Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

by Joseph Grenny

Source 2. Personal Ability Of course, motivation isn’t everything. When trying to understand why others don’t do what they should do, ask: Can they do it? Just because individuals enjoy something doesn’t mean they’ll succeed. They have to have the skills, talent, and understanding required to enact each vital behavior or they’ll fail. For instance, Levin and Feinberg learned that kids drop out not simply because they’re more interested in hanging out in the neighborhood but because they’re routinely failing their assignments and courses and they feel incompetent and bad about themselves. Dropping out is a sane response to persistent disappointment and repeated reminders that they’re performing below average. At KIPP the entire design of the learning process is to create a feeling of competence and mastery. Educators achieve this objective by providing students with informative and engaging deliberate practice experiences coupled with clear feedback. When Levin was asked how long it takes to see results from a new child, he smiled disarmingly and answered, “One hour. When they succeed, they want to repeat their success. And our whole goal is to help them experience success from day one.”