The Grade A

When I was attending UW Business School, I had a class where the very first thing our professor told us was "This class will be very hard and usually nobody gets an A in my class, so I just want you all to know you will have to work hard but some of you who are used to getting As will be disappointed."

I knew how to work hard so I saw this as a challenge. I was a full-time mom going to school and balancing my toddler's upbringing with my dream of being the first one in my family to get a college degree. A college degree in the U.S! That’s a long way from where I grew up.

Yet, what I felt from this professor was he wanted us to be afraid and do good from this place of scarcity. And that pinned us against each other as classmates because most of us were using the "good" grades to receive scholarships, to participate in college clubs that required certain grades, and most of us, let's be honest, were motivated to push ourselves to learn and perform and we wanted the reward for it (the grade A).

So, after our first class test, we all were dying to find out what our grades were to know where our skill levels were in this class.

But the professor kept telling us they weren't ready yet, he hasn’t had time to grade them yet, so on. Excuses!

Then it was time for our second class test. Nobody knew where they were standing from a grade's perspective and the fear was tangible in the class.

For many of my classmates this was their first experience with uncertainty - one that really mattered to them.

I remember digging deep to connect with my resilience and I took on the mantra of "trust the process and trust yourself."

The class became lighter and more enjoyable. For me. It was still hard to sit in the class with a bunch of afraid students. The culture was based on fear and the environment was pretty toxic.

The professor somehow "forgotten" to give us our first tests back.

But the funniest thing that I still ponder sometimes to this day came at the end of the semester. The professor assured us our grades would be posted the next week but as a recognition for our hard work he handed us our test papers. All of them. Including the very first one.

I remember going through the pile of paper and at the very bottom I saw it. There it was! My first class test's result.

It was a big A!

I remember starring at the paper in disbelief. I wasn't happy. I was mad. I wanted to talk to the professor and share my disappointment. But he was gone. I felt let down.

What if I would have known this 3 months ago?

What if instead of fear I would have used my full curiosity and joy for learning to grow in this class? To learn from this professor?

How would I have listened differently knowing that I got the skill to make it in this class?

Would I have enjoyed the study more and retained more information for my own benefit?

How would have us, the students, knowing our grades changed the interaction in the classroom?

Would have we been more collaborative, sharing, and supportive of each other?

Would we have pulled each other up to higher levels of performance if we would have not been operating in fear?

I have no way to knowing what would have happened in that class.

But I discovered later the practice and the power of giving an A.

I read it in Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander’s book The Art Of Possibility.

If you are curious to find out how you can have this powerful practice as well, join us at my Not Your Typical Book Club where we will read and discuss this book – in a different way. In a way that it might transform your professional and personal life.