Don't Praise Innate Ability

From what is becoming my favorite blog:

* Praise for effort:
- imbues kids with a greater sense of control over their lives
- leads to improved study habits and grades

“When we praise children for their intelligence," explains Dweck, "we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don’t risk making mistakes . . . Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control. They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure."

Something my wife needs to read. Here in its entirety: http://geniusblog.davidshenk.com/2007/02/interesting_pie.html

Formula For Genius

According to this thought provoking post, genius is "a massive aggregation of distinct qualities, each critical". This is the formula:

GENIUS = curiosity + persistence + flexibility + resilience + risk-taking + passion

I swear those qualities seem very familiar...