One must look at the bigger picture to understand this popular adage. This has so many angles, perspectives, approaches that it could be applied to. 

Let’s take some examples and work through them. 

1. A lady at a Sales company was great at opening doors. As we all know, cold calling and approaching unknown clients is a tough job, let alone trying to then open a dialogue, create a relationship and then turn them into customers. She was brilliant at the cold calling and creating relationships. She was really bad at presentation skills, proposal creation and mentioning pain points of the customers and matching them with benefits of their products. So, due to her inability to convert these initial contacts into customers, she was being let go. Someone astute stepped in and suggested to pair her up with someone who was good at all the things she was weak at. They started converting potential customers into ambassadors of their brand. Broken crayons still colour.
2. Another perspective could be older people. People who cross the retirement age do not need to be put out to pasture. They still may have a lot to give. A lot to share. Their experiences may be invaluable. There are now schemes across the world making these people valuable and contributing members of society. Broken crayons still colour.

  3. People who may not have made it to their full potential. May have experienced failure. May have lost their jobs, their    savings, their companies. Circumstances may have put them down, but, they can still be contributing members of the  community. Look at how you can harness their experience and watch their impact on your enterprise. Failure is the  biggest teacher and they may have learnt lessons that successful companies may not have experienced. Broken crayons still colour.

`4. People not in the right place at this juncture, not able to move forward for myriad reasons, not able to afford a setup, burdened with responsibilities etc. are also able to add value, provide resources, advise, direct etc. These could be Interns, Housewives, people with ideas but not the resources, people with multiple responsibilities so moving forward may not be an option, people at a cross roads in life etc. etc. Providing support to them, implementing their ideas, working with them and dovetailing whatever resources you can bring to the table with their ideas. Broken crayons still colour.

Lastly, we need to be able to see past their current debilitating circumstances and look at what they can bring to the table. Effective utilization of their offering can only be brought forward with an open mind. Someone may have the cure for cancer but they don’t have the resources to move forward or no one is willing to listen to them.

We see things in their entirety. As a whole. Not as in the combination of its parts. The parts themselves have a contribution to make, not only the final product. We have simplified visions of the world. A leaf is only that, a leaf. What about the sheer complexity of its design, the fact that it provides life giving oxygen, providing sustainability for our way of life and a beauty that transcends?  Yet, it’s only that, a leaf.

Suffice it to say that broken crayons, or pencils, can still be useful and provide the required output, if given the opportunity. It is upto us to seek out these broken crayons and ensure their energies are channeled effectively for the betterment of all. It’s a win-win if we keep our minds open to it. 

Rest assured, broken crayons still colour. 

Opinion Piece CEO, Uzair Hassan, 3H Solutions Group, Dubai 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/uzair-hassan-6451024