Why Wearing A Tie Isn’t Always Right Approach

            If you’re like me, you used to be a substitute teacher.

You too know the panicked 30 minutes search for lesson plans, the joy of simply handing out a test, and the horror that comes when you have to improvise through 3rd year French class. You know the importance of charming the school secretary for warning on the choice gigs. You know the importance of not wearing a tie.

“What?” I hear many of you asking. “Why wouldn’t you wear a tie? A tie is sign of professionalism. Of authority and intelligence.”

You’re not wrong and everyone from my grad school instructors to my Granny would agree with you. One instructor boasted that he’d worn a tie every day of his professional career. What I kept failing to get across to them, was that wearing a tie made my job more difficult.

There’s a rebellious impulse in school aged children when it comes to any kind of authority. Even if you can prove that you’re the smartest person in the room, it doesn’t matter. Students aren’t worried about actual intelligence, they’re focused on perceived intelligence. Which makes perfect sense. These students are just beginning to realize how to assert themselves and are so fascinated with that power, they never bother to ask why to assert themselves. All that matters is that the guy standing in front of them thinks he’s smarter than them, what with his shiny shoes and tie. The game then becomes to prove the tie wrong. The student then tries to prove that they don’t have to listen to smart people because they don’t have to listen to any people.

That’s what makes kids so frustrating. They actively reject the smart choice. They make a point of being contrarian to good advice under the guise of claiming independence. And that’s fine. It’s aggravating, but it’s fine because they’re kids. They’re exploring social dynamics. That’s what being a kid is about.

And they’re right to question authority! That’s a great trait to have. It’s Neil deGrasse Tyson’s 1st rule of discovery and if it works for him, it works for me. That’s how innovation and progress are made. Every great leader you can think of was centered in some way on questioning authority. The difference is that unlike those school children I battled, the leader was willing to accept Tyson’s 5rh rule: remember, you could be wrong.

There’s the rub, many of us never learn question responsibly. It’s rebellion for the sake of rebellion. Many of us still refuse to listen to smart folk just because we don’t like the idea of someone telling us that they know better. People still text while driving, smoke, deny climate change. Across the pond, many claimed they voted for Brexit specifically because the “intellectual elite” advised against it. We’re still rebellious children.

Let me be clear, I’m not willing to say that we the people are dumb. I will say that many of us make a point of rejecting intelligence though… and that will make us dumb.

Going in as a substitute, I went out of my way to be laid back, I wouldn’t wear ties, and I tried to keep the bass out of my voice. Authority gets rejected on impulse at that level. We allow it because we know they’ll grow out of it. When they don’t though, when rejecting authority is done without responsibility, we are actively participating in ignorance. We find ourselves in a world where we are all looking around wondering how we got here.

Question Authority. But when that authority can answer your question, say thank you, and move on.