Can Success Be Taught?

Success .... Is it luck? Timing? Purely based on abilities and talents we are born with? Can it be learned? Can we teach it to our children? Why are some more successful than others? Can it be taught and learned  Hmmmmm….

Bill Murphy wrote something back in 2016 over at inc.com that I’ve had bookmarked titled Want to Raise Successful Kids? Science Says Praise Them Like This (but Most Parents Do the Opposite) with the tag line Stop praising kids for their innate or God-given abilities, and instead focus on their effort.

In the piece, Bill describes the work of Dr Carol Dweck, a Stanford University Psychology professor that did a couple of studies involving school age children and learning. In both studies Dr Dweck examines the difference between a growth mindset (belief that achievement is variable and intelligence and problem-solving abilities can be developed over time ) and a fixed mindset (belief that intelligence is almost entirely innate and you are born with it) and how that can impact success, arguing growth mindsets can have a much larger impact on success compared to fixed mindsets.

What does this mean? Let’s use a sports analogy. A person with a fixed mindset might say, "Tom Brady was born with super athletic ability" while a person with a growth mindset might say “Tom Brady has worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today.”  

Bill Murphy breaks things down pretty nicely from a parent perspective. I’ll tweak his writing, approaching as an educator with a focus on students.

• Praising students merely for their innate abilities, such as their intelligence, actually makes it less likely that they'll grow up to enjoy learning and to excel.
• Praising students instead for the strategies and processes they develop to solve problems--even when they don't fully succeed--makes them more likely to try harder and ultimately achieve.

Can success be taught? No doubt - yes. Take a look at Dr Dweck’s research and check out some of Bill Murphy’s writing for more.

Congrats Class of 2020!

 Final grades went in at Holyoke Community College last week and I’ve finally had a chance to take a little time to get some thoughts down.

 

It seems like so long ago - thinking back to when we started the spring 2020 semester in January. Who knew what was coming  in 6-7 weeks…. March 11 was the Thursday before spring break and when I last met with my Systems 2 (Circuit Analysis) class in person. It was midterm exam day. At the time we had all heard about Corona and were more than a little nervous…. A couple days later we learned we were going “remote” for the rest of the semester….

 

WOW - 8 weeks, hundreds of hours of online class time, studying, homework and exams. Loss of part time or full time jobs, learning in often non-idea locations and situations, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, for some depression, sleepless or near-sleepless nights, and a whole lot of frustration with your computer, others around when you are trying to get work done and of course your professors…. And now, not having that final chance on graduation day to say goodbye to you classmates and friends. It’s sure been a haul, it’s over now and you made it! It was not supposed to end this way. I’m hoping it was all worth it. It sure has been for me. I’m so proud of all of you that pushed through this.

 

Your attitude and hard work has been an inspiration that I’ll remember and talk about for a very long time. I know you are all off to different places and I’m sorry I did not get a chance to say goodbye to you all in person. Hoping to see you at the Holyoke Community College virtual celebration in August and seeing you walk across the stage next year with the Class of 2021.

 

Thank you for all of your hard work and wishing you so much success. I know you got this…. now go do more good work!

 

CONGRATS Class of 2020!!

Nathalie Lussier on Self-Esteem, The Missing Ingredient To Success

One of my favorite bloggers is a woman by the name of Nathalie Lussier who writes at Billionaire Woman.com. Nathalie's website/blog title may be a little confusing - her focus is on the different aspects of a person, male or female, and how people can grow and empower themselves to be billionaires on the inside. Among other accomplishments, Nathalie has a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and is a Black Belt in the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do.

Her post today, titled The Missing Ingredient To Success, is about self-esteem. Nathalie defines self-esteem as a mix of confidence, positive feelings about yourself, and an ability to grow as a human being. She says self-esteem is really one of the most important things you can cultivate in your life. Your life can essentially be condensed to how you feel about yourself, because it often permeates throughout the rest of your life.

Nathalie's post discusses (among other things) trusting yourself instead of trusting the opinions of others. She believes that when you feel fulfilled and proud of yourself (translated - build your own self-esteem), you will be better able to help others (translated - build their self-esteem).

I'm not going to try and re-write her post but If you are a boss, an administrator, a teacher, a parent, a husband, a wife, an aunt, an uncle, a student, a sister, a brother, etc...... I think you will find Nathalie's post an inspiring read.

Motivated and Committed People = Outstanding Work

I've been back and forth to Dallas a couple of times the last two weeks - first for a futures conference presentation and this past week for a two day National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Convergence Technology Center at Collin College visiting committee meeting.

At the futures conference I spoke on Globalization - specifically how college courses need to morph to properly prepare students for today and tomorrow's work. The reception, hospitality and quality of the event were outstanding and I am so thankful I get invited to these kinds of events. I learn so much listing to other speakers and talking with attendees.

Last week was the two day visiting committee meeting - larger National Science Foundation grants are required to appoint a National Visiting Committee (NVC) that meets once a year. According to the NVC Handbook published by the Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, these committees are groups of advisors that work with grantees and NSF to help them achieve their goals and objectives. They assess the plans and progress of the project and report to NSF and the project leadership. Committee members also provide advice to the project staff and may serve as advocates for effective projects.

At the NVC meeting, among many things, we had a lot of excellent discussion about current and future of converged communications and networks - what many are now calling unified communications/networking. I'd like to especially thank President Cary A. Israel and Executive Vice President Toni Jenkins from Collin College along with Director Ann Beheler, Ann Blackman, Helen Sullivan, etc, etc from the Convergence Technology Center at Collin College for their hospitality, commitment, work, understanding and dedication to their students. It's always wonderful to see excellent work being done - especially when it is funded with taxpayer dollars.

Here's one photo of NVC student lunch presenters (click to enlarge) taken on Thursday - each a different story and each incredibly EXCELLENT is all I can say. You can check out my iPhone Tumblr photoblog of both events (and a lot of other events) at http://gsnyder.tumblr.com/ - scroll down to see all photos.

I'll get back on my five per week (or so) blog schedule this week - I've got a bunch of them started and I'm not going anywhere for the next couple of weeks!

Thanks again to all at Collin College in Texas.