The Power of Positive Expectations

Have you heard of how a group of people decided to set up a Pessimists Society in London? It was a trendsetting idea, and all the pessimists in the neighborhood agreed to meet the following Sunday to set up the association. But when the appointed day came, nobody turned up for the meeting. Apparently, they all felt that it just wouldnt work. Ahem! As negative feelings go, its widely accepted that pessimism pretty much top the charts. What is not quite as well accepted is the power of optimism. The power of positive expectations. While you may have your reservations about The Secret type of If you think you will get parking slot near the supermarket, you surely will assurances, there is evidence to suggest that positive expectations have a powerful impact on outcomes. Have positive expectationsand get positive results! As the following story shows, there may be a powerful lesson in this for all of us. In an experiment in a school in Texas, USA, the principal came up with a brilliant plan to ensure outstanding results for his school. The top thirty students in Grade 7 were handpicked and put into a class under the supervision of the top three teachers in the school. The objective: to train the students to top the state examination and bring glory of the school. The teachers got to work in right earnest. Delighted to be selected as the top three tin the school, they worked extra hard on their brilliant students. Projects upon projects were assigned, extra classes were held over weekends and the teachers were delighted to help the students individually, to help them ace the state-level examination. The kids too were enthused. They would quite happily agree to skip the odd baseball game in favor of maths class. Their parents were thrilled to see their wards being selected. Family holidays were postponed to ensure that the kids didnt miss a day of school. The parents took extra care to follow up on homework and assignments. At the end of the year, when the results were declared, it was found that the batch of thirty students had in fact done outstandingly well, ranking in the top percentile of the states schoolchildren. A visibly delighted school principal called the three teachers and congratulated them on their achievement. The teachers were rather self-effacing, preferring to attribute their success to the fabulously talented kids and their diligence. It was such a pleasure teaching such exceptionally bright kids! they concurred. Then the principal revealed the secret. These kids were NOT exceptional. Not the brightest of the lot. Not by a mile. They were just thirty kids picked at random from across the three divisions and handed over to the three teachers. The teachers were taken aback but were quick to rationalize- after all, THEY were the best teachers. They had obviously worked their magic. Well, not quite, revealed the principal. I

just put all the teachers names into a hat and pulled out three. And you happened to be those three! So what really happened? With thirty average students and three randomly picked teachers, how was the school able to deliver outstanding results? The answer: the power of positive expectations! The teachers, sensing their special status and the expectations from them, worked extra hard. Longer hours. Better preparation. More projects. They saw sparks of genius in their students, and worked harder to help them shine brighter. And the students, delighted to be handpicked, slogged harder, made sacrifices and willed themselves to rise to their potential. And the environment- their parents, the school- helped them along. There is a message here for all of us. As parents. As team leaders. As humans. Expect more. Expect good things to happen from your team, your spouse, your kids, your world. And you will find them willing themselves so deliver on those positive expectations. Also dont keep those expectations secret. Share them. Talk about your positive expectations. Let the world know. Dont let the fear of failure-the fear of what if- stop you in your tracks. Expectations have the power of making reality fit in. Tell your child he is clumsy, careless, always dropping stuff And guess what? He will live up to your expectations. Every time he drops something, he will tell himself thats me or cant help it, Im like that! And later, hell probably rationalize that My parents always told me I was clumsy. They were really quick to spot that in me! On the other hand you can tell him hes really smart, and destined to do well. And then watch him work extra hard to solve those tricky algebraic sums. I can do it. My dad always tells me I am smart. Maybe I just need to practice harder. And the harder practices, well, the smarter he gets. At work too the power of positive expectations holds good. Expect your team to do well, and watch them go the extra mile to ensure they dont let you down. So the choice is yours really. Expect good things. And watch it come true. Else, of course, feel free to expect failure. Like many people do. And like them, you can always say I told you so.

Expect more, get more. Expect failure. And get that too.

Summary: Never discourage anyone if the same work can be achieved by encouraging them People like to see themselves in everyones good list People like I the are given feedbacks in a positive sense.