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.
Take a fresh look at your expectations: average expectations yield average results. Make it absolutely clear to your colleagues: you believe in them and you intend to help them outdo themselves.
Work on your language so that it reflects your higher expectations: change the way you ask questions. So, instead of inquiring, “Are you planning on going to university?”, say: “Which university do you want to go to?” The mindset will be wildly different.
Treat colleagues like high potentials. Think about training courses, projects and resources that would help them develop and grow.
Embrace any setbacks: potential does not develop in a straight line. It gains ground, reaches a middle ground and loses ground. Don’t get waylaid!
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.
By Danielle R. Moss (TEDWomen 2018, november 2018).
Based on
Hidden Potentialby 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.
Imposter syndrome: You think you’ve reached where you are following a string of misunderstandings, and you’re blind to the potential that other people have spotted in you. The fear that others will detect that you’re a fake can hold you back.
Young geniuses under the spotlight: The example of young prodigies – the four-year-old who plays the violin, for instance – makes it harder for you to explore your own potential. You’re left thinking that you need innate qualities that you simply don’t have. But it’s not these qualities that count: your potential, what you’re capable of developing, is what matters most.
Under-estimating years of practice: Grant aspired to be a better speaker by modeling Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. But he soon lost heart. Why? Because the author had overlooked the fact that this historic moment was borne of a lifetime (albeit a short one) of practice.
Perfectionism: This makes you focus on details, side-step problems and beat yourself up when you get the slightest thing wrong. It’s an attitude that means you have zero chance of improving.
Have you pinpointed the main stumbling blocks? Good: now it’s up to you to work on them!
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.
Potential is correlated with IQ. False Faux. An investigation into chess players has revealed that their intelligence quotient (IQ) has very little impact on how they perform2. A high IQ means they can learn how to play more quickly, but it’s an advantage that declines as time passes. In reality, discipline, determination and proactive learning elevates players to the level of master and grandmaster and, more generally, helps them up their game.
Potential manifests itself at a very early age. False It’s true that there are some exceptionally young piano prodigies (Mozart, for example) or entrepreneurs who succeed aged 20. And then there are also so-called late bloomers, who – like J. S. Bach – come into their own later in life once they have had the opportunity to discover and develop their talent. And, though you’re unlikely to win the Fields Medal in your 40s, there are many other areas where you can shine!
Potential is a starting point. False We tend to assess potential based on what we see in the here and now, and based on abilities that are already obvious. Bu the truth is that these skills are no guarantee of future performance. Rather, potential is all about the ability to carry on getting better. It’s an answer to the question, “How far can you go?” rather than: “What are your strong points?”
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?
Swallow the sunk costs: is the price of the tickets a lost cause? There’s nothing to say you have to use them if you think you’re not going to get any fun out of them! If you force yourself to use them so that you don’t “lose the money”, then you’re punishing yourself all over again. Instead of going on this weekend that has got off to such a bad start, replace it with something you’ll really enjoy.
Avoid being insincere: it’s difficult to own up to a bad decision – which is why you try to convince yourself that you’ll end up having a good couple of days. It’s better to admit you got it wrong as soon as possible. And that’s just tough for the ego.
Watch out for warning signs:you have a poor first impression, and you don’t “feel” the plans are right. Listen to your intuition, and just say no or put off replying.
This escalation can also be seen in companies where the plans aren’t viable but no one has the courage to jettison them!
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.
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?
You’ve been trained to solve problems since you were at school – not to define them. But if you make a botch of the definition, you’ll end up trying to get to the bottom of… the wrong problem. The first principle is to split up the problem definition phase and the resolution phase.
Are you part of a team? Then hold a meeting to define the problem, when:
You should ask each participant to answer the question: “What do you know about this subject that the other people in the room don’t know?” In this way, you’ll avoid superfluous contributions.
Don’t grab the first definition that comes along: more often than not, it is the symptom that is identified rather than the underlying issue. Dig deeper until you get to the root cause of the problem.
Do you have to get to the bottom of your question individually? Describe the problem in writing, and give it the once-over the day after. Is your text full of jargon, labyrinthine, and difficult for anyone else to fathom? If so, that’s a sign that you’re not lucid about your objective. Rewrite it: “What is clearly thought out is clearly expressed”.
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