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Your employees who are averagely effective hit their targets without fanfare or stress. Everybody is used to a decent level of performance, which is comfortable for them and for you. But what if they could do better? It’s your responsibility to create the openings. 

It’s possible that these initiatives won’t have an impact on all your employees… but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you didn’t miss out on their potential. 

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“How we can help the forgotten middle reach their full potential

By Danielle R. Moss (TEDWomen 2018, november 2018). 

Based on

Hidden Potential by Adam Grant (Penguin Publishing Group, 2023). 

1/ True or false? The key is to get underway early so you can notch up 10,000 hours of practice and become a prodigy (playing the violin or chess or riding a pony).

False! Young “prodigies” who put themselves through challenging training regimes on a daily basis soon hit a very high level… before vanishing from competitions. Putting in all these hours of practice means they lose their motivation. In fact, it’s children who try out a range of different sports or instruments who stay the course, ending up making a name for themselves in one of their chosen disciplines. Generally speaking, the best option is to pace yourself and avoid over-training, which can set you back and demoralize you. 

2/ True or false? There’s no secret: you have to learn from the best in the field.  

False! Experts are so infused with their own expertise that they find it hard to pass on their modus operandi. Their knowledge has become implicit and hardwired – meaning it’s difficult for them to put it into words. They’ve forgotten the classic mistakes made by all beginners and the journey they had to take. Students who start off learning a new discipline with the expert in their field obtain worse results than their counterparts who learn from a less experienced teacher. 

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Based on I Didn’t Do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore, (Penguin Random House, 2022).

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What is the obstacle? 

Have you pinpointed the main stumbling blocks? Good: now it’s up to you to work on them! 

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Unlocking hidden potential with Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Grant (Rethinking podcast, October 24, 2023). 

We’re assailed by conflicting messages about the need to be agile and adapt. And you’d really like to be, but it’s already hard enough keeping your head above water – which is why you’ve put proactivity and flexibility on the back burner for now. You’ve got a lot more potential to grow than you think, but no one has taught you how to build on it.  

Based on

Hidden Potential by Adam Grant (Penguin Publishing Group, 2023). 

1 – Unlearn these misconceptions! (Potential isn’t a gift set in stone) 

Potential – or the ability to achieve great things – is often seen as an innate gift that is handed out in unequal, fixed measures. But research 1 into artists, scientists and top athletes has invalidated a number of misconceptions about potential, offering us all reassurance about our abilities. 

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Does this pattern seem familiar to you? It’s called escalation of commitment. You answer in the affirmative to an initial commitment, and then feel you can’t say no to any follow-ups even if you regret your decision. How can you break out of this escalation? 

This escalation can also be seen in companies where the plans aren’t viable but no one has the courage to jettison them! 

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How to rethink a bad decision

By Adam Grant (TEDWorklife with Adam Grant, 2021). 

Cognitive biases and the boundaries of our intelligence stand in the way of reliable reasoning. In these circumstances, how can we critically evaluate the output of AI that is subject to biases and “hallucinations”? 
An MIT study with 204 participants showed that when AI responses are framed as questions rather than statements, our ability to pick out flawed and illogical answers is much better! 
To take one example, participants were given the following AI-generated statement: “Violent video games cause aggression. One player stabbed another player after losing at Counter-Strike”. For 50% of them, the response was logically correct. However, when the same idea was put in the form of a question – “A person who played a violent video game was aggressive; does this mean that anyone who plays a violent video game will be aggressive?”, 70% of participants spotted the “generalization fallacy”. 

However, AI has not yet been configured to ask the user questions. So, it’s up to you to question and challenge what AI says. 

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Don’t just tell me, ask me

By Valdemar Danry, Pat Pataranutaporn, Yaoli Mao and Pattie Maes (MIT MediaLab, 2023). 

Based on

Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish, Penguin Random House, 2023 

1. ARE YOU CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THE POROBLEM IS? 

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