Let people be who they are

I see everyday how blindly we spent lot of energy trying to get from people what they cannot provide. And they cannot, since it’s not on their nature, backgrounds and expectations.

I see parents trying to see a personal desideratum projected on their loved children. Teachers fighting for get pupils all the same through a unified type of education. Managers expecting the same type of performance from so different people. So different characters. Could ever parents, teachers and managers ask to them: is this really of your interest?

Ok, you could say: obviously it is easier to put all together in “the same bag”. Just give few chances to choose, otherwise it would be a mess to manage. But what if we try the opposite. Maybe...it's exactly in the chaos where the best from people do arise.

Read this sparkling idea around motivation and learning, by Roger Schanck (Socratic Arts’ CEO):

“Students try to please both teachers and parents. Teachers give grades and employers give money, both to motivate learning. Are there better ways to motivate learning?

Yes. There is one much better way. Letting people be who they are. So often we try to train people for things for which they are really quite unsuited. We try to train employees to do what they aren't particularly good at doing. I never taught my daughter to write. My mother never taught me to do what I do. What my mother did do was revel in my abilities. And, I, in turn reveled (and still do) in my daughter's abilities. This is what you can do as a teacher or trainer. Revel in what your student can do. Encourage more. Be excited by accomplishments. Put them in situations where their eyes light up and help them achieve the goals they want to achieve”.