I read Adam Grant’s book, Hidden Potential, which introduced the concept of scaffolding. We stop dreaming when we don’t see a way to achieve our dream. That’s why the author came up with the concept of scaffolding as a temporary structure to support the building of our dream.
When people can’t see a path, they stop dreaming of the destination. To ignite their will, we need to show them the way. That’s what scaffolding can do.
In Part 1 of his book, he explained the difference between personality and character:
• Personality is your predisposition – your basic instincts for how to think, feel and act. Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts
• Personality is not your destiny – it’s your tendency. Character skills enable you to transcend that tendency to be true to your principles.
It is the skills of character that is the basis of the scaffolding. The last century had seen the shift from developing character to improving personality traits. However, we should return to building and strengthening our character, and to have a growth mindset. The author talked about accelerating growth by “embracing, seek and amplifying discomfort” – which he did by making more mistakes. I believe that we have an unhealthy concept of mistakes – viewing them as failure and to be avoided by all cost. Our society has a high acceptance of success, without realizing that the journey of success is paved with many mistakes and failures – stories that are not often shared. The truth is that mistakes are often valuable lessons to be learnt to help us reflect and grow.
Building a dream is not easy – but it is worth it. Never lose hope for your dreams – use whatever scaffolding to support you as you embrace discomfort in the pursuit of your dreams.