Ben Zander (pictured) conductor for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, faced the same problem at the start of each semester. His students, all gifted instrumentalists and singers were so anxious over the measurement of their performance that they were reluctant to take creative risks and open themselves up to the possibility of making mistakes. And this, of course, inhibited their ability to be creative and learn.

With Roz Zander (therapist and co-author of The Art of Possibility) they devised the following approach-All students would receive an ‘A’ grade at the beginning of the course on one condition. They were required to write a letter future-dated to the end of the semester to Ben Zander describing in as much detail as possible, how they came to achieve their ‘A’. In other words, the students had to define, at the beginning of the course, who they will have become and what insights and milestones will they have attained to justify top grade.

As Zander relates, that  ‘A’ changes everything. By giving each student an ‘A’ at the beginning, a universe of possibility has suddenly been invented. On this now-level playing field the students were able to learn and take creative risks—free from anxiety and fear of failure. The ‘A’ grade was no longer an expectation to live up to. Instead, it became a possibility to live into.

The practice of giving someone or some situation an ‘A’ is a very simple idea albeit one that  has very powerful consequences.  Zander gave compelling evidence for the amazing effect of this practice on his students.

But outside of the New England Conservatory of Music and the hothouse of prodigious musical talent it contains, is this practice of giving an ‘A’ simply too aspirational to be applied in the workplace? Does everyone actually deserve it? And if we were to give everyone top grade does that mean people don’t need to achieve specific performance levels?

My conclusions are as follows:

Although the language of “Giving an A” (with the inference of grading) is used it isn’t really meant within the context of measuring peoples’ performance against standards that the ‘A’ is given. (Come on, would you ever knowingly go to a dentist who hadn’t passed his exams?) Rather the practice can be transformative by inventing a different, more creative context of relating and working for both the giver and the receiver of the figurative A.

To be more specific it gives people permission to shine by:

• Recognising that actually people do want to contribute and give their best (regardless of how below-par their performance may currently be.)
• Being aware that you will probably elicit the response you expect from someone i.e. if you think someone is a certain way and treat them accordingly they will tend to behave that way.
• Remembering that it’s always much more interesting (and easy) to work with people who respect you/your work (and vice versa)

And, of course, you could always choose to award yourself an ‘A’ by playing to your strengths and operating within a framework of possibility. It’s all invented anyway and it’s a lot more fun being an A player!

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