Creativity, Identifying the right talent and A Zen Master's charity

Welcome to the 5th issue of Early Employee Explorations. There has been a slight delay since I prioritized spending time with family on a Sunday instead of working on the newsletter. (A good trade by the way. :) )

In the first issue, I shared a few of my thoughts on edtech expansion during the pandemic. Now I am planning to explore another facet of education that is talked about a lot but acted upon quite less - Creativity. Along with that, I wish to talk about the processes followed by people who nurture talent. And to top it all - a serving of Zen wisdom. Let’s dig in.

Source - Idea vector created by stories from Freepik

Chasing Creativity

In one of the random (and always illuminating) chats with my founder Shweta, she shared with me one of the ted talks given by Sir Ken Robinson. For those who don’t know Sir Ken Robinson is a famous British educationist and the TED talk he gave on creativity is the most-watched video on TED. A must-watch video for anyone passionate about education.

I loved every line he said. Dripping in humour and driving his point across, he makes fantastic points throughout. One story stood out from the entire talk. Let me share the story in his own words (slightly shortened for brevity).

Gillian and I had lunch one day. I said, "How did you get to be a dancer?" It was interesting. When she was at school, she was really hopeless. And the school, in the '30s, wrote to her parents and said, "We think Gillian has a learning disorder." She couldn't concentrate; she was fidgeting. 

Anyway, she went to see this specialist. So, this oak-panelled room, and she was there with her mother, and she was led and sat on this chair at the end, and she sat on her hands for 20 minutes, while this man talked to her mother about all the problems Gillian was having at school. In the end, the doctor went and sat next to Gillian and said, "I've listened to all these things your mother's told me. I need to speak to her privately. Wait here. We'll be back. We won't be very long," and they went and left her. 

But as they went out of the room, he turned on the radio that was sitting on his desk. And when they got out of the room, he said to her mother, "Just stand and watch her." And the minute they left the room, she was on her feet, moving to the music. And they watched for a few minutes, and he turned to her mother and said, "Mrs Lynne, Gillian isn't sick. She's a dancer. Take her to a dance school." 

Sir Ken says that children have an unbounded capacity for innovation and creativity. Do you remember the child’s curiosity for all the things happening around and the wonder they exhibit? And then we grow up and every inch of creativity is killed. Our system of education is meant to serve the industrial era, where we are meant to follow instructions on an assembly line and producing more of the same. Now it is the knowledge economy - where creativity and problem-solving is the main ask of the industry.

Everything is out of syllabus. How does the fact spewing child accustomed to rote learning fit into this world? How do we keep the spark of creativity alive? Are there some startups in education tackling this unique problem far from the test prep industry that is meant to help clear vanity metrics like SATs or closer home the premium college entrance examinations?

I came across 2 interesting models. I don’t endorse them, but I feel there is something interesting they are trying to do.

Firstly, the Synthesis School - whose mission is to make children learn the first principle thinking through games. This startup has its roots in the revolutionary Ad Astra School run by Elon Musk. Watch the short video below to get a feel of the system. (Even if you aren’t understanding what is happening, look at the joy on the faces of the kids.)

Another interesting model I came across was - Outschool. An after-school model and curriculum where children can learn anything of their interest. You have everything from learning a new language to knitting to financial skills to Fortnite. I love the model, though I am not much sure how they are doing at scale. But definitely see something like this improving the spark of creativity.

Away from all this, a decentralized interesting model of learning emerging - where parents are taking the role of a teacher in the early years to mould their creative processes. Homeschooling. Multiple questions arise - What about the community of children? What if they become shy and socially awkward? etc… But personally, I feel this is a model that can scale - nobody can be a better teacher than one’s own parent and it can’t get more personalized than that.

Sharing one of my favourite images on homeschooling:

Whatever the path we choose for our children, we need to give them the space to think freely and innovate in a safe space. Without judgement from the so-called academic prowess.

The Talent to find talent

First, read this amazing Twitter thread about the guy who discovered every famous comedian that we see either on the late-night shows or the standup specials.

Bill Grundfest realized that he is decent in comedy, but he is better at identifying at other people’s talent and encouraged the up and coming comedians to find their own voice.

This brings up a new superpower - the talent of identifying talent. You might not be the best at something but you can clearly see what is best in others. A mediocre player bringing out the best from a star player feels very counterintuitive. Until you understand that it has nothing to do with the prowess of the game. I got much more clarity from one of the recent issues from the Not Boring newsletter - Trust the process.

A long article that needs to be absorbed slowly - but what stuck with me is the concept of shotcallers and worldbuilders.

Talent to invest and nurture other talents seems to me like worldbuilding, where the ‘coach’ works with the player and helps him discover the true superpower and works the best. This is a slow process - at times painful to both the coach and the mentee. But when it clicks, it clicks and gives handsome dividends.

It is the long play. It is hard to hire someone for their potential instead of their skills, but if it clicks the returns are huge. But how to develop the talent to spot another talent? Hmm… Maybe we need another coach to help us figure it out. :)

A Zen Master’s gift to the thief

I love Zen wisdom. Yes, it is quite difficult to interpret. But the thought gymnastics it causes in the mind is exhilarating for me personally. The following story is one of the most confounding parables that led me down to many a rabbit hole.

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."

I did a simple search on how people interpreted this and found multiple interpretations and variations. What is Ryokan talking about? Is it that the thief has missed the chance to get the wisdom and has taken the clothes instead? Is Ryokan lamenting the fact that he was unable to give anything of value. Is it kindness? Pity? Compassion for ignorance? A missed chance of illumination?

Or maybe the moon is the inner constant contentment the master feels which he feels he must pass on to the thief whose greed causes him to snatch what isn’t his. (I like this one.)

What are your takeaways? Think. Ponder. Share.

Did you like my explorations in this newsletter issue? Feel free to hit me up on Twitter @satyadileep and let’s have a conversation.