WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.560 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're here to really 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:05.339 get under the skin of important ideas, and today 00:00:05.339 --> 00:00:07.719 we're tackling something huge, something that 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:10.380 shapes almost everything, but we barely question 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.900 it. The whole idea of average, what if, and this 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:16.100 is the big question, what if our obsession with 00:00:16.100 --> 00:00:19.399 averages, with these statistical norms, is actually 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:22.219 stopping us, stopping us from seeing real talent, 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:26.300 from creating real opportunities? It's a really 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:28.500 powerful question. And for this deep dive, we're 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.219 exploring the insights from Todd Rose's book, 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:33.259 The End of Average, you know, how we succeed 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:36.240 in a world that values sameness. And his core 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.420 argument, really, is that valuing your weakness 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:40.859 isn't just like a nice fuzzy idea, it's absolutely 00:00:40.859 --> 00:00:43.200 essential. For individuals, sure, but also for 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:45.560 organizations, for society as a whole, it's about 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.460 success. Yeah. And the real world examples are 00:00:48.460 --> 00:00:51.060 just, they can be pretty surprising. They really 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:54.200 flip how you think about potential. So to kick 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:56.119 us off, let's talk about something kind of dramatic. 00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:01.200 Military pilots. Trashing planes. And the solution 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.460 wasn't what anyone expected. Think about it, 00:01:03.460 --> 00:01:06.500 how often do you maybe rely on average data? 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.560 Maybe for work decisions, health stuff? This 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:12.359 story really makes you question that. So the 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:14.439 story Rose starts with is pretty incredible. 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:16.280 You had these military pilots, right? And they 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:19.040 kept having these unexplained crashes. And the 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.060 first reaction, naturally, was, well, it must 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:23.359 be the pilots. Pilot error. Exactly. That was 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.219 the assumption. But what they found, and this 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:28.480 is really astonishing, it wasn't about the pilot 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.680 skills at all. It was the cockpits, the actual 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.000 physical space they're in. It turns out these 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.180 cockpits were designed for an average pilot. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.879 But average based on measurements from way back 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:41.500 in 1926. 1926, wow. Yeah, way back. And here's 00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:43.980 the kicker. They measured over 4 ,000 pilots 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:47.000 later on. And not one single pilot, not one, 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:49.140 actually matched all the dimensions of the so 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:51.790 -called average. Nobody was average. Nobody fit 00:01:51.790 --> 00:01:54.069 all the average dimensions. Maybe they had average 00:01:54.069 --> 00:01:56.709 arm length, but not leg length or average height, 00:01:56.730 --> 00:01:58.750 but not torso length, you know. So the problem 00:01:58.750 --> 00:02:01.469 wasn't the pilots being bad. It was this fundamental 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:04.230 mismatch. Their unique bodies just didn't fit 00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:07.689 the rigid one size fits all machine. Right. And 00:02:07.689 --> 00:02:11.469 the fix. Well, it seems so obvious now, but apparently 00:02:11.469 --> 00:02:13.770 it wasn't then. It was simple. Build adjustable 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:16.629 seats, adjustable controls, make the cockpit 00:02:16.629 --> 00:02:19.969 fit the pilot. Not the other way around, but 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:22.240 manufacturers pushed back, right? Said it's too 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.479 expensive. They did. There was resistance. But 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.460 they eventually did it. And the result? Immediate. 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:30.939 The crashes stopped. Just like that. That's incredible. