Scaffolding: Steps to overcome obstacles
Temporary supports help build resilience and overcome challenges that can overwhelm and limit growth. In his book, Hidden Potential, Adam Grant uses examples of how athletes, musicians, mountain climbers and even the military use scaffolding to help individuals learn and grow. Key features of scaffolding from his book:
They generally come from other people
They are tailored to the challenge being faced
They come at a critical point in time
They are temporary
“With the right support at the right moments, we can overcome obstacles to growth” (pg. 85). This part of the book discusses how getting support from others helps us find a different way to our original goal that we weren’t able to see on our own. It helps shift our focus in order to refuel and gain momentum when we feel stuck.
A few concepts that stand out in these chapters are how to change tedious practice to deliberate play, the benefits of breaks and how sometimes backing up to move forward is necessary.
Tedious Practice to Deliberate Play
“We’re often told that if we want to develop our skills, we need to push ourselves through long hours of monotonous practice” (pg. 89). Adam found evidence that turning the daily grind into deliberate play is a way to unlock hidden potential. He describes deliberate play as a “structured activity that is designed to make skill development enjoyable.” It incorporates creativity and variety into the ways you learn, the tools you use, the goals you set and the people you interact with.
Deliberate play incorporates creativity and variety into the ways you learn, the tools you use, the goals you set and the people you interact with.
Benefit of Breaks
There are benefits to taking breaks versus pushing forward. Time away helps sustain harmonious passion, unlock fresh ideas and deepen learning. It turns out that relaxing is not a waste of time, it’s an investment in your well-being. “Breaks are not a distraction, they’re a chance to reset attention and incubate ideas. Play is not frivolous activity, it’s a source of joy and a path to mastery” (p. 103).
Adam uses the example of a musician, Evelyn, that would stop practicing when she started to lose interest. She believed that “worthwhile practice is where progress is made. It’s about quality, not quantity. You need to feel there’s a shift - something is different when you walk out of the room” (p. 104).
Evelyn went on to describe when a mother reached out to her for a consultation for her daughter who had lost interest in practicing the violin. The mom thought Evelyn could motivate her to keep practicing. Instead, Evelyn came up with some deliberate play ideas. “She challenged the girl to play pieces backward, to come up with ten ways not to play the violin, and to incorporate sounds from her favorite TV show and her favorite animal. The girl left the session beaming. Before, her practice time was focused on ‘an outcome of being judged.’ Deliberate play taught her that ‘the real outcome is her enjoyment.’ Without enjoyment, potential stays hidden.” (p. 104).
Evelyn came up with some deliberate play ideas. “She challenged the girl to play pieces backward, to come up with ten ways not to play the violin, and to incorporate sounds from her favorite TV show and her favorite animal. The girl left the session beaming!
Backing up to Move Forward
“One of the most frustrating parts of honing a skill is getting stuck.” Instead of getting better, you start to decline. Thoughts like, I’ve lost it, I’m no good anymore start to enter our minds and that thinking can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In this chapter, Grant describes a baseball player that experienced this and the years it took him to reinvent and rebuild the way he pitched. “When we reach a dead end, to move forward, we may have to head back down the mountain. Once we’ve retreated far enough, we can find another way - a path that will allow us to build the momentum needed to reach the peak” (p. 108).
The key takeaway from this section of the book is the way the baseball player, R. A. Dickey embraced the character skill of seeking discomfort and taking small steps to bring about change. He sought out some of the best pitchers that threw a specific way and asked them technical questions of how they did it. He then used that knowledge and wrote his own guidebook to how he would change his pitch. The other players “didn’t have a full set of ready-made solutions - they surfaced ideas for R.A. to test” (p. 119). Taking small steps and experiencing small wins helped him gain momentum and move forward.
Backing up to move forward
“When we reach a dead end, to move forward, we may have to head back down the mountain. Once we’ve retreated far enough, we can find another way - a path that will allow us to build the momentum needed to reach the peak” (p. 108).
“Progress is rarely noticeable at a snapshot in time - it unfolds over extended periods of time. If you focus your attention on a specific difficult moment, it’s easy to feel stuck. It’s only when you look at your trajectory over the course of weeks, months, or years that you appreciate the distance you’ve traveled” (Grant, p. 126).
Reflection: Feeling stuck? Pushing too hard? Is it time to shift from tedious practice to purposeful play? Would you benefit from taking a break? Is there someone that’s accomplished what you are trying to do that could help?
Action: Reach out to someone today that can help you with the challenge you are facing OR rethink the way you’ve been trying to accomplish your goal and make it fun and playful OR step away for a while, take a break OR back up and try a new direction in order to move forward!
Tool: Puzzle Cracking