Saturday, September 1, 2018

harnessing individuality

Last month I read the book The End Of Average: Unlocking Our Potential By Embracing What Makes Us Different by Todd Rose.



The book begins with the following story...


Jet Cockpits and The End of Average from Future for Learning on Vimeo.

The Air Force realized performance results for pilots were improved when they stopped designing for "average" but made jet cockpits adjustable. It's a story of how a clear and pragmatic change can have big results. Todd Rose - author of "The End of Average" - uses the story to wonder and provoke how human potential can be unlocked in the U.S. by considering how schools can be re-designed and updated for the future.


Institutions, like education, operate under the misguided belief that statistical averages are a good way to measure individuals. Excellence, too often, is not prioritized over conforming to the system.  Author, Todd Rose, draws on the latest research to show how, when we focus on individual findings rather than group findings or averages, we can rethink the world and everyone’s potential in it.

The End Of Average reminds us that we are not anything close to average.  Average is a statistical myth. The question that drives this book is "How can a society predicated on the average ever create the conditions for understanding and harnessing individuality?"

Check out more about Todd Rose and his desire to change society one student at a time in this video:


"The ideal that we call the American dream is one we all share - the dream of becoming the best we can be, on our own terms, of living a life of excellence, as we define it." -Todd Rose

Finally, check out Todd's TEDx talk...

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