WEBVTT 00:00:17.586 --> 00:00:20.425 I've got a question for you. 00:00:20.425 --> 00:00:26.860 Which of you was always top of the class? 00:00:31.032 --> 00:00:35.112 All your life, top of the class? 00:00:35.112 --> 00:00:36.424 Right. 00:00:36.424 --> 00:00:38.946 --Liar (Laughter) 00:00:38.946 --> 00:00:46.231 Well, in precisely 9 minutes and 30 seconds, I'm going to make you proud 00:00:46.231 --> 00:00:49.393 that you weren't always top of the class. 00:00:49.393 --> 00:00:53.985 (Applause) 00:00:53.985 --> 00:00:59.824 You're going to go home tonight and tell your partner, your children, 00:00:59.824 --> 00:01:01.637 your friends and relatives: 00:01:01.637 --> 00:01:08.370 "Hallelujah, thank God, I wasn't always top of my class!" 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:16.350 In 2007, when I started my blog, I began studying the lives of several people 00:01:16.350 --> 00:01:18.962 who were successful in their lives. 00:01:23.555 --> 00:01:28.481 And each of them was successful in their field, each one succeeded in a different way. 00:01:28.481 --> 00:01:32.987 But there was one thing all these people shared, just one thing 00:01:32.987 --> 00:01:38.140 which intrigued me, and this was the fact 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:47.111 that these people, these characters -- none of them had been really successful at school. 00:01:47.111 --> 00:01:54.148 And some of them had even cut short their education 00:01:54.148 --> 00:01:57.068 and others didn't even make it to school 00:01:57.068 --> 00:01:59.681 for long periods of time. 00:01:59.681 --> 00:02:03.430 So this was a little worrying and frustrating for me when I remembered 00:02:03.430 --> 00:02:07.673 all those years in which parents and teachers 00:02:07.673 --> 00:02:11.312 told us, you must work hard, you must get the best marks, 00:02:11.312 --> 00:02:16.732 you must be one of the best to get into the best higher education establishments 00:02:17.744 --> 00:02:21.563 and in the end, I note that the reality is this: 00:02:21.563 --> 00:02:24.665 not all those who have been successful at the school of life 00:02:24.665 --> 00:02:28.647 were necessarily those who were top of the class. 00:02:29.066 --> 00:02:31.633 So this meant we needed an answer to the following question: 00:02:31.633 --> 00:02:39.812 Why isn't it necessary to succeed at school in order to be successful in life? 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:47.105 Or even: why is there no direct link between success at school 00:02:47.105 --> 00:02:50.025 and success in life? 00:02:50.025 --> 00:02:53.981 Because -- to mention people you know very well -- such as Steve Jobs 00:02:53.981 --> 00:02:59.057 or Bill Gates who have businesses -- they employ people who were top of the class. 00:02:59.057 --> 00:03:01.142 But when did they leave school? 00:03:01.142 --> 00:03:03.232 They both dropped out 00:03:03.232 --> 00:03:07.203 during their fresher year at university. 00:03:07.346 --> 00:03:11.189 So how come, then, that we, who try to be top of the class 00:03:11.189 --> 00:03:15.353 end up working in businesses for people who 00:03:15.353 --> 00:03:19.404 perhaps don't even know how to read and write? 00:03:20.187 --> 00:03:22.684 So that's when I started looking, and luckily 00:03:22.684 --> 00:03:28.990 I took the right approach right from the start, so I couldn't - or I didn't have to - look very hard. 00:03:28.990 --> 00:03:33.426 I started looking by identifying the qualities these people share 00:03:33.426 --> 00:03:36.742 which have allowed them to be successful in life. 00:03:36.742 --> 00:03:39.780 And I found 5 of these. 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:44.430 Next, I tried to see these qualities in the education system 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:47.977 all over the world, how are these qualities developed? 