:: all i really need to know about business, i learned from my son's preschool evaluation ::

this week, we got evan's first little school evaluation. his first series of checkmarks and assessments. can he tell a story about an event that already happened? yes, he can. does he share well? yes. hold a pencil correctly? not if his life depended on it.

unsurprisingly, the boy came up strong in language skills (something about nuts falling near trees, right?) and social skills (well, not this tree) and large motor skills, and he tanked on fine motor skills. can't hold a pencil or scissors correctly. doesn't try to write his name. he can sing the alphabet, even the LMNOP part, faster and clearer than i can, but trying to get him to trace a letter on a piece of paper is about as satisfying as peeing into a doctor's urine sample cup when you really have to pee.

and seeing his evaluation, it got me thinking about my business.

i swear. just go with it.

because seeing his evaluation, my brain went through a series of thoughts:

1 - yup, this is about what i expected.
2 - i wonder how many of the other kids can hold a pencil properly.
3 - i wonder if i should be working with him on fine motor skills.

it's a totally predictable pattern of thoughts. i'm guessing that every single parent in the classroom ran through the same general thought process.

but then my next thought was:

4 - or maybe instead we should just develop the hell out of his language and social skills.

that's the entrepreneur in me. it's the part of me that thinks mcdonald's should stop selling cappuccino and starbucks should stop trying to force us to buy their breakfast sandwiches.

i think when it comes to preschool, there's a good argument to be made for developing our weaknesses. evan's going to have an awfully frustrating school experience if he never learns to hold his writing utensils.

when it comes to three year olds, there's also a pretty good argument for waiting it out. chances are very good that evan's fine motor skills will develop without me sending him to occupational therapy or embarking on my own home-study-course of preschool needle threading and pencil gripping.

but when it comes to business, i think there's a good argument to be made for accepting our limitations and weaknesses and instead developing the hell out of our strengths.

what do YOU think?