QQC 12

The Three Laws of Mastery


"What can we do to move toward mastery, on of the key elements of Type 1 Behavior,..." 


What is Type 1 behavior?


"As with so many things in life, the pursuit of mastery is all in our head."


This reminded me of a quote I heard while watching the Master's. Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-inch course...the space between your ears. - Bobby Jones


"Our beliefs about ourselves and the nature of our abilities - what she calls our "self-theories" - determine how we interpret our experiences and can set the boundaries on what we accomplish."


"Those who subscribe to an "incremental theory" take a different view. They believe that while intelligence may vary slightly from person to person, it is ultimately something that, with effort, we can increase. To analogize to physical qualities, incremental theorists consider intelligence something like strength. (Want to get stronger and more muscular? Start pumping iron.)"


Which is true? Is the pen mightier than the sword?


"The two self-theories lead down two different paths - one that heads toward mastery and one that doesn't. For instance, consider goals. Dweck says the come in two varieties - performance goals and learning goals. Getting an A in French class is a performance goal. Being able to speak French is a learning goal."


"In several studies, Dweck found that giving children a performance goal (say, getting a high mark on a test) was effective for relatively straight-forward problems but often inhibited children's ability to apply the concepts to new situations. For example, in one study, Dweck and a colleague asked junior high students to learn a set of specific principles, giving half of the students a performance goal and half a learning goal. After both groups demonstrated they had grasped the material, researchers asked the students to apply their knowledge to a new set of problems, related but not identical to what they'd just studied. Students with learning goals scored significantly higher on these novel challenges. They also worked longer and tried more solutions. As Dweck writes, "With a learning goal, students don't have to feel that they're already good at something in order to hang in and keep trying. After all, their goal is to learn, not prove they're smart." 


This sort of informs the "new age" of teaching. How can teachers use this to improve the classroom? How would they reward people who achieve a learning goal?


"To incremental theorists, exertion is positive. Since incremental theorists believe that ability is malleable,  they see working harder as a way to get better."


Isn't that what the American dream tells us? But why do we work hard to get nowhere great?


"Type X behavior often holds and entity theory of intelligence, prefers performance goals to learning goals, and disdains effort as a sign of weakness. Type I behavior has an incremental theory of intelligence, prizing learning goals over performance goals, and welcomes effort as a way to improve at something that matters. Begin with one mindset, and mastery is impossible. Begin with the other and it can be inevitable."


"The best predictor of success, the researchers found, was the prospective cadets' ratings on noncognitive , nonphysical, trait known as "grit" - defined as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals."


"Sociologist Daniel Chambliss has referred to this as "the mundanity of excellence."




"It's the same reason that, in another study, the West Point grit researchers found that grittiness - rather than IQ or standardized test scores - is the most accurate predictor of college grades. As they explained, "Whereas the importance of working harder is easily apprehended, the importance of working longer without switching objectives may be less perceptible...in every field, grit may be essential as talent to high accomplishment."


"As Carol Dweck says, "Effort is one of the things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. It would be an impoverished existence if you were not willing to value things and commit yourself to working toward them."