The Gift of Making Mistakes

In this episode, we discuss the science of Talent. We look at how great talent is built into the very physical structure of the brain itself, explore the incredible importance of striving at the edge of your ability and staying there as long as possible, the vital importance of mistakes in the learning process, how a group of kindergartners beat a bunch of CEOs at a simple team-building exercise, a powerful tool Navy Seals use to make better decisions that you can apply to your life right now, and much more with our guest Daniel Coyle.  Daniel Coyle is the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Talent Code, The Culture Code, several other books. He is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine and works as a special advisor to the Cleveland Indians. His most recent work focuses on how we can build cultures that last and high highly productive and his work has been featured on the TED stage and more.What is a talent hotbed? What are these little places that produce hugely disproportionate high achievers?How does the brain learn and what that has to do with Talent?What does great practice look like, what does great motivation look like,  what great coaching looks like?Repeatedly going to the edge of your ability, noticing your failure, and learning from it - that’s how great performance is builtIt’s not nature vs nature - it's not either or - its nature multiplied by nature How do we learn at the edge of our growth zone?You should be aiming for a failure rate of 20-30% of the timeIf you’re failing more than that, move the target closerIf you’re failing less, move the targets further away This concept of learning at the edge of your comfort zone flips the entire idea of mistakes on its head - mistakes are WHERE the learning takes place Mistakes are information that you can use for your next try - they’re a keep component of the learning process Mistakes are the gift - they ARE the moment - when the learning is embedded in your brainThe way to create feedback loops in business and areas with murky or long feedback loops is to define your scoreboard - define yourself against a very clear standard or dashboard for yourself - hold yourself accountable to metricsDefine what you want - make the bar really clearLearning = Experience + Reflection. Without the reflection, you won’t learn. Get really specific on what skills you want to improve - and then build a process towards improving those skills and make it as measurable as possibleCulture is the MOST IMPORTANT THING you do in a group - it's your most important asset, it's your Achilles heel High-performance groups operationalize truth, vulnerability, and safety Navy Seals “AAR” - After Action Review - hard conversation about what went wrong, what went right, what they’re doing to do differently next time Groups that hide vulnerability are weakLeaders who are constantly radiating humility have more strength - humility takes strength To be vulnerable at work - frame your vulnerability around learningWe have a powerful instinct to hide away from negative moments and things we don’t like - and yet leaning into mistakes and problems is the best way to grow as an individual - and the best way to form strong organizations Homework: “WSD” - Write s**t down. Have a place and a time every day where you can get away from things and reflect on what happened. A cool calm place where you can reflect, trace threads, connect dots, reflect on your performance. This is the most powerful thing you can do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.