00:03:47.977 --> 00:03:53.348 Or at least appreciated or accommodated in the education system? 00:03:53.348 --> 00:03:58.228 And I was shocked to find I had discovered that these qualities -- 00:03:58.228 --> 00:04:02.869 not only are they not developed within the education system, 00:04:02.869 --> 00:04:06.587 but they are even punished in the education system. 00:04:06.587 --> 00:04:12.278 In other words, if you are unlucky enough to possess one or even several of these qualities 00:04:12.278 --> 00:04:16.986 you can be absolutely sure that you will be unable to succeed in the education system. 00:04:16.986 --> 00:04:23.062 And when you get to the workplace, you will be needing these qualities. 00:04:23.062 --> 00:04:28.732 So the first of these qualities is about being passionate. 00:04:28.732 --> 00:04:31.229 Just imagine this discussion with Einstein: 00:04:31.229 --> 00:04:33.102 you meet Einstein and you say to him: 00:04:33.102 --> 00:04:36.189 "Now, Einstein, it seems that you love physics, right?" 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:41.194 And he says to you: "No, I hate physics. You know, I'm only doing physics 00:04:41.194 --> 00:04:43.590 because my parents made me do it. 00:04:43.590 --> 00:04:46.988 I hate it...but hey, Hamdullah, I've been lucky, 00:04:46.988 --> 00:04:51.904 I've discovered a few theories, got a Nobel prize, and all that...well, I've been lucky." 00:04:51.904 --> 00:04:55.906 Or it could be that you could talk to Bill Gates, and so you say to him: 00:04:55.906 --> 00:04:58.745 "So, Bill Gates, it seems that computers are what turn you on?" 00:04:58.745 --> 00:05:03.078 And he says: "Nah, it's just destiny that pushed me to get into computers. 00:05:03.078 --> 00:05:06.302 Well Hamdullah, it's really taken off!" 00:05:06.302 --> 00:05:08.425 Can you imagine this type of discussion? 00:05:08.425 --> 00:05:12.233 It's impossible because we know that these people are passionately enthusiastic. 00:05:12.233 --> 00:05:13.671 So, what is passion? 00:05:13.671 --> 00:05:17.672 Passion means having an emotional and sentimental approach 00:05:17.672 --> 00:05:19.988 to a job. 00:05:19.988 --> 00:05:24.401 And if you are unfortunate enough to have this quality at school, you are going to fall in love 00:05:24.401 --> 00:05:28.109 with certain subjects, and you will work hard on those. 00:05:28.109 --> 00:05:31.346 And you'll hate the other subjects, and you won't work as hard on them. 00:05:31.346 --> 00:05:37.025 And as soon as you get to secondary school, you'll discover what we call the subject weightings. 00:05:37.025 --> 00:05:40.455 The subject weightings - the head will never come to you at the beginning of the year and say: 00:05:40.455 --> 00:05:43.288 "So, what do you like? You like maths? Ah! Let's raise its weighting. 00:05:43.288 --> 00:05:46.948 You don't like physics? We'll bring it down." 00:05:46.948 --> 00:05:48.660 It will never ever happen like that. 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:49.992 The weighting is already set. 00:05:49.992 --> 00:05:54.634 If you're good at maths, physics and languages, we take the highest weighting. 00:05:54.634 --> 00:05:59.221 If you like geography and history, and you work hard at those but you hate maths 00:05:59.221 --> 00:06:05.341 then you'll never get a good mark, or never the top mark, in the exam. 00:06:05.341 --> 00:06:08.386 Which means you'll be hearing this sort of thing all the time: 00:06:08.386 --> 00:06:12.548 "He's a hard worker, in certain subjects, he really is very, very good. 00:06:12.548 --> 00:06:16.287 But in other subjects, he really could do better." 00:06:16.287 --> 00:06:21.968 That's what they're passionate about at school: it's someone who could always do better. 00:06:21.968 --> 00:06:25.981 And that's why those at the top of the class have no feelings. 