Releasing the Genius Releasing the Genius Magazine - Issue 2 | Page 7

"
MOST SPECIAL
CAPABILITIES COME
THROUGH DEDICATION,
HARD WORK, MENTAL
FRAMEWORKS, AND
PERPETUAL EFFORT.
"
success working alongside other field
experts in furthering human cognitive
performance
potential
through
neuroscientific innovation.
In the years between teaching and
working alongside world leaders in
human performance and neuroscience,
Matthews applied his fascination
with patterns and process to business,
refining his ideas around the application
of cognitive enhancement and design
thinking.
First, he observed the close working,
social, and educational relationships
within wealthy families that was
lacking in lower income families that
resulted in a binary society. He strove
to understand the components of
managing mind-sets and relationships,
then extending and building on those
relationships.
A notably profound observation made
by Matthews at this time was that
the patterns at work within society
could be understood and leveraged to
empower the observer to create desired
outcomes.
His current position as Chief Innovation
Evangelist at the Faubert Applied
Research Centre enables Matthews to
pour the expertise and observations
gathered throughout his experience
and funnel them into the application
of cognitive enhancing technologies
and mental frameworks that will help
further distill the learning process for
students.
NURTURING AND
UNLOCKING THE GENIUS
Growing up, Matthews was taught to
look for patterns in social behaviour.
He learned that life is about stories,
or narratives, that differ based on
who is telling them. Matthews noted
that everyone believes that their own
narratives are the objective truth, but the
only truth is the unchangeable patterns.
All other elements of our narrative are
designed to make us comfortable and
to create intersubjective realities.
When it comes to raising his high-
achieving son, the objective truth is
that the vast majority of people are not
born gifted. Most special capabilities
come through dedication, hard work,
mental frameworks, and perpetual
effort. Matthews consistently delivers
this message to his son through the
continuous practice of growth mind-set
language and focus. He helps his son
learn from failure and motivates him to
continuously use design thinking and
neuroscience techniques to embrace
consistent progress over perfection.
Parents of high achievers should
systematically implement the design
thinking process, teaching children
to empathize through objective
interviews and shadowing; define
personas and role objectives, decisions,
and challenges; ideate, share, and
evolve ideas; prototype through mock-
ups and storyboards, failing fast when
necessary; and finally test through role
play to understand what works and
what doesn’t. Matthews says the key is
to iterate quickly.
As parents of high achievers, it is of the
utmost importance to foster a growth
mind-set, design thinking, grit, and the
perseverance to fail forward.
One of the ‘vehicles of understanding’
that he gave to his son was the
endeavour of building a YouTube
channel, a successful endeavour for
both. To Matthews, the subject matter
of the channel was irrelevant. Instead,
he was looking to give his son another
opportunity to dissect the patterns
and design thinking framework that
underlie learning, iteration, and
ultimately success.
Matthews cannot stress enough the
importance of iteration in achieving
success. He reminds his son constantly,
not just with his YouTube channel but
in his general approach to life, that he
probably isn’t going to get it right the
first time, and that’s okay, because if he
puts in the work and applies the design
thinking framework, he will continue
to get better over time.
ADVICE FOR RAISING
HIGH ACHIEVERS
His advice to parents of high achievers
is that “it is critical that students are
taught to use mental training, and
engage in strategic access”. He observes
that too often children are taught to
master the vehicles of understanding—
the content—instead of mastering the
components of learning itself.
DWAYNE MATTHEWS
Dwayne Matthews is a life
and education strategist.
He converges and shares
knowledge on education,
disruptive technology,
practical psychology, and the
evolution of work. Dwayne
has worked to review
trends in education that
are driven by technological
advancement, assisted
in the customization and
implementation of new
curriculum and was part of a
small team that created the
school’s mission statement
and implementation plans.
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