4th Idiot...

I believe while 3 Idiot was a brilliant movie (I am fan of that movie too with certain exceptions) with lots of constructive messages given to the audience, I say whosoever, simply/ without thinking/ without asking the basic fundamental questions, believes in it and starts following it blindly is the 4th Idiot.

First things first! I have an objection the way Virus’s character has been sketched in the movie. In my 19 years of education (and I have been really lucky/ fortunate to be taught by the best-of-the-best teachers/ professors/ gurus), I have never come across any teacher/ professor who is such a sadist/ vindictive/ mean (as Virus has been portrayed) by nature. You may think and try to recall, have you ever encountered any such cruel/ hurtful teacher/ professor in your academic life? I bet you wouldn’t have seen someone like Virus in your student life as well. I think the movie has taken a lot of poetic licence in writing that character. Teachers are just not like that.

Second, I think the movie went fundamentally wrong when they showed Rancho (Amir Khan’s character) to top/ come first in the batch. If you remember, the extremely funny M-A-C-H-I-N-E Definition (disclaimer: it is a word-by-word copy of Five Point Someone) scene, the professor says – if you want to pass here, you will have to write what is there in the book. So, in the exams, Rancho actually wrote what is there in the book and hence topped. Had he answered in his own way of explaining/ own theories, he would have been standing next to Raju and Farhan and not to Chatur Ramalingam (who could mug the theories and vomit to the last word) isn’t it? I guess, yes! So while the character of Rancho, with his actions messaged, don’t blindly follow the system (aazad panchhi – what Farhan use to say), he himself followed it to the last word. I would have been more excited and happy to see, though Rancho somehow managed to pass (because he didn’t believe in mugging up theories/ exams/ grades etc.); he ended up becoming a great scientist (as he ran after excellence and not theories) that the whole of Japan is looking out for him. Needless to mention, the original Ranchoddas Shyamakdas Jhanjhad only wanted a degree.

Third, the super hit message – run after excellence, success will automatically follow you – was well received/ applauded by the mass – the students (for whom there is nothing more sad/ stupid than the current education system/ teachers/ professors etc. and after this movie it got even worse) but, they never asked the basic question – HOW? How do I know which is the best way/ speed to run after excellence? How will I know where am I going to get that jogging track of excellence? How am I going to survive/ run on it? How am I going to make sure, that I am consistent and not achieving success accidentally? How do I know the correct syntax of excellence?

Here are my views on how and I call it the ILP (Identify, Learn and Practice) Principle:

Though there are a lot of thing said on practicing like a little practice goes a long way or Practice is the main road to becoming really good at something etc. I will start by quoting a very old and almost repeated to death adage – practice makes man and women (I should not miss it given the current socio-political environment) perfect. Well, I differ. It is not the practice that makes one perfect. It is the perfect practice that makes one perfect. If one doesn’t know what the perfect/ accurate way of doing things is and one keeps practicing imperfect things all his/ her life, one will become imperfectly perfect. Remember, practicing something badly may be as ineffective as not practicing it at all. Now, the bigger question is where will one get this perfect thing/ knowledge from - in a grocery shop or a supermall or online etc.? No. In fact, to get the perfect way of practicing – one need to read theories/ books and learn from whatever source it comes. But then many would say, theory is theory and practical is practical, isn’t it? (I also believed in it unless I met Prof. Koomar about whom I have mentioned in many of my emails).  I think this theory is absolutely incorrect! Michael Hummer, out of all his theoretical and practical experience, said – Theory is the most practical thing on Earth. Albert Einstein said that had I not got the support of the theories written by my predecessors, I would have not been able to see so far. The theories provided me the shoulders to stand on and see what I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. We can discuss this (theory versus practical debate) further in case this interests you? So, identify what is perfect way of doing things (read books/ theories etc.), learn the syntax, practice the perfect and get the excellence.

