High Quality Teaching and Learning

So my recent experience over the last year has been having a go at gymnastics slightly later than the average beginner! I want to push forward real quality teaching and learning. At Leeds gymnastics in a dedicated sports hall sized building, there are all the gymnastic apparatus and many shapes and sizes of pads and mats, with pits of foam to land in as well. I have had the opportunity to learn and develop many skills in just 2 hours a week. I can now front somersault, round off back tuck-ish, back handspring, front handspring, some parallel bars exercises and rope climb (and more). Admittedly I am motivated and a better than average learner, but I am not a very talented athlete. The secret has been a top facility and quality coaching. I have received these elements elsewhere but they were lacking in ‘my education’ and where I have worked in education (schools and colleges). Yes I should provide video evidence of 1 year’s progress, but I am too busy getting better! Others who attend also progress to new skills with exercise and fun included. Many have a go and progress, as opposed to attempts at hypothermia on a school field or forgetting kit.

In education, the public industry, seldom gets very close to this level of quality where correct and safe facilities and equipment combined with subject matter experts and quality coaching. Far to often like my experience in PE, where I have ‘taught’ over 10 sports, including some I have never been taught myself, let alone my cover and supply work in other subjects. The average lesson is more behavioural activities and bureaucracy than teaching and learning. My problem is I have tasted much better and have seen little in schools and colleges that comes close, even when I had my head up from the paperwork.

The issue I would like to push is that those of talent (not me at gymnastics) need much more than is provided in the vast majority of schools. I have used gymnastics because I can show off obvious skills that most cannot, it’s obvious and visual. The idea of finding and supporting the most talented children as well as quality tasters for less able and sometimes more motivated children. I have had the opportunity to try and fail in progressive exercises with timely, expert feedback. Sound like your training at Uni?

Now the obvious area is sports, but it’s all areas. If you use Howard Gardner’s other intelligence areas; Logical-maths, music, linguistic, spatial, intra- and inter-personal. How are we providing firstly for the top 1-5% most talented in all areas, but also how are we finding the most talented in a 30 per class education system with teachers not teaching their main area. Perhaps political statistics can tell dam lies and the obvious lack of elite state school achievement is the clear proof they are not being effective in preparing children. The answer is not just academic grammar schools but the elite for all areas. If it’s 5% of each (Gardner) intelligence even with overlap it’s 20-25% of the population are deprived of exploring their potential and achieving higher levels. Closing the gap in social mobility can only be done by nurturing the talents of all.

Sports excellence occurs mostly outside of education, but those STEM subjects are monopolised (nationalised) in education, with poor rates of conversion from state school to the wider world. The answer is to not be prejudiced and enforce disadvantage on the most talented children who do not have the luck of supporting backgrounds. The second group of children are the ‘normal’ 68% in the middle if the distribution who do not get good introductions and encouraging experiences so that they get and keep an interest in some form of physical activities and sport (exercise is quite good for your health with nutrition and sleep) and from STEM subjects they could even have skills they could apply at home and work as an adult. These should be the metrics that education should be judged; the performance of the students after education. Do they have knowledge and skills and do they use them as adults?

A lot of young people leave education not knowing their talents and strengths and realistic understanding of their weaknesses. Many with negative experiences some approaching trauma from their education experiences. Quality provision for people in their strengths and positive experiences in other areas like mine in gymnastics would benefit many and hopefully reduce the two thirds in work that feel they are in the wrong job, and 90% who do not get enough exercise! Alternatively we can pick up the cost through taxes for health and related costs. Can we afford mediocre provision when better is both available and more cost effective. The child standing on the half way line in winter rather than participating has the cost and a negative benefit (hypothermia) but at least they brought their kit!

To summarise; I propose exploiting children’s talent and motivation with talented and motivated teachers/coaches in high quality facilities that equal teaching and learning excellence. Would time spent in a strong area for the student be better than time spent in a weak area. The maths is clear and my experiences also back it up.

© 22/07/18 Richard Lander. All Rights Reserved

Probably the Last.

