Josephine
Though she really did exist, her name was not Josephine, and she was extremely smart, except in one important area — interactions with people.
Over the years I’ve told my children, as well as anyone else who would listen, that if you can have only a single skill in life it should be getting along well with others. I think that Josephine missed that lecture.
She first saw me for counseling when I was an apprentice in the Counselor Ed program at the USC School of Education. She continued seeing me, sporadically and at no cost, for many years after.
I remember one of Josephine’s many problems. On the second day of a new job she gave her employer a list of everything she thought they needed to correct in their business.
How much longer do you think she held that job? (Hint: think Minutes rather than Years.)
I have absolutely no idea whether Josephine’s suggestions had value. In any event, her ideas might have been eagerly implemented if their source had been a paid consultant rather than a know-it-all high school student. (Consider the source?) But she was hired as a file clerk, not as a Consultant .
If she had been driving, I might have bluntly suggested that she stay in her own lane. But she was just an intrusive busybody with no common sense. (There’s nothing so uncommon as common sense?)
So what should I say?
Wait a minute. You think I’m going to just give you the answer?
No no no. You’re going to have to work for this one.
Actually, I’m going to have to work for this one. I did learn in the USC Professional Wiriting program that a self-help author is expected to be an expert. No hemming and hawing. Just perfection. Now.
Interestingly enough, research in Counseling at the time clearly indicated that talking to a friend could have the same value as talking to a professional counselor. I don’t think the Counseling industry publicized this finding to any major extent.
So here we are. Pretty much as we were before.
But now we realize that maybe finishing the GRE quickly, and even with a perfect score, does not necessarily guarantee success in life.
It’s the personal touch that really counts.
Alan