Five Reads for Friday September 6th 2024

 

Raiders Competing in Beacon Academy Cross Country Meet Wednesday

Four day weeks go by fast and they are always full as we try and fit five days of activity into four days (and Saturday) this week. But it's been great to see so many Upper School contests. Here are my five reads for Friday. 

My "Diary of a CEO" Interview - Range Widely - David Epstein

One of my favorite books of the last 10 years is Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. David grew up in Evanston where he attended ETHS and ran track and field there. He was in attendance at a tragic event in the ETHS field house in February 2000 where his teammate Kevin Richards died due to a sudden cardiac event:  Evanston Junior Dies at Finish of Track Event -- Chicago Tribune. David often mentions how that event influenced him ultimately to become a writer on sports. Range isn't just about sports. Its about excelling in all areas. And a new edition of Range has come out. I believe because of that David is doing some media events and this particular interview goes especially deep into his research. David has so many great takeaways in this podcast 

"We valorize precocity." 

"How to make the best 12 year old is different than how to make the best 20, 30, or 40 year old."

But my favorite part of the interview is when he brings up the research of Northwestern professor Dashun Wang who studies hot streaks in careers. Most people apparently produce the highest impact work of their career in a cluster -- or a hot streak. Most of us are lucky to have one hot streak; some people have two or more hot streaks. This new study analyzed the careers of more than 26,000 artists, film makers, and scientists and found a consistent pattern: no matter the individuals age, a period of broad exploration preceded the onset of a hot streak. Exploration means trying new avenues, solutions or ideas or seeking new knowledge or skills. Many people are unwilling to try the explore phase of a career as they prefer to exploit what they already know and maximize the benefit from it. There is definitely benefit to exploiting. however getting the explore/ exploit balance right is the key. Wang and his coauthors say -- "we found that when exploitation occurs by itself, not preceded by exploration, the chance that such episodes coincide with a hot streak is significantly lower than expected."

I thought this was a fascinating new contribution to Epstein's work on Range. You can hear about it and more in this interview. And then work on creating that hot streak! 

Is Your Team A Good Learning Organisation? -- Leaders Performance Institute

Much of the rest of my reading this week was spent going over some of the other research David Epstein reminded me about. This article from 2019 came up because Epstein mentioned a study done by the US Air Force Academy on the teaching of math. Apparently at Air Force everyone takes the same entry Calculus course. The Academy wanted to figure out who the best teachers were. So they did what everyone does -- feedback surveys of the students. What they found though was that the professors who got the most positive feedback from students immediately after the completion of the course, did not produce the most successful students in the next levels of math. In fact, some of the lowest performing students in the next levels of math at the Air Force Academy had the highest grades and gave the most positive feedback to their professors of the entry level math class. There were a number of conclusions here but the one that interested me was "across all subjects, student evaluations of professors are positive predictors of contemporaneous course achievement, but are poor predictors of follow-on course achievement." Many schools and universities spend enormous energy getting feedback surveys from stake holders. If ultimate achievement is the goal -- not just how someone feels about their most recent performance -- I hope this research will be factored in. 

The Danger of Worrying About Results - The Daily Coach

I love the Daily Coach and I worry about results so this caught my eye. My favorite sentence is "if we focus on what's actually in our power -- and commit to developing the right levels of intensity, discipline, grit and consistency -- more often than not, we will come out on top." Easier said than done but a great reminder! 

The American Late Bloomer Who Took Down the World No. 1 At the US Open

I love late bloomer stories and although this story is about her quarterfinal win, Jessica Pegula is now in the finals of the US Open tomorrow after winning last night in the semis! 

Just Breathe! using Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress, Run Easier and Recover Faster

This article appeared in my inbox from the San Francisco Marathon. As I try to keep competing at an older and older age, focusing on my breathing has become essential to a strong performance. I wish I had figured this out earlier in my life. Maybe it will help others. 

Those are my 5 reads for this week. Have a great weekend!