Ken Blanchard is a legend in his field. This is why I made it a point to shake his hands and have our picture taken the last time I attended his lecture in Atlanta. For after all, I am a proud Filipino and that is what we do all the time……take pictures.
Ken Blanchard is best known for the book he wrote decades ago that has remained popular today entitled: “The One Minute Manager.”
His latest book entitled: “Helping People Win at Work” in my humble opinion is another winner in the making. From this book I discovered that Ken Blanchard used to teach as a college professor for 10 years. And he often times get himself into trouble with his very unconventional ways.
Blanchard says: “My thinking dates back to my 10-year experience as a college professor, when I was periodically in trouble with the faculty. What drove them crazy more than anything was that at the beginning of every course I often gave my students the final exam. When the faculty found out about that, they asked, “What are you doing?”
I said, “I thought we were supposed to teach these students.”
The faculty said, “We are but don’t give them the final exam ahead of time!”
I said, “Not only will I give them the final exam ahead of time, what do you think I’ll do throughout the semester? I’ll teach them the answers so that when they get to the final exam, they’ll get A’s- and not force-fitting them into a normal distribution curve.”
Now this is where it gets exciting. Blanchard says “Yet many organizations do exactly that. They force their managers to evaluate, judge, and sort out their people according to that wonderful mathematical formula wherein managers are expected to rate only a few people high, a few people low, and the rest as average performers.”
I agree with Blanchard’s observation that many managers are afraid to rate all their people high, because then the managers would be rated low. They would be accused of being “too easy” or being “too soft” as managers. As a result the normal distribution curve is alive and well throughout the world.
Let’s go back to the school front.
There are many teachers and professors who adopt the policy, “I never give grades higher than 85….” thinking that that would make them special…..their standards are higher, their expectations better than everybody else. And the same jerks build a reputation for themselves by failing more students than passing them. This forces the students to rally themselves to only doing ONE important thing…..and that is to pass the subject or course….not learning from it.
I have had my encounters with these people, all my children have and I am sure you may have too. Now here is the point. Isn’t it we are supposed to help students learn and make A’s as Blanchard did?
Maybe these teachers and professors mean well and that is why they are mean. (pun intended). But unless they change their mindsets they will never make their students learn, the best that they can do is to make their students strive to pass the course. And if passing the course is their one and only expectations then guess what? These students have already failed!
When would teachers and professors realize that every time a student fails, it is because the same teachers and professors have failed them? Now don’t get me wrong. Slackers and lazy students deserved to be failed but those who manifest serious intention of learning should be helped.
Maybe this is the reason why many friends of mine today who are modern day millionaires, the entrepreneurs, the employers, the big time executives and business owners did not really graduated school with high grades and honors, but these are the same people who LEARNED despite their teachers and professors.
As school season opens, I wish our teachers and professors would learn a thing or two from Blanchard and by the way, I do not wish to be harsh with my observations but I am merely talking out of experience.
Good thing Jesus did not use a report card to grade His apostles.
(Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for the Dr. John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You” leadership program this May 28-29 at Dusit Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6872614 or 09178511115)