Remember my daughter?
She is five, all blonde curly hair, giggles and she thinks she is a fairy princess.
This weekend she went to a birthday party. A five-year-old girl’s birthday party.
It was a fancy dress party with a fairy princess theme — this is called knowing your audience.
The local church hall was packed full of fairy princesses, all resplendent in their pink dresses and fake wings. Nineteen little girls and a riot of pointed hats, magic wands and sparkly makeup. Each little girl was fulfilling her dream, each little girl convinced that she was a real princess.
Until the competition began.
You can’t have a fancy dress party without a fancy dress competition
The girls paraded around the ring skipping and dancing, laughing and casting spells.
Of course choosing a winner was all a bit arbitrary, after all they were all wearing the same outfits from the same Disney store. But you can’t have a fancy dress competition without a winner.
- One little girl was delighted.
- Sixteen more were silent.
- Two were in tears.
One winner and eighteen losers. A fabulous way to end the party.
Not all competition is helpful
You might well have to compete against your competitors — the clue is in the name.
But arbitrary internal competition between departments and staff for status, pay rises and bonuses can have a whole host of unintended consequences.
After all, we all still like to think we are fairy princesses, even if we’re not. Does criticism help?
Author: Jonty Pearce
Published On: 3rd Feb 2014 - Last modified: 13th Nov 2018
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