Hidden Potential

feeling awkward and making mistakes was a sign of learning.

It’s even effective for novices: the best way to learn something is to teach it. You remember it better after you recall it—and you understand it better after you explain it.

In 1999, Maurice became the first African American chess grandmaster ever.

Our assumptions shape our values, which in turn drive our practices.

The coach effect captures how we can marshal motivation by offering the encouragement to others that we need for ourselves.

As a result, we value demonstrated excellence—which leads us to adopt practices geared toward identifying and investing in students who show obvious signs of brilliance.

The real world is far more ambiguous. Once you leave the predictable, controllable cocoon of academic exams, the desire to find the “correct” answer can backfire. In a meta-analysis, the average correlation between perfectionism and performance at work was zero.

Writing exposes gaps in your knowledge and logic. It pushes you to articulate assumptions and consider counterarguments. Unclear writing is a sign of unclear thinking.

Feeling abandoned left him with something to prove.