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During November, I focused on resilience on my Instagram channel. I see resilience as the quality which allows us to thrive, rather than just survive. This currently feels important given the extended period of crisis that we are in the middle of.
I’m pleased to say, engagement was really good and I could see that this was a skill people were keen to recognise and nurture. I believe it’s because we’ve noticed a change in energy (not just in terms of feeling tired, but in the way energy comes to us, what inspires and motivates us) while our lives have been disrupted.
It’s been reminding me of a book called The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. This book is about reframing our minds. It’s a common coaching tool – and it’s based on a real experience.
Rosamund is a therapist and Benjamin is conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He also lectures and it was while teaching at the University of Southern California that he began to question motivation among his students. As background, the university had a forced rank on grades on the course he was teaching. This means they only accept a certain number of each grade. Students are awarded the grades based on their relative performance, not on their individual achievement. This meant grading was more about how the group did as a whole rather than any one individual being able to stand out.
Interestingly, Zander could see that motivation was low. Students, knowing how grades were awarded, couldn’t see a reason to put their all into their studies and performance.
The hypothesis
In the book, he explains ‘Class after class, the students would be in such a chronic state of anxiety over the measurement of their performance that they would be reluctant to take risks with their playing. One evening I settled down with Roz to see if we could think of something that would dispel their anticipation of failure. What would happen if one were to hand an A to every student from the start?”
Zander set about reframing the students minds to believe they had an A that was theirs to lose. He asked every student to write a letter that began “Dear Mr Zander, I got my A because….” In return, he gave them their A and all they had to do was keep it.
The outcome
The results were tangible. Students showed more creativity, more flair and took more risks. He was treated to some true musical performances, as opposed to people playing safe to ensure they stayed within the boundaries of an average grade. Which is what they used to do when all they did was compete for a place on the curve. There were no longer any constraints, or bureaucratic pre-agreed plans. This allowed students to perform amazing music to justify the A grade they already had.
Often, when it comes to reframing, the smallest tweak to our thoughts can produce an incredible change in outcome. This is why, at times of difficulty such as we are currently experiencing, being resilient by reframing our thoughts, can often be the difference between surviving and thriving. What do you need to reframe?
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