Group items tagged

Asking questions—and asking good ones—is the foundation of critical thinking.

It takes powerful curiosity, critical thinking, and imagination to envision radical alternatives to how we do things in today’s world and then be inspired to execute them.

Intelligent Optimism

being optimistic about the future based on reason and evidence.

How can our youth grow up believing they can have a positive impact on the world if the news is suggesting otherwise?

Risk-taking

being a strategic risk-taker is a valuable lifelong skill of its own.

embracing uncertainty, stepping out of one’s comfort zone, and doing something that fulfills your life or company’s grand mission

embracing failure and re-defining failed attempts as temporary setbacks

Moonshot Thinking

Moonshot thinking allows for radical, daring, and disruptive ideas as opposed to incremental improvements

Cosmic Perspective

Having a cosmic perspective shifts the ambitions and priorities we set for ourselves to those that matter from a grand perspective. As a species, we become more purpose-driven.

It’s all about having a positive impact on the world

It’s not just about creating a product or generating profits, but also about solving a problem and having a positive impact on human lives.

It’s about asking the right questions, being intelligently optimistic about the future, taking a risk with a moonshot, and maintaining a cosmic perspective.

It turns out that the best way to cause change is for people to actually change someone or something else. We learn what we do, not what we’re told.

All of the final work product is in public. A lot like real life.

deep syllabus of materials (some required, some optional,

Cohort-based, with groups of five to twenty people engaged constantly with each other (we use Slack as a surprisingly powerful peer-to-peer setting for experiential learning)

Every student reviews and then comments on several of the other students’ assignments.

takes the five or ten comments received and turns them into a reflective script, detailing actual change, actual growth.

Everything iterates, again and again.

every admitted student shares the same mindset of seeking true growth. Self-selection plus curated admissions means that the support network is strong. Enrollment—in the outcome and the process—is the secret of effective education.

our students are getting generous and direct feedback for the first time

If you want people to become passionate, engaged in a field, transformed by an experience — you don’t test them, you don’t lecture them and you don’t force them. Instead, you create an environment where willing, caring individuals can find an experience that changes them.