written by: Trevor Ragan Learning is the Wild Card It’s game night. Snacks out, friends sitting around the table, cards shuffled. The deal begins. You peek at the first card – 5♦. Not much to work with. The next – 7♣. Then 4♠. Then 8♥. So far this hand is a dud – low cards, no pairs. Then comes the...
My fiancée is thinking about getting a 4Runner. For the last week we’ve been doing our research – scrolling reddit, learning about the different options and trims, arguing about what color looks the best. During this time something weird has happened. Every time we leave the house the streets are filled with 4Runners. These things are everywhere. One of two...
Ali Crum and her research team round up over 80 hotel workers. They divide them into two groups: The intervention group, who is told that the work they do (cleaning hotel rooms) is good exercise and satisfies the Surgeon General’s recommendations for an active lifestyle. They are given specific examples of how their daily activities, such as vacuuming, changing linens,...
Let’s discuss some new and exciting growth mindset research You walk into a lab to take part in an experiment. Someone comes up to you and says: “In a few minutes you’re going to give a five minute speech to a panel of judges.” Then they leave you alone to prepare (and freak out a bit). You plan your speech,...
season 4 ep 6 There’s been some exciting advancements in the world of growth mindset. David Yeager joins to share some of his latest research. Listen anywhere you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTube THE NEW ERA OF GROWTH MINDSET – A quick growth mindset overview – Addressing growth mindset controversies – The New Era of Growth Mindset – David Yeager:...
We’re a little over a month into our New Year’s resolutions. How’s yours going? Same. Don’t worry though, we’re not alone. About 68% of people have never completed a resolution. Rather than running it back in 2023 with the same strategy and falling short again, let’s adapt, adjust, and approach this differently. And let’s do it ASAP. GOALS & SKILLS...
To change a behavior it’s usually best to focus on our mindsets and environment, rather than just the behavior. Eat more vegetables = behavior Vegetables are bland and boring → Vegetables can be satisfying and delicious = mindset shift Making fresh, well-prepared, veggies readily available = environment Get more sleep = behavior Sleep is a waste of time → Sleep...
Pause for a second and think of a few things you’re good at. No, really. Twenty seconds on the clock. Ready, set, go. We do this exercise during our workshops. And it’s one of my favorites because no matter what group we’re working with, the same thing happens: There are five seconds of awkward silence. And most people’s faces scrunch...
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer Great learners can adapt, solve problems, work through setbacks, build new skills. Learners are resilient. Learners are agile. No matter who we are or what we do, becoming a better learner is a...
My friend is bad with chopsticks. He’s so bad that he actively avoids places that use chopsticks. On the rare occasion when we convince him to come out for sushi, he’ll try to use them for a second, get embarrassed, then ask for a fork. In the scheme of things is this a huge problem? No. But it’s definitely an...
When we see someone perform at a high level we love calling them gifted. We see this in professional sports, in the workplace, and in schools. “Gifted” is coming from a good place but can send the wrong message. If I believe I’m gifted, I might take it a step farther and assume that I don’t need to work at...
There are two parts of learning something: 1. Figuring out how to do the thing 2. Practicing it Part 1 is fun, easy, and even exciting. We can read, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos and start to rack up this knowledge almost without lifting a finger. A bit of this is useful – we need a concrete target to...
It’s 6:45pm. Friday night. A small friend squad is at my house. We’re sitting around the table talking, eating, the usual. After the snacks and chats it’s time for the main event – it’s game night bby. I head to the shelf to pull out some of our go-tos: Camel Up, Catan, What Do You Meme? My girlfriend, Emily, stops...
With our SFCOHTGGAS post we established that our mindsets have a big impact on our capacity to grow and that developing a growth mindset – the belief we can grow – can help us become better learners. That’s all great, but unfortunately it’s where most people stop when they teach growth mindset: “Our mindsets matter. Developing a growth mindset is...
by Trevor Ragan and Alex Belser | Podcasts | Leadership & Learning Environment APPLE PODCASTSSPOTIFYGOOGLE PLAY How to Improve the Learning Environment with Modeling Our actions have more of an impact on the learning environment than we realize. If we understand the power of modeling, upgrade the way we think about it, and become more intentional about it – we...
Skills are built, not born. A simple phrase that can become the bedrock for great learning. Of course it takes time, effort, some experiments, and struggle to earn a skill. But, if it’s a skill and you do the work, you can build it. The best news: most of the good things in life are skills. There are the obvious...
If we zoom way out, the learning process looks something like this: We call this the SFCOHTGGAS: The Self-fulfilling Cycle of How to Get Good at Stuff. Yay for acronyms – woot! JK they’re the worst, but there’s a lot that this cycle can teach us about learning and how our mindsets can affect the process. The way it works...
It’s 2013. I’m a few weeks into blogging for my freshly launched website and winner of the most terrible domain name of all time award – championshipbasketballschool.com. The focus of my posts: how to design better basketball practices and drills. Thrilling, I know. My mom is a middle school PE teacher and I’m living in her basement. One day she...
It’s February 2014. I’m sitting in a massive training complex in Anaheim, CA observing the USA Women’s National Volleyball team practice. I am in awe. Having spent most of the past year researching and writing for my blog, I was curious about the science of development. Now I was on a mission to discover how to apply it. Most of...
APPLE PODCASTSSPOTIFYSTITCHERGOOGLE PLAY The Pygmalion Effect Our expectations can have a huge impact on the performance and development of the people around us. Trev and Alex sit down with one of the most influential psychologists in the world, Robert Rosenthal, to learn more. Rosenthal shows how the Pygmalion Effect can have both a positive and negative impact on our people...
I’m squatting, you’re spotting. The goal: 12 reps Reps 1-3: no prob Reps 4-7: not bad either, but I’m starting to feel it Rep 8: It gets hard and I start to struggle a bit You jump in and do the last 4 reps for me. I feel better, you feel helpful… but my reps have been robbed! Obviously this...
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