I started this blog with many posts on education. Nobody thinks the system is perfect, and few can change it. It was not much use for me and for many others. The ‘system’ is for the status quo, it is more akin to sheep farming than leading learning (Original Latin word). The problem as is clear in many areas of life is that it’s out of date and has been for a long time. As has happened many times before there is resistance to change. Change is unstoppable it is part of nature! The people who do well in education are the ones who did as they were told the best. Doing as you were told is almost the opposite to accepting and working with change (both aspects are useful). Modern day education is like building narrow boats for canals but entropy means that canals are temporary. Schools are based on producing fodder for factories. These have mostly closed or automated in the west. The world is not a flat water canal it’s moving down hill or tidal or falling or evaporating. Not only have the factories gone so have the mines and office jobs. Automation alone has wiped out the sheep (apologies to any offence to sheep) like jobs and lifestyle. It is inevitable that change will occur and soon other major areas will be under threat with this specific change. The problems of education itself will be attacked by these same forces, as will health and other areas like transport. In the UK these areas are major employers. Education will change one way or another. My guess is it will be superseded first in post compulsory education. Here there is choice and if state education will not serve then it will be undermined.

A motivation for me was that I was not served by education, I spotted too early when I was being incorrectly instructed. It was never personal education. I was expected to be a sheep. I am not! I have also mentioned that people on the autistic spectrum are equally unserviced both in education and the rest of life. They make up around 1% of the population. They have much to contribute but are not allowed to do so. Ironically they are the poster child of various groups who are repressed and excluded. If you have a high IQ and are working class you will not be served, another few percent of the population, if you are more physical (kinaesthetic) you are not served, if you are introverted you will be ignored as you’re not trouble. These alone get close to 50% of attendees. On top of this as work places change there is no preparation for the future world as it’s not part of the status quo.

I have written this blog to get some things out there and off my chest and I am hoping for some more thinking and reflecting not just reacting. Reacting is a knee jerk action not a thought out response. I prefer and feel it would be better if more people made more deliberate responses and actions rather than instinctual or fear powered reactions. I have attempted also to find ways of saying things either my own or other peoples that help understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Science has been a massive progressive force and the massive ignorance of it harms many. I have also found ancient discussion and presentation that shows many stated but unlearned lessons where nothing is new under the sun. I find the eastern ideas of balance (like YinYang) and constant change, going with nature and indirect/direct are full of areas of study. They give perspectives and options and have depth for many years exploration. I constantly look for new or better methods and understanding through these methods and have shared some on this blog. I have thought out loud to hopefully help others as well. I am working against the current. Humans naturally like stories and I am pushing maths. Not everyone can work with a maths story with facts and evidence, the natural path is stories and changing people’s stories or minds are difficult. Believing a story that is not true is flawed but as a species we do like to wait till it’s too late to notice the story we are following and believing is wrong. To progress or survive as an individual, society or species we have to have more truth in our stories.

We need to improve our problem solving as problems are a constant of life. Sometimes you solve, sometimes you avoid and sometimes you stop them forming by stopping them before they are a problem. This means taking responsibility for your own health and education the two major examples I have used. Leaving education to the system and health to doctors is part of the problem that the systems have encouraged, even if it’s an unintended consequence. The safety net is used and abused, with little development in that the unemployed or unhealthy tend to stay that way unless the system happens to be good at changing that.

We can only do a limited amount, we can only be in one place at a time, and are best doing one thing at time. So if the doctor is doing paperwork then they are not doing diagnosis (information gathering) or treating (positive action) so paperwork must offer value. The paperwork must be chosen for it’s effectiveness not for it’s political value for maintaining the status quo or supporting the real polatik of vested interest. Yet we actually do have much information already gathered and often it supports the ideas of starting off well and following a flexible plan to develop. And still we so often start badly and try to pick up the pieces later. This rarely works with a few anecdotal examples distorting the truth.

Amongst the eastern philosophies and principles I have found much truth for instance in balance (YinYang) which has great merit as a thinking tool. Taking too much time planning and delaying decisions are errors (too Yin) and making rash decisions early is also an error (too Yang). Finding the just right is a life long journey and one well worth starting and continuing. I find that excellence and the path to it has great merit whether studying the greats or as an individual journey. The greater understanding and awareness can be applied to other areas. It is not something to be rushed. The commercial world pushes the quick fix and sometimes even have true points to make. These quicker methods can work on a strong long term base but not flaky, wobbly, earthquake like ground. Learning the balance of excelling and doing enough, is harder to work out and sometimes impossible to explain. Others will constantly effect your equilibrium by accident mainly (but also deliberately). If you have no balance let alone understanding you will be toppled. Once you have a good base in say a second language and general linguistics, learning another language for an immediate need is quite possible. If you have no experience or understanding it is unlikely what ever the marketing blurb says. Much of traditional advice encoded in idioms and aphorisms has merit. But thought is needed. A Logical mistake is an Ad Homonym attack like well ‘they would say that wouldn’t they’. Now there is two points just because someone you do not like/believe/agree with says something, does not mean it is false. The second is it might be. The answer is to find out what the truth is. Marketing too often attempts to guide you to the truth of an increased bank balance for them. But they may also be saying true things it needs critical thinking to analyse what the context is.

