SUNNYSIDE SCOOP APRIL, 2019
Principal Points April 2019 Educating an Original Thinker “The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.” - Albert Einstein I was recently watching a TED Talk from Professor Adam Grant of Wharton Business College (yes, this is what I do over my spring break), and found it interesting to learn about the surprising habits of original thinkers. I wanted to share with you some of his findings, and how as parents we can help incorporate these skills into our own kids. • Originals are nonconformists people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world. They’re the people you want to bet on. • Procrastinating can be a vice for your productivity, but it can be a virtue for your creativity. Many great originals are quick to start but they’re slow to finish. To be an original you don’t have to be the first one to have the idea, you just have to be different and better. • Often original people can look confident, but behind the scenes, they feel the same fear and doubt that the rest of us do. They just manage it differently. There are two kinds of doubt: self-doubt and idea doubt. Self-doubt is paralyzing. But idea doubt is energizing – it motivates you to experiment and refine. The key to original thinking is not to see failure as a dent on our ability. But rather we need to remind ourselves that first attempts are often not right, and that we’re just not there yet. • Originals are also afraid of failing, but what sets them apart from the rest of us is that they’re even more afraid of failing to try. They know that failure can come not only from a business that goes bankrupt, but also by even failing to start a business in the first place. Ultimately our biggest regrets are not our actions but the chances not taken. • Originals also have lots and lots of bad ideas. The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most. And if we want to be more original, we have to generate more ideas. • You can boost your creativity by being quick to start and slow to finish. And you can motivate yourself to try by doubting your ideas, accepting the fear of failing, and knowing that you need many bad ideas in order to get a few good ones. So how can we incorporate these ideas with our kids? • Have our kids listen to the messages they tell themselves with they fail. Instead of seeing failure as a negative, view it as an opportunity to develop and grow. Teach kids to tell themselves they are not there YET, and learn from their mistakes. • Have our kids ask themselves what kind of doubts they experience - self-doubt or ideas doubt? Have them turn their selfdoubts into idea doubts, and notice the difference it makes in their energy to keep trying harder. • Help build their confidence by taking action, especially when it involves risk and failure. Having kids step outside of their comfort zone. Sometimes this idea can feel overwhelming for a child, but by teaching students to focus on their actions it can also kick-start their confidence. Have students start with small challenges that allows them to grow, improve and gain confidence. Keep asking them, if you fail, how you can do it better next time and try again. This information aligns with our thought processes at Sunnyside, we work to create and develop growth mindsets in our students. This doesn’t happen naturally, and can be guided by the adults in their lives. The more they hear us telling them to see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, the more resiliency we build in them to become stronger adults. Partnering with you, Dr. Flansburg