Vicente
Once upon a time, two shoe sales executives were sent by their companies to a distant developing country to explore new business opportunities. Both had the same task, the same destination, and the same set of facts in front of them. The first stepped off the plane, travelled to a nearby village, and began to walk around.
Amelie
Before long, she frowned. Everywhere she looked, people were barefoot. Not a single pair of shoes in sight. Discouraged, she reached for her phone and called her manager. “Boss,” she said, “I’m afraid it’s bad news. This whole trip has been a complete waste of time. Nobody here wears shoes. There’s no market for us. Please put me on the first plane home.”
Anson
Not long afterwards, the second saleswoman arrived. She visited the very same village, saw the very same people, and noticed exactly the same thing: every person was barefoot. But instead of feeling defeated, she felt a surge of excitement. She grabbed her phone and called head office immediately. “Boss!” she said, breathless with enthusiasm. “You’re not going to believe this — I’ve got fantastic news. Nobody here has shoes! The market is completely open. The potential is enormous. We could change everything!”
Good morning, and it’s lovely to be here with you again. Thank you to Vicente, Amelie, and Anson for sharing that story with us so well.
On Saturday lunchtime, I was having a conversation with a colleague, and they reminded me of Aladdin’s magic lamp. Many of you will know the story from the Arabian Nights and some of us may even get to see Aladdin performed as a pantomime in the next few months, and if so, we will see the famous lamp in action. In the story, if the lamp is rubbed, out pops a genie who can grant wishes to whoever is holding it.
Few of us have a magic lamp with an inbuilt genie who will grant us our every desire, but most of us have wishes. I wish the days weren’t quite so dark and cold; I wish the to-do list weren’t quite so long… and so on. November can feel like a gloomy month, and the colleague in question was explaining how they had bought a special lamp (minus the genie) to boost serotonin, the chemical linked to mood and energy. So, if your period-1 teacher seems unusually cheerful and energetic this morning, you may now know why.
I came across an article recently that suggested that, in the future, job applicants might not need to write a CV. Instead, employers might rely on pre-employment tests supported by AI. We’re not at that point yet, but the article argued that employers are increasingly looking for positivity, resilience, and a strong attitude alongside formal qualifications. In fact, 75% of firms now incorporate personality tests into their recruitment processes, measuring soft skills such as teamwork, adaptability, and optimism. If you owned the shoe company we heard about a moment ago, which salesperson would you have been most pleased with after their trip overseas?
Throughout history, there are countless examples of individuals who have taken a problem and been inspired to make things better, and we continue to benefit from their determination to find solutions. For example, in 1886, Josephine Cochrane grew frustrated that her dishes kept being chipped when they were washed, so she invented the first practical mechanical dishwasher. Nearly a century later, in 1968, a scientist at the American company 3M needed a bookmark that wouldn’t fall out of his hymn book; after giving the problem some thought, the result was the humble Post-it Note. And in 1959, engineer Nils Bohlin, working for Volvo and troubled by the high number of road fatalities, designed the modern three-point seatbelt, which has since saved millions of lives. I’m sure you can think of many other examples of individuals who have seen a problem and come up with a lasting solution, or who have just made things slightly better for everyone.
For the past decade, Harvard University has been running something called the Human Flourishing Program. The project seeks to explain how we, as individuals and as societies, regardless of age or circumstance, can really flourish. You can read more about the program for yourself, but one key finding is that practising gratitude or counting our blessings and thinking positively can improve our health, strengthen our relationships, and increase well-being overall.
With all of this, what I am not belittling is the genuine sadness, loneliness, or poor mental health that some of us experience from time to time. If that applies to anyone here, the first thing to do is speak up, because there is help available. As someone once said: “It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way.” …and it is incumbent on all of us to remember that those we see every day may be dealing with challenges in their lives that we have no idea about.
But more generally, as we move through the darker days of November, remember that while none of us has a magic lamp — most of us at least — we do have the ability to choose our attitude, notice the good, respond with resilience, and look for ways — large or small — to make things better. As Einstein said: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”