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Why We Do What We Do – Putting it All Together
By Shlomo Maital
Sometimes things just seem to come together, naturally.
- I recently taught a Workshop for a wonderful group of high school science teachers. They all told me, their key problem is – motivating their students. Motvating them to learn.
- I recently received a research paper from McKinsey, titled “How to improve student educational outcomes: New insights from data analytics”. In this study McKinsey researchers used machine learning (an offshoot of artificial intelligence) to analyze a massive data set — the PISA surveys of 15 year old high school students and their understanding of science and math. The key finding: Student mindsets are twice as predictive of students’ PISA scores than even their home environments. Mindset means “a student’s sense of belonging, motivation and expectations”. This result is robust across the entire world.
The graph shows the % of predictive power of students’ performance. The top two rectangles (orange and purple) represent “mindset” (motivation), for the five different geographical areas.
- My wife’s copy of the American Psychological Association magazine Monitor just arrived. In it, 33 leading psychologists were asked, “What is the next big question psychology needs to answer?” The first person quoted was Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck, whose work on growth mindsets (the idea that talent and talent can grow in a nurturing education environment) was seminal. She said we need “an integrative theory of motivation” and “a framework for …effective intervention [to boost motivation].
These three circles converge. They teach us that how well we motivate ourselves, and those we work with, are THE crucial variables. Because motivated people can do anything (did you watch the Croatia soccer team at the World Cup?). And those without motivation can do nothing.
Let’s look inward and ask, what lights our spark? And then look outward and ask, how can we light the sparks of others who work with us?
How Must Entrepreneurs Treat Failure?
A Practical Solution
By Shlomo Maital
Last evening, I spoke to a group of Brazilian entrepreneurs, here in Sao Paulo, at an accelerator, Startup Farm, run very well by Alan Leite. In the latest round, over 130 projects have been through Alan’s capable hands.
In my brief talk, I tried to practice what I preach, and listened carefully to precisely which messages I brought resonated. The key one, by far? About failure. Entrepreneurship is less about success than about failure, how you perceive it, how you relate it, and how society relates to it. There are cultures where failure is treated as a personal crime; those cultures will never ever have entrepreneurs.
My wife Sharona, a psychologist, listened to my talk and gave me valuable feedback afterward. She reminded me of work by Stanford Psychology Professor Carol Dweck, who has done pioneering work on ‘mindset’.
Here is a brief summary, in the context of startup failure.
Mindset is a mental attitude that determines how you respond to situations. There are two types of mindsets. One is a fixed mindset, which assumes that intelligence is a fixed trait, and that all our qualities and capabilities are fixed, constant and constrained. The second is a growth mindset, which assumes that intelligence (and other capabilities) are qualities that change, grow and develop, especially when we work hard at it. Why don’t we see unmotivated babies? Dweck asks. Because when babies learn to walk, stumbling is not failure, it is a vital step on the road to success…and because you have to learn to walk, you have to stumble and fall luntil you do. Absolutely true of entrepreneurs, too.
Entrepreneurs should have a growth mindset. And they should use it to shape their perception of failure.
Failure can be regarded as personal: I personally have failed. Or worse, I myself AM a failure. My startup failed; I am a failure.
- Wrong. Wrong.
Failure can be regarded as a learning experience; my startup failed, but I am a brave and courageous entrepreneur, because I attempted something very challenging, and did not succeed, but learned a great deal, and eventually I WILL succeed to change the world.
This is how entrepreneurs, and all of society around them, should, can and MUST interpret failure. It is part of a growth mindset; failure is a step toward success. Thomas Edison actually said that, when he tried 10,000 experiments to invent the filament of a light bulb, and each failure brought him closer to the final successful answer.
Here is how Carol Dweck advises us to develop a growth mindset: 1. Learn learn learn 2. Realize hard work is key 3. Face setbacks. Focus on effort, struggle, persistence despite setbacks. Choose difficult tasks. Focus on strategies. Reflect on different strategies that work or don’t work. Focus on learning and improving. Seek challenges. Work hard.
Thank you Professor Dweck!
TIMnovate 