Why mediocre people in school are more successful

A controversial article written by the English journalist has recently gone viral John haltiwanger that was published in the digital medium Elite Daily.

In this writing, Haltiwanger put forward a theory: students who get high academic grades are not necessarily the smartest. In addition, always according to this journalist, the "mediocre students" (those who obtain grades ranging from passed right up to the noticeable low), are the ones who tend to be most successful during their working life and personal. Much more successful than A's students.

Related article: "Successful people and unsuccessful people: 7 important differences"

Mediocre students, the future creators of companies?

Of course, these claims have been the subject of intense debate. Not only because Haltiwanger is quite categorical in his exposition, but because he does not provide a scientific foundation that can attest to what is said in it.

However, it may be interesting to echo your thoughts and observations so that, in at least one sense philosophical, let us rethink together some important aspects of education in general and of the school system in particular.

Good grades are not a guarantee of anything

We have all realized that academic qualifications are not always the best predictor of a successful work life, nor to reach the happiness in the future. On many occasions, the least attractive for studies tended to find low-paid jobs, or even had to be part of the unemployment queues.

But, what happens to those who passed the courses without pain or glory, with grades ranging from 5 to 6.5? As Haltiwanger explains in his now famous article, there are numerous cases of mediocre students who achieved high levels of wealth and fame. Thus, it seems that success is not only achieved by the people who stand out the most in their academic stage but, Counterintuitively, mediocre students may possess a number of abilities and skills that are very useful for life.

Examples of 5 Students Achieving Success

The classic example of a gray pupil who was resoundingly successful in his adult life was Steve Jobs, the creator of the smartphone and technology brand Manzana. Another highlight of this category is none other than Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, or the very Bill gates, creator of Microsoft. We are talking about a central triad in technological innovation in the world, and it is surprising that none of them were a brilliant student.

More examples: Sergei Korolev He was the Soviet astrophysicist and engineer who, despite having launched the Sputnik rocket into space, was never a good student. Vladimir Mayakovsky he suffered in order to learn to read, and Joseph Brodsky, who was considered a horrible student, received the Nobel Prize for Literature decades later.

Reviewing the concept of intelligence

How are the concepts of intelligence, academic achievement and professional success related to each other? The intelligence it has been, historically, a controversial concept among the students of psychology. What is known is that it is not a good idea to try to draw parallels between academic performance and intelligence, since the correlation is not very reliable.

Success in life, for its part, can be defined in many different ways. Each person has their own vision of what success is, and her priorities in life. In this case, it is useful to talk about job success (because it is more measurable and univocal), and the truth is that it does not seem a necessary condition to have obtained very good grades in the past, nor being very intelligent, so that one can generate a brilliant idea that leads to tremendous success business.

The keys to success, available to everyone

In short, being successful goes far beyond the schemes imposed by the educational model of each country. To be successful, hWe may be overestimating the influence of academic results, as Haltiwanger points out.

Success requires consistency, persistence, and creativity. But, in addition, to achieve high goals in our life we ​​must also fail sometimes to realize that everything we do helps us learn and move towards our goals.

The value of failure

This value of failure is what can be one of the factors that contribute to future success. And, of course, the most experienced in this matter are the people who suffered to be able to pass and carry out the school courses. They are individuals who never received high praise or rewards, so they know first-hand the value of effort, daily struggle and the ability to overcome.

Poor students probably learned to manage their failures, which they couldn't. make students outstanding for the recurrence in which their grades approached the 10. Entrepreneurs who manage to develop good products and / or services tend to be very aware of alternative and creative ways to achieve their successes. Nor they are limited to the established canons or the typical, but they innovate. This is how they create totally new, high-quality products that represent a revolution in their sector. For example, this is how Steve Jobs did it with almost all the gadgets that he brought to the market.

Creativity, another skill that is not developed in school

Following the observations of the English journalist, it seems that mediocre students tend to be the most likely to be natural leaders in their circles of friends. They can guide other pupils beyond the codes and educational context.

It is these individuals who display the most creative thinking, and they tend to decline to be interested in rigid and monotonous master classes. These people can be more creative than average, because They do not base their thought patterns on school logic but on their own experiences.

This is one of the points that has generated the most debate. It is quite possible that certain methods of formal education work against students being able to develop their critical spirit, their creativity or the possibility of living certain experiences enriching. At school, they usually teach us how things are, but they don't give us the possibility to question them. Nor is much emphasis placed on the significant learning, nor are students equipped with tools so that they can solve problems in alternative ways; innovative.

The vast majority of people who managed to run technology companies operated with different thinking patterns. They thought beyond the obvious; they launched projects that were not governed by existing parameters. They are individuals who are fast learners, are proactive and do things their own way, and not as others require them to do.

Beware: being a bad student is not good news for your future

One thing should be clarified: although Haltiwanger builds this discourse around Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and company, The truth is that getting bad grades (or mediocre grades) is not a guarantee of personal or professional success. Nor is the opposite: taking license plates does not give us the key to a prosperous future.

In summary, success is marked by a lot of variables, among which character, perseverance, experience and contacts stand out. The notes are, in a sense, secondary.

Haltiwanger's article can be an encouragement for those who failed to stand out in their school or university stage. Life always offers us new ways of getting ahead, opportunities and moments that we must take advantage of. The success or failure in the grades is very relative: the real experience is achieved when leaving the classrooms.