Art Studens are told: 50lbs for an A

 

This is a short post on The hidden dangers of perfectionism with a great example on the power of taking action.

 

One of the biggest obstacles to embracing failure is perfectionism.

 

This was highlighted to me by David Bayles and Ted Orland, the authors of a great book called “Art and Fear”.

 

They tell of a study where art students in college who were learning about pottery creation were told that they would be graded on either quantity or quality at the end of the semester.

 

We’ll get to the results in a moment, but it is worth reflecting on why this is important.

 

Students regularly report that they spend hours, days and sometimes even weeks thinking about a project or some piece of work they have to do.

 

How should it be designed, where could improvements be made and what potential problems might be encountered.

 

There is nothing wrong with putting some plans into place at the beginning of any project. That makes sense.

 

What doens’t make sense is the number of hours that are simply wasted on inaction!

 

Put simply a whole lot of time is spent thinking and not much time is spent doing.

 

 

 

 

What happened with the quantity v quality students?

 

Those running this study wanted to see which group would actually produce the the better quality work at the end of the semester.

 

One group of students were told they would have all their work weighted on a scale and, based on the total weight of their projects, they would receive the following grades:

 

50lbs for an A

40lbs for a B

30lbs for a C

20lbs for a D

 

The other group of student were assigned to the Quality group and were given different instructions. They were told:

 

“Just give me one piece of great work.”

 

Who do you think produced the better quality material at the end of the semester?

 

 

The QUANTITY group!

 

The Quality group spent hours thinking and planning and not doing so much. They aimed for perfection!

 

The Quantity group just got on with it and started creating.

 

They made mistakes and they learned from them. They adapted and became better as they produced more and more work.

 

It’s easy to slip into the quality or perfection group, theorising how exactly you want to do something without actually spending much time doing it!

 

 

How can this apply to your learning/studying?

 

 

Art, music composition, wood or metalwork, English essays, project work. Your creative side is used at some stage every single day.

 

Every day provides an OPPORTUNITY to use that creativity.

 

How do you get better at it?

 

Yes, by doing!

 

Don’t just think about doing things, get moving and do them!

 

How’s your creativity? Did you write that essay? Did you start that project? Did you attempt those maths questions?

 

Just get started, Just do it! Don’t sit in the ivory tower observing everything. Get your hands dirty, dig in and learn by doing!