Remember, identifying the syntax is just taking first steps toward the success. In fact recognising the best way is no big deal. If one is smart, outsource this tedious job to a guru/ professor (I am being mean here!) as he (with all his experience) can easily and definitely lead to the source of water – though he may not be able to make one drink it. After knowing the right source, comes bigger problem – learning from it. I’ll put a pause here and take you to your childhood. How many times you would have been told by your parents/ elders to focus and learn etc. But, unfortunately, neither we asked nor they told how to focus and how to learn? Why does it happen that same class/ same teacher/ same books/ almost same IQ levels – one student gets 90% and other struggles to h=get even 40? Resuming back! Learning (which is known to be a Meta skill – a skill required to acquire more skills) is actually a 6 step sequential process (which starts at Knowledge level and goes up to the level of Evaluation) as defined by Dr. Benjamin S. Bloom and is popularly known as Bloom’s Taxonomy (a set of classification principle). Bloom's Taxonomy underpins the classical 'Knowledge, Attitude, Skills' structure of learning method and evaluation, and even the simpler Kirkpatrick learning evaluation model, Bloom's Taxonomy (BT) provides an excellent structure for planning, designing, assessing and evaluating learning effectiveness.

BT starts with Knowledge - recall or recognise information, then Comprehension - understand meaning, re-state data in one's own words, interpret, extrapolate, translate, then Application - use or apply knowledge, put theory into practice, use knowledge in response to real circumstances, then Analysis - interpret elements, organizational principles, structure, construction, internal relationships; quality, reliability of individual components, then Synthesis - develop new unique structures, systems, models, approaches, ideas; creative thinking, operations and finally Evaluation - assess effectiveness of whole concepts, in relation to values, outputs, efficacy, viability; critical thinking, strategic comparison and review; judgement relating to external criteria.

Once one knows and champions the process of learning by using the BT, one needs to make sure to sustain the rigor/ effort/ struggle and make sure not to stop during the transition phase from the block of Conscious Incompetence (moderate to high energy and low to moderate efficiency) to Conscious Competence (moderate to high energy moderate to high efficiency) and (refer my detailed mail on this titled – why people fail?) and continue putting the dedicated efforts. Remember, Practice involves a lot of mental work than physical and hence keeping mind in control (which is another science in itself given the sinusoidal pattern in which mind works) is a bigger challenge. There was a violinist, Nathan Milstein, who once asked his teacher Leopold Auer how many hours a day he should be practicing. Auer responded by saying "Practice with your fingers and you need all day. Practice with your mind and you will do as much in 11/2 hours."

When it comes to understanding expertise, psychologist Dr. Ericsson is perhaps the world's leading authority. His research is the basis for the "10,000 hour rule" (refer to my mail on Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers) which suggests that it requires at least 10 years and/ or 10,000 hours of deliberate (means there is a specific type of practice that facilitates the attainment of an elite level of performance and then there's the other kind of practice that most of us are more familiar with) practice to achieve an expert level of performance in any given domain. Remember, Mindful practice is a systematic and highly structured activity, that is, for lack of a better word, more scientific. Instead of mindless trial and error (which happens when we don’t believe in theory and go all out to do it ourselves without backing our actions with research/ studies etc.), it is an active and thoughtful process of hypothesis testing where we relentlessly seek solutions to clearly defined problems. Mark Twain said – life is too short to commit all your mistakes on your own. Learn from others.

The ‘Energy-Efficiency matrix’ (more popularly known as David Kolb’s Learning Ladder) helps you in understanding why people get frustrated and leave in between/ midway when they don’t get to the desired efficiency levels in spite of putting a lot of energy.

So, giving method to the real inspiring/ stirring/ exciting statement (in good sense, obviously!) - seek for excellence, success will follow you - identify the perfect, (with the help of a guru/ teacher), learn it (using BT) and practice (using the ‘David Kolb’s Learning Ladder’ and 10,000 hours rule) and then you have the perfect recipe/ track of running after excellence and success will obviously follow you then.