Most people are disadvantaged in some way. As we are so varied there needs a lot of balancing the needs of all, which is a complex task it involves changing the balance to meet changing needs. No fixed system can achieve this and some people will struggle with a dynamic system. As a manager or leader this balance of many factors including extremes is a challenge. Controlling a fighter jet would be a massive challenge open to only a few. Of course the world class pilots also fight in the jet in a changing environment. The training is around five years for a university graduate. Any similar high level performance task requires similar commitment and involvement. Much talent is not supported in this way. I have mentioned IQ, autism and others where the system does not accommodate. The numbers often show where education health and other areas of life go wrong and right (meet aims?).

I have attempted to help get this off my chest and maybe help others getting the basic building blocks to help those not helped and improve performance of themselves and others. I have found a lot of the ideas and methods are already centuries old. These have not been learnt and incorporated. Choosing the best path and acting effectively takes more than societies allow for. Obviously any path must be chosen that is realistic and starts from here. I would like better thinking to occur. Critical thinking is not even taught to most, and mistakes are repeated. We are apes not computer programmes but evolving to think better, then prepare better and perform better is a known path. The resistance comes in many guises whether ignorance, mediocrity or vested interest. These forces hold back many individuals and societies and so we all suffer. We can all start by improving ourselves and education and health have been major themes in this blog. I have used many sporting examples as they are a simpler well known model of life and the forces we are surrounded with. Practice in simpler scenarios building better practice and understanding and restricting or stopping those who have learnt some lessons are constant. A lot of life is not as simple as sports and yet the principles are the same. The eastern methods have empirically developed ideas that were discussed in ancient Greece and Rome these are worth study. Getting from rhetoric to accurate descriptions needs to be aided. Every societal or political system has advantages and disadvantages. Democracies need to acknowledge these and modify to improve results. The costs are lives lost and shortened and ruined (inc. physical and mental health). The ones who are least effected need to incorporate the others actually value all diversities not just those they want too. Getting out of the way and not being a distraction, sucking energy from people and systems. I would prefer more meritocracy where people deciding and acting are more able and contribute to better results. So often an unqualified person makes the decision and an unprepared person has to implement. Less of this would mean more.

So I have tried to find ways of saying things not secrets but you would not guess it from peoples actions. I hope it helps I have got a years worth off my chest so good luck. I know myself better and I know others and hope to win some more battles.

Reading

The classics (East and West) are a good place to start where thinking and doing have already given many examples of things that are true and things that work. I have pushed Kelly Starrett and others he mentions in relation to physical exercise starting with his online input and spreading from there is useful. Self defence has Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung delivering excellent ideas. My martial arts are Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua and Xing Yi so I would suggest them but a good instructor/guide through many of the martial arts is invaluable. Science has much to teach of well everything. Some knowledge is of facts and others of what happens from some perspective. Both are useful but learn which is which. Knowing the real world and a model over lap but are not the same. Seth Godin discuses marketing and business well and Josh Kaufman helps as well. Many podcasts involve stories and interviews with many other leads into better knowledge. Freakanomics, This American Life and the economist have solid stories and Tim Ferris has interviewed many high level people in different fields.

Timing is a Result.

‘When do I…?’ can be the question when one realises a personal lack of understanding. This is especially apparent when faced by a very capable opponent who you just do not know where to start; conscious incompetence. Essentially it is the wrong question at the wrong time (timing) but you hear many questions like this, where the answer is ‘I would not be in that situation if I was you’. Rarely is this answer met by thanks! Regardless of the hole one has dug oneself in to with desperation present. The answer in desperate times is to a) run away, failing that b) fight to the death, perhaps hoping to make the opponent’s victory Pyrrhic. The real answer is not to get into desperate situations.

Luckily the thoughts observations and actions of others through time have been documented. So although desperate times may cause book burnings, this is where answers and clues lie. One great book distilled from the early civilised world of China albeit mostly when they were not being that civilised, is The Art of War by Sun Zi. Just read it every year and reflect on it and find out others reflections too, no ifs, buts or maybes!

