” Benjamin Barber, an eminent political theorist, once said ” I don’t divide the world into the weak and strong, or the successes and the failures…I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.”
― Carol S. Dweck, Mindset
This is not a new idea but a timeless and a refreshing outlook to life. Dr. Carol Dweck’s ideas have gained currency for for early education pre -schoolers and as well as CEO’s of large corporations. To see the world in terms of Fixed mindset and Growth mindset binary as it sounds may not be a bad one..
If we see a school graduation photograph of a fifteen or a fourteen year old children, no can make a educated guess what X,Y, Z children would end up as, a writer, nurse, teacher, medical practitioner, sportsman, entrepreneur, college drop out or Charlie Manson. May be it’s about choices or may be it’s effort in a thoughtful or not so considerate direction. Children have desires and they don’t have metrics to evaluate their course of direction. Some have mentors or coaches. Mostly well meaning parents. So you never know…
I liked the fundamental idea espoused in the book ” You can accomplish lot more than you think with right effort and strategies..” Outcomes thus have more to do with character. It’s a very good idea. I also feel the notion of parenting of lavishing praises on children in an effort to bolster their self esteem leads to over grown kids with semi outcomes. My mother’s idea of parenting was to criticize and then make up with lots of food. My friend’s father’s famous retort to any inquiry about son ” That rascal’s address is that play ground..” . They are all harmless and some bad for child’s esteem. Parent’s never knew the right way guess. Dr. Carol S Dweck say’s ” Praise learning process and tie it with an outcome.” That way children can see how they derived at outcomes. This is embedded learning. That is very a good idea.
I have struggled with learning outcomes in most of adolescence and early adult years. I failed in three public examinations that studied towards in various age groups. It was never because of lack of effort or ability to understand material. I gave up at twenty five. I learnt that effort or desire or praises handed out by teachers do not lead to outcomes. Success is a direct derivation of efforts, strategies and resources. You should never be afraid of asking for help or soliciting feedback. I read about highly acclaimed and sought-after American attorney David Boies saying ” Life is not about timed tests “. I agree. From a “The Yale center for Dyslexia & Creativity” article…
“The way Boies processes written information is by first skimming a text to pick out the salient points. Then, by slowing down and focusing exclusively on these, he is able to analyze them critically and grasp the essence of the text. It is this unique ability that enables Boies to handle the large volume of reading required for his work, and that helped him excel in college and law school, despite his poor performance on timed tests.”
I have since adopted above approach. It has never let me down at work. More from Carol S Dweck..
” One seventh- grade girl summed it up ” I think intelligence is something you have to work for………it isn’t just given to you…….Most kids if they’re not sure of answer, will not raise their hand to answer the question. But what I usually do is raise my hand, because if I’m wrong, then my mistake will be corrected. Or I will raise my hand and say,’ How would this be solved? or I don’t get this. Can you help me? Just by doing that I’m increasing my intelligence.”
Be a learner. I would recommend ” Mindset” by Dr. Carol S Dweck to students, parent’s, teacher’s, counselor’s, human resource professionals, every one…
Though the book doesn’t hand out learning strategies but gives a great deal of context and examples, worth a read and highly recommended.
Thank you!
I wrote this as a LinkedIn post. Hope it’s of use.
Love, Suresh
neverlamentcasually 