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Thank you.
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Today I want to tell you about the power of
"yet."
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I learned in High School in Chicago where
students had to pass eighty four unity to
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graduate and if they didn't pass they got
the grade "not yet."
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I thought, isn't that wonderful?
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Because if you fail you're nowhere but if
you get the grade "not yet" you're on a learning
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curve.
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"Not yet" gave them a path into the future.
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And "not yet" also helped me understand a
critical experience early in my career.
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To figure out how kids cope with challenge,
I gave ten year olds some problems that were
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a little too difficult for them.
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Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive
way.
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They said things like, "I love a challenge!"
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or "I was hoping this would be informative!"
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They understood that their abilities could
grow through their hard work.
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They had what I would call a "growth mindset."
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But for other children it was tragic, catastrophic
from their more fixed mindset perspective
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their core intelligence had been tested and
devastated.
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Instead of the power of "yet" they were gripped
by the "tyranny of now."
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So what did they do next?
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In one study, after a failure on a test, they
said they'd cheat next time instead of study
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more.
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In another study they found someone who did
worse than they did so they could feel better.
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And in many studies we found they run from
difficulty.
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Let's look at how that looks in the brain.
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Moser and his colleagues measured from the
brain as kids encountered errors.
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Processing the error shows up in red.
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If you look at the fixed mindset brain on
the left nothing is happening.
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But if you look at the growth mind-set on
the right it's on fire with "yet!"
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They're processing the error deeply learning
from it and correcting it.
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So, how are we raising our kids?
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Are we raising them for a growth now or for
"yet?"
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Are they focused on the next "A" or test score
instead of dreaming big?
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Instead of thinking about what they want to
be and how they want to contribute to society?
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And if they are too focused on "A's" and test
scores, are they going to carry this with
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them into the future?
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Maybe.
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Because many employers are coming to me and
saying, "we've already created a generation
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of young workers who can't get through the
day without a reward."
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So, what can we do?
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How can we build that bridge to "yet?"
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First, we can praise wisely.
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Our research shows that when we praise kids
for the process they engage in for their hard
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work, their strategies, their focus, their
perseverance - they learn that challenge seeking.
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They learn that resilience.
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Praising talent, praising intelligence makes
them vulnerable.
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There are other ways of rewarding "yet."
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We teamed up with game scientist at the University
of Washington to create a math game: Brain
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points.
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The typical math game rewards right answers,
right now.
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But not Brain Points.
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We rewarded process and the learning curve
so effort, strategy and progress.
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The Brain Points game created more sustained
learning and perseverance than the standard
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game.
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And just the words "yet" and "not yet" after
a student has a set back we're finding creates
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greater confidence and greater persistence.
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We also can change students mind-sets directly.
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In one study, we taught students that every
time they pushed out of their comfort zone
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to learn something really really hard and
they stuck to it the neurons in their brain
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could form new, stronger connections and over
time they could become smarter.
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Those who learned this lesson showed a sharp
increase in their grades.
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Those who did not showed a decrease.
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We have done this with thousands of students
now across the country with similar results.
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Especially for struggling students.
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So let's talk about equality.
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In our country there are groups of kids who
chronically show poor performance and many
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people think that's inevitable.
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But when educators create growth mind-set
environments steeped in "yet" equality can
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happen".
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Let me give you a few small examples.
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One teacher took her Harlem kindergarten class,
many of whom could not hold a pencil for the
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first month, threw daily tantrums, she took
them to the 95th percentile on the National
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Achievement Test.
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That same teacher took a fourth grade class
in the South Bronx - way behind - she took
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them to the top of New York State on the state
math test.
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That teacher is a Stanford grad and she's
here today.
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And another Stanford grad, Phd student, now
a professor, went back to her Native American
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reservation in the state of Washington.
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She transformed the elementary school in terms
of a growth mind-set.
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That school had always been at the bottom
of the district - at the bottom of the state!
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Within a year to a year and a half, the kindergarteners
and first graders were at the top of the district
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in reading and reading-readiness.
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That district contained affluent sections
of Seattle so the reservation kids outdid
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the Microsoft kids.
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And they did it because learning a growth
mindset transformed the meaning of effort
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and difficulty.
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It used to mean they were dumb and now it
means they have a chance to get smarter.
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Difficulty just meant "not yet."
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Last year I got a letter from a thirteen year
old boy.
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He said, "Dear Professor Dweck, I read your
book.
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I liked the fact that it was based on sound
scientific research.
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That's why I decided to test out your growth
mindset principles in three areas of my life.
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As a result, I'm earning higher grades, I
have a better relationship with my parents,
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I have a better relationship with the other
kids at school.
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I realize I've wasted most of my life."
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Let's not waste any more lives because the
more we know that basic human abilities can
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be grown, the more it becomes a basic human
right for kids - all kids, all adults - to
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live in environments that create that growth.
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To live in environments filled - overflowing
- with "yet."
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Thank you.