The Art of War is compact and rich with clues. So the best strategy full stop not just for timing, is to ‘win without fighting’, the stages before war need to be done so well war is not necessary and everyone (well at least you) gets what they want without blood shed. Now this is a bit utopian and theoretical for mankind, but knowledge of the peak helps understanding of all below, giving perspective. The first question is: Do I have to…? This could be fight or any other act do I have to? Is there a win/win option instead. Have I finished with the preliminaries to this position?

The second clue to timing from AoW (and other sources!) is that good timing is the result of everything being done well. It is playing the odds. Tai Chi Chuan like a lot of martial arts uses punches. But when do you use the punch. Well the right time silly. So when is that? It’s when it cannot fail to be effective. Some martial art(ist)s (and the same pattern is everywhere) try to punch when it cannot possible work, now sometimes it is a fake or a set up which we will talk about later. These though are only needed if you have made mistakes before. Bad you for not being perfect or even excellent. Many of you have found with your children, pets friends and training partners that they are easier to get, if you creep up behind them when they are least expecting it. Well done you have learnt some important elements (not all) of when to punch when you cannot miss. It is wrong to hit these people just practicing the approach is fine and with practice is even funny so when not all the elements are right! If only predators in the wild had learnt this. Oh no wait a minute they have this is how predators get their food. Some predators do this even when facing their prey (opponent). For humans this will mean that getting rid of the arms, which they annoyingly use to defend themselves huh! Or being to their side or back. The time to punch is when they are defenseless. So this is how an expert times their actions, when they cannot fail. This is the pattern to timing being so good at the major elements so that you are in a good position to take an opportunity to act.

So before expertise and much before choosing another option, or perhaps you made a little mistake and are not in the ideal position you have to set up a good position so a punch (action) can be more or less effective. Some people learn early set ups, they say things that get a response or show some slight of hand that catches people off guard and they react making them selves vulnerable. The lesson in opposition – do not be caught off guard or react to these set ups – study them. So a good set up uses the opponents reactions to situations to create an opportunity to attack. Most team sports have basic tactics to get one defender on the own to divide and set up conquer. Set ups can be choosing an environment where you have an advantage or a fake to create reactions. The best set ups can be done without exposing yourself, where even if they do not work they do not set you up. Most areas many have set ups probably used daily in business, personal, political and all other areas of life. Some are natural, others sneaky and some well planed. You could categorise these tactics and some are documented and taught in many areas. Getting a handle on the general ideas that can be applied in many areas is definitely useful.

So really timing is the result of good preparation so you are always ready, in a strong position. Negotiation and planning avoid the need for timing failing that time your actions for when they cannot fail. Your position and posture mean you are invulnerable and the opponent cannot defend. If you have not organised yourself well lets say like most people most of the time then it’s about set ups and traps that you volunteer to fall into or set up yourself to increase the odds of success. So do not ask me the best way to put out a fire, there are better people than I, you could call them they have emergency numbers world wide. Guess what they also have non emergency numbers and they go round and give advice before a fire. They advise alarms, actions in the event of fire and of course prevention. So be prepared but also prevent fire but other bad situations too. The best fire is one prevented. Now take this idea to other areas of life.

Another physical situation is range. Here it’s again about positioning. Often it’s about footwork to get to the right position/distance to execute. The patterns are the general ideas of preparing well including planning, learning, positioning, prioritising and many other principles mentioned on this blog. When all this is done then doing is easy. If it is not yet easy then raise the standards of your learning, planning etc. till it is.

Wu Wei and Resistance.

Wu Wei (Chinese) is essentially going with nature or going with the flow. The classic metaphor is water. It is used as a principle of nature and the wisdom is to use the idea to aid actions. One classic way to use the metaphor is how water acts in nature. Many aspects can help in your thinking. It flows down hill, it is un-graspable and it brakes rock into sand. These (and others) can be used with the instruction to be like water. They are used in many ways whether like moving around an obstacle physically in a smooth flowing manor or round a more abstract obstacle at work or in relationships.

Another example of how to work with water (and hence nature). As water is thicker more viscous) than air and humans are not shaped for water travel more skill is needed to travel through it. The simple piece of advice for swimming is to cut through the water with a straight body reducing water resistance (in water it occurs at something like 2 miles an hour a compared to 30 mph in air – e.g. hand out car window). Another related point is the difference between swimming with the current and against it. Many people have died of exhaustion against sea currents to get back to shore.

The pattern is to avoid going against nature and go with it. Mankind rarely beats nature, the trick is to find and practice going with nature avoiding the head on conflict. Even massive buildings will come down eventually, they only work temporarily. In the end everything brakes down in Physics it’s linked to entropy.

