Curiosity, Creativity and Competence
A review of “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything” by Sir Ken Robinson
Dear Fellow,
I discovered Sir Ken Robinson on my twenty-first birthday—21st August 2021. I read a tribute to him on that day. He passed on on 21st August 2020 due to cancer. Before his death, he did amazing work and made significant contributions to education. Though an Art educator, he spoke broadly to the global state of education. His primary emphasis is the necessity for creativity in the process of teaching and learning.
The Backstory
At the time of this writing, I went on Google to confirm if my assumption was right—that is if Sir Robinson has the highest number of TED Talks in the world. The result from searching “sir ken robinson” on YouTube shows that he has 9 appearances on various TED platforms. My search on Google revealed an interesting fact. In TED’s “25 Most Popular” talks of all time, Sir Ken Robinson’s 2007 talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” take first place with approximately 22 million views.
As always the case for me, books are better than any other media for learning. So, I searched for his books after watching his two other TED talks (“How to Escape Education’s Death Valley” and “Bring on the Learning Revolution”) in 2021.
The Reading
His book The Element was published in 2019. According to Sir Robinson, every individual has his or her element. He defines the element as that place where what you love and what you are good meet. The term, going by his definition, implies that it is not referring to passion only, but competence too. If we are to devise a formula, it could go something like this: The element is equal to passion plus competence.
Looking closely at the term again, seem to address the fundamental cause of underestimating the relevance and value of a field of expertise or discipline: financial reward. Organisations pay for competence; passion reaches for personal fulfilment. When these two—competence and passion—meet, excellent works abound.
Another look at his definition again, reveals its profoundness. Sir Robinson’s element, by definition, does not have a variable which suggests being the best among your peers. Parents discourage children from living out their full potential by, comparing the child with his sibling or friend or classmate who is performing outstandingly in subjects that lead to a preferred field of study. Again, the element refers to where passion and competence to do a particular thing meet. “I use the term the Element,” Sir Robinson wrote, “to describe the place where the things we love to do and the things we are good at come together.”
The book has biographical accounts of people who found and are living in their element. Reading through the book, you also learn about interesting facts. For example, the year the SAT and other such tests were designed and why, and the purposes they serve.
The Lessons
It was clear in the book that we cannot all be Ben Carson or Oprah Winfrey. That, there are unique endowments in every individual. There is that one thing or area where you will find me at my best and yet diligent even after several hours of labouring on a task. On that basis, it is wrong to insist that an individual stay on a path and not be allowed to explore his other areas of interest.
Secondly, I learned about the concept of “the hierarchy of disciplines” while reading this book. As I discussed in the despatch titled “Art Humanity”, we can only be better if we respect the uniqueness of every individual, our specialisations, and our becoming. We don’t need hierarchies of disciplines; we need every individual to be in their element.
The Conclusion
I have in mind to read Sir Robinson's book Out of Minds: Learning to be Creative. His writing is lucid yet profound. Little wonder, the person who wrote the tribute mentioned at the start of this piece, called him, in a chat the “clearest thinker” of his day. This book is, more or less, an illustration of what the element is and what being in it looks like by citing real-life accounts. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is seeking to understand the place where passion and competence meet.
Your LetterMan,
Tongjal, W. N.