Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, "What the Dog Saw" is an expansive compilation of his New Yorker columns over the past decade. One, in particular, caught my eye.
In his essay, "The Art of Failure: Why Some People Choke and Others Panic," Gladwell explores the psychological and emotional impact of success and failure on the human experience. In doing so, he raises several important points that are relevant to our daily work with kids.
In discussing some particularly painful examples of failure Gladwell notes that "Human beings sometimes falter under pressure. Pilots crash and divers drown. Under the glare of competition, basketball players cannot find the basket and golfers cannot find the pin. When that happens, we say variously that people have panicked or, to use the sports colloquialism, choked. But what do these words mean? Both are pejoratives. To choke or panic is considered to be as bad as to quit. But are all forms of failure equal?"
This notion of equal forms of failure is an interesting one for an educator. Why is failing a test worse than forgetting one's lines or missing a free throw? Don't all three prepare us for a life in which we fail more often than we succeed? And, in the end, what do these failures tell us about how we are meeting the needs of our kids in school and at home?
Gladwell goes on the say that "we live in an age obsessed with success, with documenting the myriad ways by which talented people
overcome challenges and obstacles. There is much to be learned, though, from documenting the myriad ways in which talented people sometimes fail."
Wait a minute! Talented people fail? Is that what we want to teach our kids?
I say, absolutely. It's not the failure that's the issue, it's the kind of failure that's important.
In citing two examples of infamous athletic failures (Jana Novotna's meltdown in the 1993 Wimbledon Final and Greg Norman's collapse in the 1996 Masters' Championship) Gladwell illuminates what is perhaps the most mysterious aspect of failure, the distinction between "panicking" and "choking."
"Panic," Gladwell notes, "is the opposite of choking. Choking is about thinking too much. Panic is about thinking too little. Choking is about the loss of instinct. Panic is reversion to instinct. They may look the same, but they are worlds apart." For those of us working every day with kids we must learn to tell the difference and shape our experiences in and out of the classroom to
inform those differences. In addition, we must realize that "thinking too much" and "thinking too little" can both get us into trouble. As with many things in life, we must find ways to help our kids find a middle ground.
In his essay, "The Art of Failure: Why Some People Choke and Others Panic," Gladwell explores the psychological and emotional impact of success and failure on the human experience. In doing so, he raises several important points that are relevant to our daily work with kids.
In discussing some particularly painful examples of failure Gladwell notes that "Human beings sometimes falter under pressure. Pilots crash and divers drown. Under the glare of competition, basketball players cannot find the basket and golfers cannot find the pin. When that happens, we say variously that people have panicked or, to use the sports colloquialism, choked. But what do these words mean? Both are pejoratives. To choke or panic is considered to be as bad as to quit. But are all forms of failure equal?"
This notion of equal forms of failure is an interesting one for an educator. Why is failing a test worse than forgetting one's lines or missing a free throw? Don't all three prepare us for a life in which we fail more often than we succeed? And, in the end, what do these failures tell us about how we are meeting the needs of our kids in school and at home?
Gladwell goes on the say that "we live in an age obsessed with success, with documenting the myriad ways by which talented people
overcome challenges and obstacles. There is much to be learned, though, from documenting the myriad ways in which talented people sometimes fail."
Wait a minute! Talented people fail? Is that what we want to teach our kids?
I say, absolutely. It's not the failure that's the issue, it's the kind of failure that's important.
In citing two examples of infamous athletic failures (Jana Novotna's meltdown in the 1993 Wimbledon Final and Greg Norman's collapse in the 1996 Masters' Championship) Gladwell illuminates what is perhaps the most mysterious aspect of failure, the distinction between "panicking" and "choking."
"Panic," Gladwell notes, "is the opposite of choking. Choking is about thinking too much. Panic is about thinking too little. Choking is about the loss of instinct. Panic is reversion to instinct. They may look the same, but they are worlds apart." For those of us working every day with kids we must learn to tell the difference and shape our experiences in and out of the classroom to
inform those differences. In addition, we must realize that "thinking too much" and "thinking too little" can both get us into trouble. As with many things in life, we must find ways to help our kids find a middle ground.