Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Progress Reports

Many parents wait for their children’s report card to find out how their doing in school… others will wait and look closely at the mid-term reports… some diligently attend the back-to-school parent/teacher conferences… and even fewer will take a daily interest in how their children are doing.

These are all various forms of progress reports. While most of them focus only on past performance (homework, projects, quizzes & tests), some of them also realize the importance of looking at current behavior.

Last week, without any of the standard measures of performance listed above, I saw all that I needed to see to accurately predict the future success of four teenagers. On the second day of school, these four boys were huddled around a table in a library… studying their homework… Case closed!

Whether you are predicting the future success of children… employees… service providers… or elected public officials, all you need to do is observe their daily behavior (especially when no one is watching… and especially early in the ‘game’) to know the answer.

2 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

This is why our country's young folks can't compete against the rest of the world. My 7 year old bragged last year about being able to read ahead a grade. I commended her but also pointed out that it's easy to shine when your surrounded by dirt, but next to the diamonds around the world, she's just sand. I told her great work but keep moving forward because there's always someone in front and more behind.