‘Tis that time of year
‘Tis that time of year. Summer over. Back to school.
A nervous time for some: a new school, or perhaps a final year with exams looming.
Here’s hoping no students will experience anything like when Roger Waters, bassist of the rock band Pink Floyd, attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys many years ago.
‘I hated every second of it, apart from games’ recalls Waters. ‘The same kids who are susceptible to bullying by other kids are also susceptible to bullying by teachers’.
‘Tis that time of year
Such was his awful school experience, it motivated Waters to compose the classic song Another Brick in the Wall. Full of fierce ant-authoritarian lyrics, the most famous was surely the line: ‘we don’t need no education’. It became a protest anthem against school discipline. Governments banned it. Educators were not amused.
The track includes a choir of 23 students from Islington Green School in London. They spent a full week rehearsing before going to the recording studio.
But here’s the thing: the children received no payment. Sure, Pink Floyd eventually gave each of them an album and tickets to a concert and made a small donation to the school.
But given this song sold 4 million copies, topped the charts in 14 countries, was nominated for a Grammy Award and is one of Rolling Stones magazine’s best 500 songs of all time, this was poor form on the part of the band, especially one claiming to be anti-establishment.
For many – including myself as a former teacher in Inner London – Pink Floyd’s reputation was forever damaged.
Whilst Pink Floyd were no doubt able to ignore this loss of credibility, the same cannot be said for most of us.
Loss of Credibility means a loss of Trust
And in the world of business this matters. Matters greatly.
As Warren Buffet so vividly emphasized on 4th September 1991 when appearing before a US Congressional House Subcommittee to apologise for the illegal actions of Salomon Brothers star trader, Paul Mozer.
“Lose money for the firm” said Buffet, “and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless”
Interestingly, Buffet also hated school. He saw it as a distraction from what he really wanted to do – to run a business. Which is what he did in his spare time at school. Indeed, when he graduated, he was already earning more than his teachers.
For those who have just started school this year, hope you have fun. For those who’ll be leaving, going to university or looking for a job, bear in mind that Harvard rejected Warren Buffet. And it didn’t hold him back. It really didn’t.
2 exciting news updates from Connect! We are opening a new office in Phnom Penh to extend our availability in South East Asia. We are also working on a new programme to help prepare students for employment in Hong Kong after leaving the academic world.
Get in touch for more information!
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Until next month!
Warmest regards,
Team Connect