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.629 Such a clear powerful example. It just proves 00:02:33.629 --> 00:02:36.330 how adapting to, you know, individual variation 00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:38.849 can solve huge problems, life and death problems 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:41.490 even. And that story, that pilot story, it's 00:02:41.490 --> 00:02:44.330 the perfect way into what Rose calls the jagged 00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:46.830 principle. It's really the core idea from the 00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:49.469 book. It says that talent, or honestly any quality 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.250 we try to measure in people, it's not one single 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:53.930 thing. It's not a straight line. Okay, so not 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:56.129 one dimensional. Exactly. Think of it more like 00:02:56.129 --> 00:02:58.729 a mountain range on a graph. You know, some peaks 00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:02.330 are high, some are low. Your profile across different 00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:04.830 abilities or traits is always going to be, well, 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.050 jagged, not some smooth average line. That makes 00:03:08.050 --> 00:03:10.110 a lot of sense when you put it like that, like 00:03:10.110 --> 00:03:12.789 intuitively. Yeah. But our systems, schools, 00:03:13.069 --> 00:03:15.250 workplaces, they often don't work that way, do 00:03:15.250 --> 00:03:18.169 they? So what happens then? What are the consequences 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.330 when we try to treat people who are naturally 00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:23.150 jagged as if they're supposed to fit this flat 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:25.780 average mold. Well, the main consequence is we 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:28.639 just miss so much. We miss the richness, the 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.219 variation that actually describes someone's real 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:33.780 abilities, their real strengths. We end up with 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:37.500 this really incomplete picture. Often it's totally 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:40.259 misleading. Take something like aggression, for 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:42.060 example. We might label someone aggressive, right? 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:43.939 Right. And expect them to be aggressive all the 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:45.939 time, everywhere. Yeah, look, it's a fixed trait. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.099 Exactly. But the research actually shows that 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.500 behavior is often super dependent on context. 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:53.419 You might have a child who acts aggressively 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:55.960 at school, but maybe only toward the bullies 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:58.060 who are picking on others. And that same child 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:00.060 might be totally fine, not aggressive at all 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:03.020 with other classmates or with adults. So this 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:05.060 really challenges that old idea that we have 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:07.400 these fixed essential traits that define us in 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.759 every situation. We're more complex than that. 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:12.340 Our traits are, well, jagged. And, you know, 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:14.800 this whole intense focus we have on averages, 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.910 on ranking against an average, it didn't just 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:20.410 appear out of nowhere. Rose traces the history. 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:22.209 A lot of it goes back to people like Frederick 00:04:22.209 --> 00:04:24.769 Taylor, early 20th century. Taylor was all about 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:28.269 factory efficiency, scientific management, breaking 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:30.829 tasks down, standardizing everything for the 00:04:30.829 --> 00:04:33.290 average worker to boost output. OK, manufacturing 00:04:33.290 --> 00:04:35.730 efficiency. Makes sense there, maybe. Well, yeah, 00:04:35.769 --> 00:04:38.910 for making widgets, maybe. But then that same 00:04:38.910 --> 00:04:41.870 thinking, that focus on standardization and averages, 00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:45.149 got applied to education. The idea was to create 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:47.509 a system that would churn out workers for that 00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:49.910 industrial economy, standardized students for 00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:52.649 standardized jobs. And it also ties into some 00:04:52.649 --> 00:04:54.949 older psychological ideas, these assumptions 00:04:54.949 --> 00:04:57.990 that people have unchanging sort of essential 00:04:57.990 --> 00:04:59.750 traits like we were just saying with aggression. 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:03.910 So we inherited this mindset from like optimizing 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:06.509 factories and old psych theories. Yeah. Okay, 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:08.050 here's where I think it gets really critical 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:11.750 for us today. What are the actual tangible downsides 00:05:11.750 --> 00:05:14.699 now? for businesses, for schools, for individuals 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.160 when we still operate with this average mindset. 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:19.600 Oh, the downsides are huge. I mean, fundamentally, 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:21.420 a massive amount of talent just gets overlooked. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:24.040 It goes completely unrecognized and worse, unused. 