I would place a bet that 99% of us remember that dreaded phrase from schooldays: “Could have done better”.

At different times of my education, I was haunted by it, annoyed by it but eventually learned to laugh at it. As my eldest son would say to me: “Of course, I could, but why? I was enjoying doing other things”. Recently, I have begun to think about his response, which would probably upset most parents.

We need to do better at school because………..well, in order to obtain better marks and thus head off to a better university and thus be richer later on in life. Yes, there is something to that. However, there are also enough misfits in the statement to fill half a book.

Why else should students do better? To please their parents, who are funding the education? Possibly. To boast better ‘all-round’ abilities? Maybe.

I think there is something else. And I believe the true answer can only be discovered once an individual has started to develop a full career, often enveloped by a family. Life, specifically the workplace, throws up many challenges. Some are academic or intellectual, demanding that we apply skills learnt in the classroom. However, more important tasks force us to go beyond our usual efforts, physically and mentally.

Ii is in these very special circumstances that we are forced to give ‘our very best’. This Hollywood clip exudes what I mean in a glitzy manner. But in real life?

Almost every time that I come up against a new client, the conversation invariably comes down to “how can they make more sales?”. So, I set them a very simple assignment.

First, I ask what they intend to do, to which I usually receive a predictable set of responses. Then I ask them to imagine that they had one month to double revenues or face forced closure by the banks. What then? It is amazing how the client really wakes up.

To apply this approach practically: This month, a struggling Jerusalem client of mine raised sales over a holiday period by 50%. He had been forced, belatedly, to learn how to do better.

It is a shame that generations of teachers all over the world only barked cute phrases at their pupils, without showing them the hows and whys.