Perhaps We've Been Asking the Wrong Question

 As parents, we ask our children a question that seems perfectly reasonable.

"What do you want to become when you grow up?"

We've all asked it.
Our parents asked us.
Their parents probably asked them too.

The problem isn't the question itself.

It's the world in which that question was born.

There was a time when careers were relatively predictable. You became an engineer, a doctor, a teacher, an accountant or joined the family business. Once you entered a profession, there was a good chance you would stay in it for decades.

Today, that certainty no longer exists.

Many of the careers our children may one day pursue don't exist yet. Others will change so dramatically that they may be almost unrecognisable. Artificial Intelligence is already reshaping how work gets done, and the pace of change is only accelerating.

So perhaps the better question isn't:

"What do you want to become?"

Perhaps it's:

"What kind of problems do you enjoy solving?"

Or...

"What are you naturally curious about?"

Or even...

"What kind of work makes you lose track of time?"

These questions don't force children to choose a destination before they've explored the landscape.

Instead, they help them notice patterns about themselves.

And those patterns often become a far better guide than a career title chosen at fifteen.

As parents, maybe our role isn't to help children predict the future.

Maybe it's to help them understand themselves well enough to adapt to whatever future arrives.

That feels like a much more useful conversation to begin today.