteer at the FLL Euskadi 2016 organized by Innobasque. Some of you may ask yourselves why I am mentioning the FLL in a post about the importance of observing. Let me tell you. Even though I participated in this competition mainly as a judge, difficult task by the way, I didn’t miss the opportunity to look closely at the way the 41 teams taking part were acting. What a luxury, what a joy, what a work and what an organization.
On the 28th of January, the day of the competition, I observed closely the way the teams presented, especially, their scientific projects and the values that have been strengthened during the months in which they have been working on their challenges. Personally, what stood out for me was the way boys and girls, from 10 to 16 years old, were able to work in the way they did, learning from others, investigating, asking, looking for information, finding out how were the others doing it… in short, observing and acting. Their illusion, involvement, willingness, collaboration, professionality, strength, fellowship, compromise and perseverance are some of the characteristics that those boys and girls showed us and are worthy of mentioning. Congratulations, again, to all of you.
Knowing that not only are there different ways of working and achieving the goals proposed, but that things can be done in another way is, honestly, what I observe again in events like this. What I think is that we can educate in another way, we can and we should teach and learn in a more active and committed way.
THANK YOU Esti León and Itzi Uribe, not only for allowing me to be part of your team but for teaching the world that it is possible to educate and train new generations in other ways. The FLL Euskadi is a nice showcase for this. And, THANK YOU, for allowing me to understand how important it is to continue OBSERVING the way other people do, because I think that learning from the best is the right choice if we want to achieve better results. The other day I saw the work of many teacherpreneurs reflected in the presentations of the teams. I know this event is not the only “place” where it happens, but let me focus on just that today.
I am very proud of the work and the results achieved by the boys and girls who have participated in this edition and in what this competition means. But I honestly believe that the way those boys and girls work on their projects through challenges is an example that shows us who is the true protagonist of the learning process.
I will continue doing everything I can so that at least the future teachers that attend my Primary Education Degree lessons at the university take notice and observe real examples of what so many educational theories show us. That will be the first step before acting that way.
Olé for the FLL Euskadi, the institutions and the centers involved in it, the teachers and professionals who dedicate so much time of their students, the families that support them and the boys and girls committed to the future. I will be at the FLL Euskadi 2017, and you, are you going to miss it this time?
While you think about it, here you have a summary of this year’s edition.
Happy week.
Translated by María Ubierna Quintanilla and supervised by Arantza Arruti.