Please do try this at home

A few weeks back and as part of the amazing  Founders4Schools founded by Sherry Coutu I got to go back to school, not really my old school but Strathburn Primary in Inverurie near Aberdeen. The ask was to talk to a bunch (more than one class) of P7's about careers advice, not just in tech but in more general terms. 

First up, how do you engage as a tech service company to a room rooms of 12 years olds? The answer of course - take an iPhone apart and stick it in a picture frame. Taking stuff apart was a fixation of mine as a kid which culminated in having the back off the CRT TV and taking the insides out....and back together. It also resulted in a career as an electronics engineer building submarines.

Holding up just an iPhone and asking about the careers and jobs were involved in making my first call got some low ball answers 4, 7 20. All usually around the retail and fix it jobs.

Showing the inside of the phone and explaining about all the stuff inside opened up a whole exciting new route of conversation - from the jobs involved in mining the components for the glass and case to software development and accessories. 

Result! and as a group we got to several hundred jobs and careers before an iPhone can Snap a Chat. We also covered that while the size and purpose may vary the inside of just about any modern piece of consumer tech will look very much the same inside - a interface, CPU, storage, connectivity, power - regardless of what it is it all looks very much the same inside.

For me, and importantly as a group, there was some great chat and realisation that relying on each other and working as a team was much more exciting and productive in anything they do now and in to the future. We went round the room and discovered who was creative, musical, sporty, good at communication, better at getting things done - they all realised having a screwdriver in your hand is good but having a team with the full tool kit is great - and much more fun.

Did I want to inspire one of them to take something apart ? - sure I did - it is a right of passage that so many sadly don't get to enjoy in our sealed for ever, do not touch risk adverse world and done well can really excite and complement the hard work teachers put in everyday and hopefully spark a few imaginations.

Sadly for me I didn't get to take the iPhone apart - that was a task taken on board by my eldest son.

I do hope the TV is in one piece.