Going with the flow is more efficient and wastes less energy. This means more can be done. A competitive strategy is to go for the opponents weak points and areas of vulnerability not against their strengths. Timing is another efficient method where just adding a small force at the right time can have a bigger effect then a large force at the wrong time. Sports tend to restrict some actions but most sports still have tactical ways of avoiding the head on situation. Using momentum rather than having to start from scratch (overcome inertia) is another tactic. Other tactics are to prioritise where you work on the most important and influential elements. Gaining the foreknowledge of how ‘nature’ works either as science or the patterns of actions can help simplify decisions and actions. Guiding or traveling in a straight line may be the best way or a path of least resistance.

The other key element is unity. Many times we go alone rather than as part of a team, or we use one part of the body rather than the whole body. Teamwork needs to be developed and used where appropriate and using the whole body rather than just arms or just legs everything physically and mentally has to be used as one. Concentration and focus also are part of the whole brought together at one point, not dispersed or uncoordinated. Overuse of a body part leads to injury as does one person on their own as well as being uncompetitive.

Another perspective is discussed by Pressfield in the War of Art, where he discusses the fight of the artist to achieve their work. To be an artist or very good at anything is actually going against nature. There needs to be constant pressure to move forwards. It has to be for a long time and at the right pace, to avoid burn out or losing momentum. The resistance is physical and mental. You need to acclimatise to new performance and your body and mind need time to adjust to accommodate the higher work loads.

It is important too also analyse whether something is hard because it’s the wrong thing to do. The cost may mean another option is better as the cost in energy is too great to achieve. The position you are in after using too much energy is weakened and may mean any achievement is Pyrrhic, for the next challenge. The work has to be worth he investment.

Evolution has favoured those best able to survive. Part of this is having enough energy for the next challenge. Another is a strategy or tactic to avoid too many challenges only taking the energy risk when the rewards merit it. Sometimes the lazy survive.

Another aspect of resistance is to use it just as Sailors and surfers use the sea and wind and skiers use the snow to guide their journey. Resistance is also controlled in electric circuits to prevent too much power. It is an advanced skill to feel and know the forces around and use them to aid action or movement. Using the energy of your surroundings to your advantage. In Tai Chi you listen to the energy of the opponent to use their energy against them at the right time.

The opposite and all to common approach is to resist change and maintain the status quo which is ultimately futile. Many times people will add resistance to prevent a potential competitor from overthrowing their position and vested interest. You can of course dam forces but large forces get through eventually. Mostly it is better to learn the forces and not try to stop the inevitable. Or stopping and starting needing to overcome inertia each time wasting energy.

You may not be able to go with nature all the time especially when you are in an unprepared situation (so get prepared!). If you can learn some ways of going with the flow then when you do meet resistance you cannot avoid then you will be more fresh for the challenge. The tactic of Wu Wei may be a useful principle but it takes practice another principle. When practised it is energy saving efficient and can look effortless. In competitive situations learning to increase the opponents resistance and reduce your own is a simple goal.

deeper understanding can come through the Daoist text the Dao De Jing.

Change

It’s gonna happen. The world has never been like this and never will again. So many things will be mixed up into different combinations meaning everything changes, sometimes the change is difficult to spot other times it’s unmistakable and urgent. Many of us spend to much time wanting or trying big change, let me list some words and tell me if big change is for you?

Earthquake,

Explosion,

Death.

Are you sure you want to be around or want to cause big change?

Most cultures have cottoned on to change as being constant (Wu Chang in Chinese) and things always changing like rivers (Heraclitus (Greek) and Confucius (Chinese)) and when dealing with it advice such as ‘every journey starts with a single step’ (Lao Zi (Chinese), and yes there are almost certainly examples from other cultures and very old too. Change is inevitable so you need to acknowledge it (it’s gonna happen anyway even if you try to ignore it!) so plan with it in mind.

I hopefully have given clear pointers that the big change does happen but it tends to have major consequences that are irreversible and scarring to the survivors. I suggest evolution not revolution. Taking small steps one at a time that will slowly and gradually change. Some times the Daoist; go with the flow (para phrase!) is useful, but also deciding to change towards a better situation step by step is easier than cold turkey withdrawal or jumping to a new action without preparation.

The concept of continuous improvement is encapsulated in Kaizen a Japanese name of an industrially applied method that transformed much of Japanese Industry from devastation after World War II to the top of many fields. Toyota is the face of this method with the development of the Six Sigma approach. Over the years Toyota used these ideas and gradually reduced waste, and improved their processes and products to become the biggest Car manufacturer where General Motors did not use small change philosophies and has gone from the biggest to bailed out bankrupt. So it’s slightly more than just theory. General Motors knew what Toyota were doing and even tried to work with them but failed to change themselves to a culture that embraces change.

