Non-Cognitive Skills Training Course

Unraveling Human Excellence
About 19, 000 years ago, early humans first realized that if they took three separate strands of vine and
braided them together, the newly created rope could support more weight than the sum of the three
independent strands of vine.
Why is this? Physics tells us that when strands of a rope are braided together, they create a synergisCc
effect. The carefully braided strands place mutual levels of force on one another, making it possible to
support more weight than the combined total of three independent strands.
As an individual that has been fascinated by human achievement, I have begun to wonder whether the
factors that promote excepConal human performance funcCon much like rope. For much of my life, for
instance, I have conCnually asked:

Why do some people, despite having very similar backgrounds and life experiences, go on to
experience very different life trajectories?

Why do some students, despite growing up in the most challenging life situaCons, go on to
achieve remarkable results as adults?
-
Why is it some athletes, who go largely unnoCced in their earlier playing days, end up
achieving success at the highest echelons of their profession?
-
Why is it, despite not having the natural intelligence others enjoy, some individuals rise up
the ranks of their organizaCons to become true transformaConal leaders?
Unraveling Human Excellence
About 19, 000 years ago, early humans first realized that if they took three separate strands of vine and
braided them together, the newly created rope could support more weight than the sum of the three
independent strands of vine.
Why is this? Physics tells us that when strands of a rope are braided together, they create a synergisCc
effect. The carefully braided strands place mutual levels of force on one another, making it possible to
support more weight than the combined total of three independent strands.
As an individual that has been fascinated by human achievement, I have begun to wonder whether the
factors that promote excepConal human performance funcCon much like rope. For much of my life, for
instance, I have conCnually asked:
-
Why do some people, despite having very similar backgrounds and life experiences, go on to
experience very different life trajectories?
-
Why do some students, despite growing up in the most challenging life situaCons, go on to
achieve remarkable results as adults?
-
Why is it some athletes, who go largely unnoCced in their earlier playing days, end up
achieving success at the highest echelons of their profession?
-
Why is it, despite not having the natural intelligence others enjoy, some individuals rise up
the ranks of their organizaCons to become true transformaConal leaders?
The Role of Non-Cogni9ve Skills
CapCvated by this curiosity, I have now spent close to a decade aMempCng to uncover some answers.
ANer spending years studying high performers in schools, athleCcs, and leadership, I have come to learn
that in addiCon to having a high IQ and very good human relaCons skills, another crucial element of high
performance includes possessing what are collecCvely being referred to as non-cogniCve skills. These
are the set of skills that research is increasingly demonstraCng as being crucial to success in numerous
life domains - from academic achievement to labor market outcomes to leadership success.