What my 3-year-old son taught me about 'the moment people take action' | Lessons from Children ①

Until now, whenever I was told that people in an organization don't take action because of "a lack of ability" or "low motivation," I was left with a strong sense of discomfort.
This morning, during an interaction with my 3-year-old son,

I felt like I caught a glimpse of what that discomfort really was.

An incident this morning

This morning, as I was writing in my diary,
Rito (my 3-year-old son) asked me.

"What's that?"

I thought for a moment and answered like this.

"You know how Daddy sometimes doesn't feel very well?
So, every day I write down 'how many points I'm at today.'
And when I'm feeling down, I read it back, and
sometimes I can understand, 'Oh, I felt that way because this happened on that day.'
So, it's like collecting hints for my well-being."

Rito thought for a moment,

"I want to write something like Daddy's too!"

he said with a smile.

At this point, I felt a slight hesitation.

Rito has seen me writing in my diary before.
In fact, we've even written things together, calling it "Rito's part," like a fantasy diary.

In other words, it wasn't that he didn't know about it.
However, today was the first time he said he "wanted to do it."

What actually happened

What was the difference? I think that until then, for Rito, the diary was
"something Daddy does that I don't really understand."

In other words, for Rito,



that diary had no 'meaning'
.

But this morning,

・Why I am doing it
・What I can understand from it
・How it helps me

I was able to share the "meaning" behind it.
In that moment,

I see (understanding) → That sounds good (internalization) → I want to do it (behavioral change)

it seemed to change into this.

When I think about it

Rito already knew the act of 'writing a diary' itself.

However, it was a 'meaningless' action to him.

Then, the meaning that 'it serves as a hint to know oneself' was added to it.

As a result, his scattered understanding connected, and it became something he 'wanted to do'.

I think this can also happen at work.

Everyone knows, to some extent, what they should be doing.
It's not that they don't know how to do it.
Even so, they don't move.

At times like that,
what an organization needs, more than knowledge or skills, might be

'what kind of meaning does that work have?'

to discuss together.

Of course, reality is more complex, but that is what I believe.