So the general idea is to improve something maybe even a very small something that will lead to improvements. So having large warehouse areas with lots of stock is expensive, if you can arrange for smaller more regular deliveries just when you need them, you will not need as big a building to store them in, so smaller rent maybe? The impact is likely to be bigger than you think as other areas may be improved too. You may also reorganise the work area so everything is at hand rather than walking around all the time to get the pieces and tools needed. Now go home is your freezer large and full and a large electricity bill. Is your kitchen spread all over. So these two ideas that helped make a multinational massive organisation can also make your life easier with cost and space savings. Now look at all aspects of a business or home or what ever and look for small improvements that can save money, time, space or anything else. Productivity (you can produce more) or efficiency (do more with less) could save or increase what you want. The process is to regularly pick something to improve and each one will make things a little better but after you have made a few changes they will combine to make a larger noticeable effect.

Small changes can be seem in many areas of life (how principles and concepts work, learn them and apply in many areas). One you have forgotten from school maths is compound interest where interest on savings and debt is compounded. So a quick reminder if you put £100 in the bank and get 10% interest p.a. (We wish, but it’s easy numbers that’s all) then at the end of the year you have £110 the next year it is not £120 but £121. Only a small difference so far but the graph and your money go up quicker with the adding (compounding) of interest the interest on the interest is also added. This is a not very secret to how savings and wealth are best accumulated over time not by one payout. It has worked for Warren Buffet (from childhood pocket money to multi billionaire), it helps pensions work and the reason you can benefit a lot from clearing debt or paying off quicker if possible with compounded debt interest. It’s amazing the benefits of early started small savings can make after several years.

The same idea of small improvements is not just beneficial with business and personal finance. It can be applied everywhere and any time. So can you do something to improve your health, or your personal work approach or your relationships? It does not have to be big just a small change and make it now! Now get in the habit of regularly (say 1^st of the month) pick a small improvement and make it. Sure it may not be obvious straight away but after a year with other small improvements there will be noticeable improvements.

The way concepts and principles can be learned and applied is also compounded. So now prioritise what is the biggest factor and look for improvement there. So in health the big 3 are sleep, eat and move. Which is your biggest problem? How can you make a small improvement? So could it be no breakfast well pick a simple starter to the day even if it’s a fruit juice or piece of fruit as early as you can and make it a permanent habit. A month later you could add some more to breakfast or swap your 11 o’clock unhealthy snack for some fruit. What ever it is pick an easy change and make it. You can look up sleep hygiene and make a change there or just add some more movement like a little walk daily to your life. A small change in a major area may have a bigger impact than a large change in a less significant area as well as being easier and more likely to work.

You may not even notice the change but every step is in the right direction, and small steps are easier. As time goes by bigger steps may count as small steps to you but do not run before you can walk then those big change words Earthquake, Explosion, Death can be avoided as much as possible. Making change part of you rather than waiting till only drastic action can possible work and still most often does not or causing major problems by instigating the more difficult (and less successful) big changes.

These changes can be made in the quiet times so their automatic when the stress increases. It could also be explained as a journey where if you are off by a degree at the start you miss by large amount by the end. Each small course correction lessen the margin of error (missing) later on. Big changes mean a long journey in the wrong direction and more waste or damage especially if left to late.

Prioritise!

This is actually an exercise in approximation. When things are large and complex getting all the information is not possible. Checking you are on the right track can also be done with prioritising. The trick is to simplify life and the large problems of life. What ever people tell you. Not all things are equal! Some things have more influence and effect than others. The first point is identifying the top 3 most important things and working with them first. An underlying pattern is behind the Pareto principle where things (not all, but many) tend to have a large 80% proportion and a 20% smaller portion. What you want is to avoid majoring in the minors. Working too much on minor elements or issues and becoming ineffective, when working on a top 3 often puts you in a position to be effective. It is easy to get caught up in detail, many people do it to themselves but others are also very capable of distracting you to spend too much time on insignificant detail and not the solid elements. So there has to be an active process on finding out what the most important parts, actions or whatever are, then working on them primarily. If you have more time or the competition is strong then progress to the other less influential elements.

The first example is health. The first question is what kills and causes the most disease for your population? In the west 3 out of 4 people die of Heart disease, Cancer and Stroke, on top of this is the epidemic of diabetes where in the UK of the massive Health service budget 10% is spent on diabetes alone. For the list luckily if I want to prevent/reduce the chances or impact the top 3 killers the prioritise are the same that prevent Diabetes too. So:

1. Sleep right
2. Eat right
3. Move right

Not really any surprise and also no surprise that in the west we don’t do them! The 3 elements are interactive. They also will impact many other elements of health outside the top 3 as many medical conditions; physical and mental are improved by the top 3 elements. So sleep enough to improve performance like remembering things, learning things, not dropping things and inside keeping the blood sugar levels under control (the diabetes link) just for starters. Yes people who do not sleep enough with enough quality die earlier and have worse health. Eating is the same and no real surprise eat enough (not too much) and eat well. So cut out the treats you have every day and make sure you have healthy stuff each day. Many food stuffs are toxic in the amounts people take them. We all know alcohol and other drugs poison but too much in general and too much sugar also have to be dealt with by the body and it has it’s needs which might not be your wants. Moving right starts with good every day technique keeping the joints aligned using the body in a way that reduces damage traumatically and chronically. Learning to squat is helpful for lifting things but also walking with good foot and knee position. With technique improved just moving rather than the epidemic of sitting. This is the major 3, when you have made progress with these then looking at the next 3 factors for health or looking at a top 3 of sleep etc., will help less but can help solidify good habits. If you want to reach higher levels then optimising basic health and pursuing advanced goals in activities and sport will need more detailed looks at exercising and nutrition while maintaining health.

Self defense is the next area. The first priorities are:

1. Awareness
2. Avoidance
3. Communication

So the first stage is getting an idea of what happens in terms of violence and then what is happening now? So the good news is at present the west is less violent than it has ever been. So what are the big factors around violence, hick (pardon me) yes you’ve got it alcohol, the big factor effects any awareness and avoidance and any physical response. Location; where is violence most common? Where alcohol is consumed, is number 1 then when people are on their own so plan to reduce this time and avoid the worst times. Who suffers violence is the next question. Adolescence are more vulnerable but vulnerability is a factor. General advice is to not look or be like easy prey, for criminals or emotionally disturbed people. Another is understanding of how violence occurs. This could be described as communication, it occurs because one person needs/wants something you have got or they can get from you. It may be crime or ego or status factors. Here communication is a key factor where you need to communicate you are not an easy mark, but also showing respect to peoples ego and status. Dealing with violence most often can be talked out of helping solve the other persons problem and understanding what they want to communicate.

Notice in self defense I have not mentioned fighting it is not in the top 3 and yet it is what most people lead with as with health I did not mention Doctors because they are for when other things have gone wrong and would give the same top 3 if you asked. Heart specialists may make their money through heart surgery, but they would still favour fewer operations to do!

So generally what ever you are looking at you need knowledge of what actually happens, then prioritise the key elements for your attention and act in best order. The order of action is a detail worth looking at putting first things first. Very few people do any real research and reflection or planning so are guessing, then when time is limited they use it unwisely. Wasting it and being ineffective and they either redo or go down a path of hard work.

As I stated prioritising is approximating, so don’t forget it is not the whole. For more advanced performance you will need to look for balance, now the fewer elements to balance the easier it is, so try not to bite off too much and fall in the trap of getting over engaged with minor elements. To do a sport first you have to be on the field, next stage is to be on the right part of the field and third is subtle movements to get the best angles for performance. Getting a perfect angle when not on the field is useless and looks silly in the supermarket.

Finding out the top 3 can be done by using experts (real not imitators). If you need to know the top 3 for health I have no words for you as the information is everywhere and you have heard it before. For self defense my go to people are Miller and MacYoung in books, internet and in person. They communicate well and have more experience than I want. Over time you know more including about yourself and need less help but also know better when you need help.

Where IQ Fits.

The IQ normal distribution is not everything but it does represent a lot particularly in western society. It is a relative measure as it compares to other people not an absolute measure. It does not measure everything. I have mentioned the different intelligences that Howard Gardener uses and feel they have practical merit. A simple idea is that if you want something from a height you can ask a tall person to do it. It will be easier for them, although it can be funny to watch a shorter person try unless it’s yourself of course! Some people are better at different things. Another example may be musical or empathy where some people with little practice are much better than others with years of experience. They seam to grasp the basics quicker and easier which allows the more advanced to be built on top. Those with ‘lesser talent’ are slower to pick up the basics and need to work harder to progress and sometimes just cannot develop in these specific ways.

