Simon Sinek argues that education, like business, over-relies on easy-to-measure metrics (e.g., test scores). He suggests adding complementary metrics that capture interpersonal skills—listening, cooperation, leadership and helping behaviors—so schools can recognize and reward students who elevate others even if their own grades are slightly lower.
Chapters
There's a great correlation between business and education. I think. You know, in business we, the metrics are lopsided where we over measure money or stock price or whatever it is for the very simple reasons. They're easy to measure. That's it. I mean, it's not because it's bad or it's just because it's easy. And it's the same with test scores. It's just an easy thing to measure. And so that becomes a lopsided metric. Are we teaching things like listening skills, cooperation, camaraderie, helping, helping each other? You know, these are skills that are really important for life, for socialization, for making friends. And so we might be measuring a kid's performance, but you know, are they helping other people rise in the classroom? Because this is the amazing thing about education, which is lots of people can get A's simultaneously, right? You don't lose if other people get an A. So why not learn to help each other also? And wouldn't you found a student? And I'm sure anecdotally all teachers know this, where the kids sacrificed to help their friends do well, they ended up getting a B or B plus and all their friends got A's and A minuses. You know, okay, that kid didn't reach a certain level of achievement, but that kid is a really special child of a gifted natural leader and probably a great kid in school to keep around. But there's no recognition or reward whatsoever. And we want to reward that kind of behavior and recognize that kind of behavior. So I think there's a massive opportunity to add new metrics. Not get rid of the old metrics, but add new metrics to the education system. We have.