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:26.779 It's like imagine prospecting for gold, but you 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:28.680 only include the nuggets that are exactly the 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:30.600 average size and shape. You'd throw away a fortune, 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:33.120 right? Yeah, absolutely. So it genuinely creates 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.740 this lose lose situation. Organizations, businesses, 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:38.660 they suffer. They're less efficient, less innovative 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:41.360 because they're not actually using the full range 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.269 of skills and perspectives that people have, 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:45.709 they're leaving talent on the table. And for 00:05:45.709 --> 00:05:47.410 individuals, it's just missed opportunities, 00:05:47.910 --> 00:05:49.990 opportunities to grow, to develop their unique 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:52.170 strengths, to actually contribute in ways they're 00:05:52.170 --> 00:05:54.870 capable of. It can be really stifling. OK, so 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:58.339 that paints a pretty clear picture of. The problem 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:01.180 is the tyranny of the average stifles potential. 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:03.379 So if that's the problem, what's the solution? 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:05.680 What's the path forward? The book lands on this 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.279 really powerful idea. Fit creates opportunity. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.600 What does that actually mean? For you listening, 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.500 in your job or your life, how do we apply that 00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:16.639 beyond just adjusting a pilot seat? Right. It's 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.579 about scaling that principle. It means that instead 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:22.620 of forcing people to bend themselves to fit rigid 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:26.129 systems, The systems themselves need to become 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:29.370 flexible. They need to adjust to the unique individual. 00:06:29.750 --> 00:06:31.850 We're talking classrooms, work environments, 00:06:32.110 --> 00:06:34.089 team structures, even how learning materials 00:06:34.089 --> 00:06:36.430 or tools are designed. They need to account for 00:06:36.430 --> 00:06:38.370 that jaggedness we talked about. That's a total 00:06:38.370 --> 00:06:39.990 flip in perspective, isn't it? It really is, 00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:42.829 from one size fits all to tailoring the fit. 00:06:43.149 --> 00:06:45.370 And when a system does that, when an employer 00:06:45.370 --> 00:06:48.709 or a school or even just a process is designed 00:06:48.709 --> 00:06:51.509 with that flexibility, The message it sends is 00:06:51.509 --> 00:06:53.709 huge. It basically says, hey, you're unique. 00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:56.829 We see that. And it's actually our job, our responsibility 00:06:56.829 --> 00:06:58.649 to help you figure out that uniqueness and find 00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:01.290 ways for you to use it so we both benefit. Imagine 00:07:01.290 --> 00:07:04.149 hearing that. Exactly. That message, that whole 00:07:04.149 --> 00:07:06.670 approach is just fundamentally incompatible with 00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:09.680 holding up. sameness or the average as the ideal, 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.459 as the goal. You simply can't get there if average 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:15.639 is your guiding value, which raises a really 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:17.139 important question for all of us, doesn't it? 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:19.480 What actually happens? What possibilities open 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.899 up when we stop trying to smooth out variation 00:07:21.899 --> 00:07:24.819 and instead actively embrace it when we value 00:07:24.819 --> 00:07:27.660 uniqueness? Wow. What a journey we've taken just 00:07:27.660 --> 00:07:30.639 unpacking that one core idea, moving beyond this 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.199 idea of the average and really leaning into uniqueness. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.579 It feels like it's not just about being you know, 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:38.879 fairer or nicer, it's actually about unlocking 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.120 so much potential. Potential that's just sitting 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.620 there, untapped, and individuals and teams and 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.620 whole organizations. It absolutely is. So maybe 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:48.560 the thought to leave you with is this. Take a 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.699 moment and think, where in your own life or maybe 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:54.319 in your workplace or your community, where might 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.959 you be applying an average mindset without even 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:59.579 realizing it? Judging things against a norm? 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:02.240 Expecting people to fit a mold? And then ask 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.610 yourself. What opportunities, what potential 00:08:04.610 --> 00:08:06.470 might you unlock if you challenge that assumption, 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.610 if you started looking for and creating individual 00:08:09.610 --> 00:08:12.329 fit instead? Yeah, really think about that. Seeing 00:08:12.329 --> 00:08:15.089 people, seeing systems, not as these uniform 00:08:15.089 --> 00:08:17.810 averages, but as these vibrant, complex, jagged 00:08:17.810 --> 00:08:20.529 individuals, everyone with their own unique profile 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:23.029 of strengths, needs, and ways of seeing the world, 00:08:23.810 --> 00:08:26.110 adopting that perspective feels like it could 00:08:26.110 --> 00:08:28.089 genuinely change how you approach almost everything.