So IQ is not a test of everything and it has had a history where it has improved is validity and reliability. Some of the original ideas of test were cultural rather than intelligence. So what does a higher IQ suggest? It suggests the person will generally be better with vocabulary and language, they will use words better and more accurately and be able to use more of them to explain anything. They tend to have the same advantage mathematically leading to logical aspects. As they have an advantage in the basics as things seem obvious to them, they can then combine these elements to more abstract levels. This is where they lose others who cannot follow at all or at least as quick. Some cannot follow even with time and explanation. I would like to say that this is the same pattern with other intelligences some people can physically or musically just do and do really quickly and then with some practice go beyond others understanding and abilities very quickly. The first example from maths is algebra where the first step into abstraction loses many, here the use of letters representing numbers rather than numbers confuses. Of course here teachers need to develop themselves to teach this well to help the less able to progress. Later these basics of language, maths and rational thinking are applied to other subjects especially in academic centered learning (in schools). Science is best tackled when the strong skills in the IQ strengths have been squired.

The teachers position is of a person that does know and understand (hopefully) trying to teach someone who does not, where the job is harder and different where the learner has less ability let alone less motivation. Getting to the GCSE equivalent is very useful for lots of tasks in the rest of life but some will never get close to this let alone excelling.

Another way of looking at IQ as it is normally distributed is to use another example the first is height. How many men do you know who are over 6’6” that group are the tallest 1% (1 in a hundred) of men. At the other end of the distribution; how many men do you know who are less than 4’6” they are the shortest 1%. Such is the distribution that 68% are close to the average (5’9”). So now play basketball against the 6’6” man, who wins? I have chosen the height example because it is easy to see the rarity of the 1% and how the difference could be practically different. The taller person will find some things easier than the average (and 99% of the population) and the shortest will find other things easier. When you relate this to IQ the highest 1% have IQs over 130. The difference is not as easy to understand and recognise it is not obvious but it is still there. How this relates to the real world may be measured in time where one person takes 2 weeks to solve a problem and the higher ability person does it in 10 minutes. So who is going to be the best at something is the prepared person who had the initial talent or attribute. The person without the talent or attribute will probably never be able to do the same things. All men may be equal but are not the same. There is of course potential and realising that potential. Many have shown hard work can get over many obstacles but more potential means fewer and lesser obstacles.

IQ can also be looked at as positioning if you are in a good position things are easier higher IQ puts you in a better position than lower IQ for some situations or problems. Still not a certainty, but better. Experience is similar once you have learnt some (real) lessons (beware of bias and fallacies) you are in a better position to understand, decide and act. There are many obstacles and frictions that provide resistance. Being in a better position is one major way of improving your chances. IQ is one way nature helps some in to some better positions. This highlights is uncomfortable point that some will find being in a good position very difficult while others find it easier. Working out that some things are very unlikely may mean a different route or approach. Being realistic is hard when some are just not likely to succeed at a specific task as the resistance is too great. Sometimes seeing the normal distribution (bell shaped) as a physical hill that cannot be realistically got over or even seen over (both directions) preventing understanding let alone change.

Realism and pragmatic considerations need to be allowed for. Gaining an understanding of ones own abilities and disabilities and how that impacts options is important. When it comes to reach then the taller and longer armed have an advantage, but have other advantages and disadvantages. IQ is the same some people are going to be better at mathematical and language tasks and applying them at more advanced (e.g. complex) levels. Society has evolved from primate hierarchies and has social and power dynamics that affect people’s roles including who makes decisions. Encouraging the more talented and experienced into these positions produces better results even if the others cannot understand that. These are valuable positions in society desired for many reasons. Other roles are less valued and key influences select people for roles. Giving opportunities for people to understand themselves and develop their strengths and societies using their strengths to best affect is not a new idea but not over common. Sometimes laws are made to improve selection of people for roles but it cannot be as effectively implemented if it is acted on by people without the strengths to recognise these differing strengths. This meritocracy of talents approach would be more productive, but the value placed on some roles by less able people distorts any process, motivating them to gain these roles when others would perform to higher standards. These forces need to be lessened by improving self awareness and understanding of others in the individual and appreciating and valuing other equally valuable roles in society. Elections cannot select the most able person for the job as the electorate do not have the expertise to select the best person, on top of many other distortions effecting selection. Many employment appointments are made in ineffective ways leading to the next appointment being made by a less able selector.

Above are some ideas of how to explain perspectives around IQ, where many misunderstandings abound. The costs of these misunderstandings can be large, and invisible to many.