Should you praise effort or ability?

We are torn between two masters.  On one hand we like to learn.  We are born inquisitive, adventurous and unafraid.  Then we are taught that mistakes are bad.  Not only are the mistakes bad but there is obviously something wrong with the person who makes them.  The solution then is to confine ourselves to activities at which we are already proficient and blame other people or situations for everything else.  Problem solved.  Except of course that it isn’t.

Mistakes in fact are physiologically the only way we learn.  In a study done by the Stanford University School of Education, 400 5^th graders were selected from 12 schools and given a series of tests.   The students were randomly divided into two groups.  The only difference between them was in a single-sentence response to the results of four tests.  One group was recognized for their accomplishment (absence of mistakes) while the second was praised for their effort.

After the first test student were given the choice of two tests, one easier and one more difficult.  90% of the students who were praised for effort chose the more difficult test, while the vast majority of those praised for their ability took the easier test.

In test three they were each given an 8^th grade level test much more difficult than the first.  The students who were praised for their efforts were engaged and challenged, some saying “this was their favorite test”, while the group praised earlier for their abilities was disengaged and discouraged.

In the fourth stage students were given the choice of whose test they would like to see.  Would they like to see tests from students who performed better than they had, or students who had performed worse?  The “effort group” tended to select those who performed better than they had while the “abilities group” chose to see the tests of student who performed worse than they had.

The final test was identical in difficulty to the first.  Students praised for their efforts throughout improved on their initial scores by 30%, while the scores of those recognized for their abilities fell 20%.  A 50% gap in performance because of one sentence.

Ideas in action

1.  Do you praise others for their abilities or their efforts?  What about yourself?

2.  Do you avoid taking on new and difficult challenges because you are afraid of making mistakes or worse failing?

3.  When providing corrective feedback, do you separate the doer from the deed?  Are you able to praise the doer even though it might be necessary to criticize the deed?

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan