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“When we treat man as he is we make him worse than he is. When we treat him as if he already was what he potentially could be. We make him what he should be.” —

“When we treat man as he is we make him worse than he is. When we treat him as if he already was what he potentially could be. We make him what he should be.” — Goethe, as quoted by Frankl This crucial insight seems to enable the best leaders—be they parents, teachers, organizers, etc—to bring the best out of their people. It’s also something highly under-appreciated in contemporary economics and management theory (and policy making, correspondingly).

mythrwy 7y ago
If not done with absolute precision that sounds like a recipe for over inflated egos and unrealistic beliefs and expectations. In other words, the problems lots of kids of helicopter parents and modern western culture have.
- ssivark 7y ago
  There's centuries/millenia of culture that serves as a guide for how to do it right. Nurturing humans to achieve their potential and live their life to the fullest it not a new problem. It's not like Victor Frankl invented this stuff sixty years ago. And I don't think it requires absolute precision in action -- just a willingness to observe, think and iterate. After all, the influencer is as much of a human as the influenced. We're talking about influence over the scale of years, if not decades. This is one of those domains where the "Lindy effect" might be a good rule of thumb -- the longer a guide has survived, the longer it is likely to survive, because the likelier it is to add value. Conversely, many "modern breakthroughs" are likely to be fads.
- ramblerman 7y ago
  That depends on how you treat people with great potential currently. I would tend to give them a lot of leeway and personal responsibility and trust they can get things done. I think that is what Frankl means. Saying "You are amazing, here is an A for trying" is a different culture entirely, and came from somewhere else.

mythrwy 7y ago

If not done with absolute precision that sounds like a recipe for over inflated egos and unrealistic beliefs and expectations. In other words, the problems lots of kids of helicopter parents and modern western culture have.

ssivark 7y ago
There's centuries/millenia of culture that serves as a guide for how to do it right. Nurturing humans to achieve their potential and live their life to the fullest it not a new problem. It's not like Victor Frankl invented this stuff sixty years ago. And I don't think it requires absolute precision in action -- just a willingness to observe, think and iterate. After all, the influencer is as much of a human as the influenced. We're talking about influence over the scale of years, if not decades. This is one of those domains where the "Lindy effect" might be a good rule of thumb -- the longer a guide has survived, the longer it is likely to survive, because the likelier it is to add value. Conversely, many "modern breakthroughs" are likely to be fads.
ramblerman 7y ago
That depends on how you treat people with great potential currently. I would tend to give them a lot of leeway and personal responsibility and trust they can get things done. I think that is what Frankl means. Saying "You are amazing, here is an A for trying" is a different culture entirely, and came from somewhere else.