"Why Jiu Jitsu Is One Of Best Ways To Get Your Kids Career Ready Advises This Future of Work Expert."
And some good news on education disruption
Issue Ten:
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Top Of Mind: Good news for your education disruption anxiety
Earlier this month, The New York Times Opinion sector went deep into the question of the moment. In today’s world/job market/disrupted landscape: "What is a school for?" This almost existential question is everywhere - even as (or maybe mainly because) we have this enormous disconnect.
Coming out of the pandemic, there is the highest level of agreement across stakeholders and communities that school and the education system as we know it needs an update. And yet, most schools and parents (including us) are continuing as before. Life is too crammed to pause sufficiently to make disruptive educational changes; the normalcy bias is extreme, and there’s just the downer of reality; catching up post-Covid seems overwhelming; how do we start building something better?
But some good news on this front! And from one of the leading voices and thinkers on educational technology and school reform. Michael Horn is the co-founder and fellow of the Clayton Christensen Institute and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His new book, From Reopen to Reinvent, explores how to leverage public support for real change on how schools can and should work.
It starts with the question, “what are schools today for? and why?” and then lays out his ideas on how to make these changes. The hopeful finding - (both from a policy and scaling perspective but also for parents struggling with the sense that "...we should be doing something more disruptive with the kid’s education" - but aren't quite sure how to pull that off against the demands of real life.”) is: that radical and disruptive change isn't required and may be detrimental.
Instead, he makes the case that it’s not about attempting to disrupt the complete education system all at once; that's neither realistic nor effective. Instead, it's about incrementalism and strategic nudges, and I think that works for how parents and educators on a day-to-day basis can also think about it. We don't need to change everything, just more intentionally focusing on finding the powerful right nudges on the home front - to close the school's gaps while adjusting the more extensive system.
The LongRange: Feature Interview:
"Why Jiu Jitsu Is One Of Best Ways To Get Your Kids Career Ready Advises This Future of Work Expert."
You know, when you meet someone professionally about one plan, and mid-meeting, you realize you want to be having a completely different conversation with them because you want their point of view on all of these other topics - that's how I felt when I first met Robin P. Zander. It was 2019, and we were talking about how the ed-tech company I was with would be participating in the Responsive Conference, the annual event that he founded to explore the ideas shaping the future of work from the perspective of human and organizational development and possibility.
Today, he's also the Founder & CEO of Zander Media, the author of two books, and hosts the podcast "The Robin Zander Show," where he sits down with creatives, storytellers, and executives who love to learn as much as he does.
Three years after we first met, I had the chance to have the conversation that I'd wanted that day: his perspective as someone who works at the front lines of the future of work on what parents should know about helping their kids get ready for it. The world of work is already dramatically different from what they know and changing even faster. (Incidentally, Robin and his team recently released a documentary about Parenthood and Work.)
Robin himself has had an incredible career journey, one defined by change and shaped, he says, by the drive to "... learn by doing what he doesn't know how to do - yet". This includes performing in the circus as a self-taught acrobat and opening a cafe on three weeks' notice without prior experience or knowledge." You can and should check out his incredible handstands here - these are the highlights of our conversation on what parents should know about prepping our humans for the future of work.
"Help them find the joy in practice."
Robin's handstands are a testament to the power of practice - because, as he reminds me, he didn't start there. But what he has and which has guided his career journey and what he suggests parents focus on helping kids cultivate "...is the ability to find joy in the practice and the journey. Because in the world that requires continual learning, we have to help them learn to find the joy - in constantly learning."
Tactically this is about not over-celebrating outcomes or results but focusing on consistency and efforts. Instagram and Tik Tok videos that chart progress and journeys can be great for content that captures the trip and what my son calls "the grind." As parents, that is what we need to celebrate.
"Look to cultivate skills that train other skills."
"Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is my recommendation for this. It trains the discipline of practice, resilience, and the power of incremental progress. It also cultivates a way to control overwhelming emotions like aggression and anger - and provides the framework for how to stretch yourself when you might not always want to. In a world that's changing as fast as it is, this combination is probably one of the most powerful tools a parent can give their child."
If martial arts are not your child's thing - Robin suggests chess or some fun skill - whether it's juggling or origami. The objective is to find age and interest-appropriate activities that are challenging enough that progress will be incremental and depends on consistent practice. Musical instruments, coding, baking, anything they can do regularly, successively, and see growth - and some failure with.
"Love them, Guide them, Let them go."
"Ultimately, all we can do is invite outcomes we want into our life because we aren't in control. As humans, this is a hard lesson. And even more so for parents. But practicing this and helping our kids understand this will go a long way in setting them up to bounce back life re-directs or failures."
I think about this one a lot.
And I think it comes back to flipping the model of parenting away from the one that leans into trying to control and guide all the factors we can around our kids and instead intentionally invests at least a significant portion of that energy in cultivating the character traits, habits, mindsets, and tools that get them best prepped for when the outcomes or life events isn't what anyone wanted, but what happens.
"It's about kids having a framework for creative optionality and the discipline to self-direct to this place when they need to. So that when it seems like there are only two bad choices, they have the muscle to stretch themselves and think about another five or six ways to think about responses they can choose or actions they can take."
For more from Robin, check out his: vlog on YouTube, where he shares his practice in entrepreneurship, movement, and self-awareness.
"The LongRange: A Call For Interviews"
I'm searching for unexpected and overlooked ideas and concepts that parents should know about - and looking to talk to the people behind them.
This includes the people bringing a new perspective to getting the next generation ready for a balanced and successful life, healthy and positive relationships, education relevant to the world they will be living in, and which gets them ready for the future of work. They could be educators, parents, coaches, status quo disruptors, founders, researchers, writers, grandparents - and especially "recentish" adults who can share what's needed at the front lines of young adult life.
Know someone I should talk to? Get in touch: takethelongrange@gmail.com