2-Minute Tips: 48# Playing To Your Strengths

8-year-old Gillian was sitting on her hands listening to her mother and a specialist chat about the problems she was having at school. For 20 minutes her mother spoke about how little Gillian struggled to concentrate, would disturb people in class and just generally play up. 

The school had written to Mrs Lynne, explaining that “we think Gillian has a learning disorder.” Nowadays, she would probably be diagnosed with ADHD, though this was the 1930s and that condition hadn’t been invented yet!

The doctor listened patiently and then came and sat next to Gillian, and said, “I’ve listened to all these things your mother’s told me, I need to speak to her privately. Wait here… we won’t be very long.” As they left the room, he turned on the radio, and when they got outside, he said to her mother, “Just stand and watch her.” 

The second they left the room, Gillian was on her feet, moving to the music. They watched for a couple of minutes, and he turned to her mother and said “Mrs Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick; she’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”

Mrs Lynne did just that and Gillian loved it, “I can’t tell you how wonderful it was. We walked in this room, and it was full of people like me. People who couldn’t sit still. People who had to move to think.”

They learnt ballet, tap, jazz; they did modern and contemporary, and eventually Gillian showed enough promise that she auditioned and received a spot at the Royal Ballet School. Her ascent continued as she became a soloist for the Royal Ballet, and after graduation she founded the Gillian Lynne Dance Company.

Later she met Andrew Lloyd Webber and produced all the choreography for ‘Cats’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ “She’s been responsible for some of the most successful musical theatre productions in history, she’s given pleasure to millions, and she’s a multi-millionaire. Somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down.” Ken Robinson

This enchanting story was adapted from Sir Ken Robinson’s brilliant (and hilarious!) Ted Talk ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity.’ It’s my favourite Ted Talk and well worth 15 minutes of your time.

Wisdom 💎

“Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not because the thing they were good at, at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatised.”

Sir Ken Robinson

Tip 1 - Smart Play ✅

Build different types of intelligence in yourself.

Build teams with different personalities, talents and viewpoints.

Tip 2 - Avoid 🚩

Thinking that academic grades are the only form of intelligence that matters. Gardner came up with 9 types of intelligence – personally, I believe there are even more than that!

Tip 3 - Action 💪

Do a quick audit of what you’re good at. Can you play to these strengths a little more in your work or life?

“Learning happens in the minds and souls, not in the databases of multiple-choice tests.”

Ken Robinson