Let’s Emphasize Progress Over Perfection

Okay, so unfortunately you’re about to get a little bit of a rant. But don’t worry, it’s a good one:

Most of what we assess, as educators, classifies as “lag measures”--as after-the-fact scoring that determines how well a student mastered the content. This system, usually using a 100-point scale, creates within it a pre-determined definition of success based on perfection. In other words, if 100 points are available, then simultaneously we are encouraging students to aim for the perfect score AND to essentially stop once they arrive.

Yet this runs contradictory to the growth mindset which draws its significance from the Japanese word, “kaizen” which emphasizes the need for continuous improvement. When we have a sense of continuous improvement, there is actually no ceiling on our potential–no more 100-point perfection, but instead an ongoing spectrum of possibilities.

It means we need to assess during the process in addition to after the fact and more firmly build a feedback loop into our educational practices and assessments. There is really no “final” score as much as there is the identification of opportunities for growth.

Why is this important? Because if we are truly going to adopt the transformative power of the entrepreneurial mindset, we must TRULY UNDERSTAND the importance of redefining failure. And not just as a buzzword or phrase but really UNDERSTAND it. What is failure? How does it differ from mistakes? How can we structure our learning to encourage it? How can we eradicate the fear and negative stigma associated with it?

These are important and timely questions as we explore meaningful impact in our classrooms. And here’s a very specific example of how this works (something we’ve done with 8th-grade students):

“From Failure to Opportunity to Progress: The Opportunity Map” 

1. We start with a “failure audit” which includes a personal example, two interviews, and insights.

2. We then examine the failure and apply the “5 WHY” root cause analysis technique (asking WHY to dig further and further into the root cause of the failure)

3. We map out all of the “why” responses which explain the failure, and we separate the ones that are “external excuses” (a variable outside of our control) from the things we can directly influence.

4. We highlight the areas we can directly influence and re-designate them as “opportunities for growth.”

5. We pick one or two opportunities for growth and begin creating a plan to grow in that area (using habit formation and goal setting techniques inherent to entrepreneurial mindset education).

When I work with schools on transforming educational practices from an entrepreneurial mindset perspective, we often begin with simple exercises like this that start to redefine traditional methods. What was once a failure becomes an opportunity for growth, and this leads to a purpose driven approach of progress over perfection.

Want to hear more? I dive deeper into this topic (and many others!) in my podcast for schools, “Entrepreneurial Mindset Podcast for Transformative Education.” Listen on any podcast platform and share this link with your fellow educators.