JANUARY CRAWFORD ONLINE ISSUE JAN 2018

If we are going to embrace change, we need to
experiment. You need to try and try again until you
solve the problem. Edison the inventor of the electric
light bulb didn’t decide to try a dozen different types of
filaments when he was working on the electric lamp. He
didn’t say, “OK tried 12, this doesn’t work, I’ll work on
something else”. He tried hundreds of different materials
and FAILED each time before he eventually got to one
that succeeded. Failure is part of the learning process.
As unused to failure as we are at Crawford, you will
face your occasional setback in the future. If you have
not failed, you probably have not pushed yourself hard
enough. It is how you face your setback that will make
the difference in your life or career. See a failure as a
challenge rather than a setback. Find a way around it
and you will be the stronger for it. More than anything,
do not give up. Even when you hit rock bottom, you
have a solid bedrock foundation from which to build
your way up again.
Many years ago, I started off after leaving school by
studying engineering, because that is what I thought
I wanted to do. Like you, I knew something about
engineering but knew little about what an engineer
does on a daily basis. By the time I got to the end of
third year, I reached the realisation that I did not want
to spend the rest of my days being an engineer, so I
considered my second choice which was to become a
teacher. At the time I thought that I had failed, but all
I needed was to find another way. I left university to
become a teacher and studied part-time to complete
my degree because I had to pay back my student loan.
From there, a few years later, I returned to engineering.
Armed with a BA degree and later a BCom (Hons), I
was able to rise up the ranks in industry and run large
companies that actually employed engineers!
My brief spell in teaching served me well when I left the
industry to join ADvTECH and run the CrawfordSchools,
and later the Schools Division of ADvTECH. The
obstacles of previous years were now advantages. My
engineering studies enabled me to speak the technical
language of the engineers, my BCom, the language of
Finance and Marketing, and my teaching gave me an
understanding of academics and assisted me in picking
up some people skills as well.
So what am I getting at here? Every bit of knowledge
you gain is useful but only if you apply it, and the more
you apply it the more opportunities open up for you. If I
could have got so far, without the benefit of a Crawford
education, for you, the future has no limits. Study hard
and apply your knowledge and you will make your
dreams a reality.
examination requirements for Matric. What is not
covered in the curriculum is the need to have certain life
skills that will enable you to be successful in the world
today, but more importantly in the world of tomorrow.
You have been exposed briefly to our new programme
of Core Skills, which are skills that we have identified as
being necessary for you to be successful in the society
you will be living and working in. The basis of the Core
Skills come from the World Economic Forum meetings
in recent years in which they identified a set of 10 key
skills that will be required if people are to be successful
in the world that is moving rapidly towards the Fourth
Industrial Revolution, the world you will be working in.
These top 10 skills that they have identified are:
1. Complex problem-solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Collaborating with others (group work)
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgement and decision
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation; and
10. Cognitive flexibility
How many of these skills are you confident you have
and how many do you still need to develop? I am sure
that you can see elements of these skills in the work you
have done in the classroom and in extramurals during
your time here. The more of these you have, the more
well rounded you will be as a citizen of the world,
which is what you all are. Without a doubt, this list will
be revised with time and possibly look a bit different in
10 year’s time, but you will be able to learn and adapt
because, after all, you are true Crawfordians.
So in closing, do not be afraid of the change in your
life as you leave school and remember the words of
the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, “The secret of
change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting
the old, but on building the new”. So go out there and
focus all your energy on building the new changes.
I look forward to hearing in the future about your
successes and the changes you have made in South
Africa and the world.
Good luck to you all!
At this school, we have tried to impart knowledge but
also skills during your education here. We recognise
that the knowledge we share with you is partially
driven by the need to conform to the legislation and
Alex
Every child a masterpiece | 3