Are the young ones (between 0 and 6 years) process or output driven?
How many of us look forward to getting the maximum grades in the subjects that we study either in school or college? How many of us focus on achieving certain goals rather than improving our processes to learn more about what we do?
As adults, we learn over time that we are judged (in the society) by others for the results that we achieve, forgetting to enjoy and to learn from the processes involved in accomplishing a task. As adults, we become output -driven and we (over time) measure ourselves based on the results which we have achieved.
This brings me to a question; are we, humans, always output -driven since our childhood? Well, you will be surprised to know that young children are process -driven and not output -driven! To give you an example, when a young child is attempting to walk, independently for the first time, she/he might not be successful. However, the young child is more interested in the process of learning how to walk rather than solely being focused on accomplishing the result. You will notice that if they are not successful that does not stop them from trying many more times. However, even if they are successful, they continue to get up from the floor independently, balancing their bodies and attempting to walk many more times. Perhaps they might fall whenever they are learning to walk on their own, but the fall does not stop them from trying again and again. Another interesting aspect to note is that even after they have learnt to walk, they do not get complacent about the fact that they achieved their goal, they still are finding ways to become more effective with the process. Now, if the young child was output- driven, he/she might have stopped trying after their first success.
They work on a particular task or activity until they are convinced of achieving mastery over that skill that they are trying to achieve. If you teach a young 3-year-old child how to mop or broom the floor, you will see that they do not just stop after cleaning the floor. They keep repeating their actions to gain mastery over that skill at the same time you will notice that they do not really care for if the floor is clean or not. They will continue to clean the floor even though it might be sparkly clean! Once again, proving that they are not output driven, but process driven. Encourage your little ones to continue to be process driven as there is always joy in mastering a skill (at the same time not being overly concerned about its outcome) purely for the joy of learning!
As we all know, Knowledge is power, and learning propels Knowledge. If your child enjoys learning, they then naturally become more knowledgeable and more intelligent. There is always that joy in learning when one is allowed to enjoy the process and is not made to solely focus upon the output. Output happens to be the by-product of a process and not vice-versa. Let us all make learning fun for the little ones!
