Day Care Update

Starting a business is no joke. And for a guy that's been pretty aloof all his life, this can be a bit of a pain in the ass.


The last two weeks I've been searching for the one person to be my Director. For the idea I have, I needed an adaptable and experience individual who constantly considers and accepts new ideas.

There were two things I believed in coming into this adventure and these have been confirmed in my observations with the day care industry. One, today's workers desperately want to know there's room for growth. They want to have a meaningful impact on the day to day activities of a business. They're not satisfied sitting in a cubicle acting like a cog in a crooked wheel. The thing I noticed in speaking with candidates is many - especially the ones coming out of Cegep - are aggressive. They try to keep all the leverage in their favor. They know what they want and know a good thing when they see it.

The other philosophy I learned along the way (in this so-called life of mine that I think little gnomes are actually controlling) is that the strict, rigid corporate hierarchy so common and so many of us have worked under sucks - or at least shouldn't apply in my industry.

It's not designed to extrapolate the best people have to offer. It makes a mess of available talent on a constant basis. It's a system where merit is often a term used to look good in a board room but in practice it's the sycophants who get the promotions. If a company's boss lack leadership qualities and is incapable of identifying true, independent talent, then it's going to reflect in its hierarchy. Boob 1 is followed by Boob 2.

Some of these places remind me of old style sports scouts, commentators and coaches who refuse to change with the times. Largely because they can't rationalize the change unfolding before them. They've learned a certain way and by golly they're going to stick with it. I often hear arrogant hockey commentators talk suspiciously of "outsiders" as if only people who "played" the game can ever understand how to run a hockey operation.

I'm not and probably will never be convinced of that. By that's a different topic altogether.
We seem condemned to setting up businesses in the same, tired structure where the means of communication is usually the first casualty. Walls are put up in an atmosphere that's basically class warfare between all the title holders all the way down to the minions.

If the top guy or gal is an idiot, there's not much hope for the rest. The one thing I always hated about such structures was how poor the lines of communications were. They were so bad they lead to angry, cynical workers. That sometimes manifest itself into high turn over rates.

It seems like a simple problem to fix but it isn't. It's way of thinking. Of being. To be able to willingly communicate. People are threatened when what they thought was correct is in fact wrong. Or that a worker they just hired actually has a superior idea that can change the face of a company. After all, they're all the way down there for a reason, no?

Is it always the case? I reckon that it's not. I'm sure some companies are pretty good at it but I'm gonna guess most aren't. If the government and law enforcement agencies until 9/11 were essentially independent private feifdoms refusing to cooperate with each other (cubicle menality no doubt), it's not that much of a stretch to think the same happens in companies.

Personally, what I'm going to do is create a team where every single person will be integrated into the business until each is able to perform tasks when needed. Like the circulatory system of the human body, there will a constant flow of ideas being exchanged. If an assistant educator discovers a problem, she will be encouraged to speak out. Not keep it to herself.

There will be no walls. There'll be a hierarchy to keep roles specific in a practical manner, but in a theoretical one, it won't exist.

This will accomplish what I mentioned earlier about personal development. Educators who come to my day care will see there's room for growth and that they won't be shut out of the decision making process so common in day cares. This gives them a sense of empowerment.

It doesn't end there. Parents will be encouraged to take part in the decision making process. My director even suggested one sits with us during interviews. After all, it's their children right?

I'm not arrogant to the point where educators and parents will do as I say because I own the school. That's a parochial, nonsensical approach that harks to a Napoleonic Complex. Too many people get into the business to make cash and to thump their chests.

Screw people like that. Never liked them but they always do manage to be featured in the newspaper or magazine. Media loves assholes I reckon. Darn gnomes.

Anyway.

Be professional, diligent, disciplined and all those blah, blahs. Read. Expose yourself to new ideas. Walk around. Talk to people. We're not infallible beings. Be humble. Make jokes. Above all, don't take yourself too seriously.

***

Of course, there's always a danger I flip out and become a pyscho-tyrant. "Why...why are there so many kids in this place!" "It's a day care sir!" "Who said that, who said that? Don't you think I know that!" "But sir..." "You're fired! You're all fired! And take that kid with you. He's funny looking."