In the book “Pygmallion in Management”, there is a story about James Sweeney, a teacher at Tulane University.
He believed that he could teach anyone to be a great computer operator.
Despite objections, he taught George Johnson, a janitor who appeared to have a low IQ.
George was not confident and was worried that this would be another failure in his life.
His friends agreed and suggested not to take the risk.
However, James persuaded and trained George to be a computer operator.
George was so successful that he eventually became a trainer for new computer operators.
In George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmallion”, a poor flower seller from the streets, Eliza Doolittle, believed that she could better her life but didn’t have the opportunities.
She begged Prof. Higgins to give her elocution lessons so that she could sound like a duchess.
He eventually trained her.
Speaking like a member of the upper class opened doors for her.
She was able to change the perception of herself to those around her.
It gave her opportunities that she would not have had otherwise.
Our expectations about others will influence how successful they are in life.
There have been experiments in schools to see if the teachers’ expectations influenced the students how well they did in their studies.
These studies showed that teacher’s expectations influenced student performance.
Let us expect (not just in words) the best out of our colleagues, family, and friends.
They will get inspired, and most likely, they will do well.
Our enthusiasm is contagious.
So is apathy.