00:06:25.981 --> 00:06:30.064 They have no passion. They work at everything! 00:06:30.064 --> 00:06:31.741 They work hard in every subject! 00:06:31.741 --> 00:06:35.516 And they are good at all the subjects. 00:06:35.516 --> 00:06:37.869 And this creates a big problem for those at the top of the class. 00:06:37.869 --> 00:06:41.582 Because later on, they can apply to study medicine, law, and accountancy. 00:06:41.582 --> 00:06:45.791 They can do it all. 00:06:45.791 --> 00:06:47.987 At the outset, they are impressed by their abilities. 00:06:47.987 --> 00:06:50.555 But later, when you get to work, they'll say to you: 00:06:50.555 --> 00:06:52.038 "No, no, no: Stop!" 00:06:52.038 --> 00:06:55.788 If you want to succeed, there are two things that are very important -- primordial -- in life. 00:06:55.788 --> 00:07:05.060 If you want to achieve happiness and excellence, you must be passionate about what you do. 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:10.741 But without passion, you can't succeed at work, or even in your personal life. 00:07:10.741 --> 00:07:15.472 Yet at school, we've always been forced to take compulsory subjects, rather than follow our passion. 00:07:15.472 --> 00:07:19.314 Second quality: curiosity. 00:07:19.314 --> 00:07:24.912 Curiosity is the foundation of all discovery. It's curiosity that allows each of us 00:07:24.912 --> 00:07:28.118 to discover solutions to everyday problems. 00:07:28.118 --> 00:07:32.031 So -- how does curiosity manifest itself at school? 00:07:32.031 --> 00:07:37.823 A curious pupil or student is someone who seeks to know more. 00:07:37.823 --> 00:07:42.946 Such a student is more likely to read what is suggested in class, to carry out their own research, 00:07:42.946 --> 00:07:48.277 to discover new ways of solving mathematical problems. 00:07:48.277 --> 00:07:52.783 And because this student is very proud of what they do, 00:07:52.783 --> 00:07:59.372 they are happy to have learned a lot, and will try to develop their own ideas in the exam. 00:08:00.325 --> 00:08:05.398 And if the teacher doesn't understand what you are talking about, 00:08:05.398 --> 00:08:10.068 you work really hard, you put in more energy than anyone else, 00:08:10.068 --> 00:08:14.781 you hand in a really great, highly developed paper, your teacher doesn't get it, 00:08:14.781 --> 00:08:21.956 and awards you a shockingly low mark, often accompanied by the remark: Off Topic. 00:08:21.956 --> 00:08:29.070 This is why, in the education system, being top doesn't mean you are smart. 00:08:29.070 --> 00:08:31.304 In the education system, the fact of being top 00:08:31.304 --> 00:08:36.321 just means you have the ability to cram information and then regurgitate it -- 00:08:36.321 --> 00:08:40.142 just as it was, without developing it at all. 00:08:40.142 --> 00:08:44.304 And then when you get to the world of work, you'll be told that no, 00:08:44.304 --> 00:08:49.037 to be able to get the third ingredient of success, which is promotion at work, 00:08:49.037 --> 00:08:54.146 each time you have to learn, train yourself, look further, know more, 00:08:54.146 --> 00:08:58.922 never settle for the information you were given at school. 00:08:58.922 --> 00:09:03.621 And you know what the difference is, between these people who didn't pass, 00:09:03.621 --> 00:09:07.946 or who didn't complete their education system, in comparison with those who did graduate? 00:09:07.946 --> 00:09:10.670 One small difference which changes life. 00:09:10.670 --> 00:09:15.824 In fact, those who didn't graduate and who become entrepreneurs, heads of state, 00:09:15.824 --> 00:09:23.383 or who take on big projects, they often have this worry about not having known enough. 00:09:23.383 --> 00:09:27.319 So they are constantly searching, they are real self-starters. 00:09:27.319 --> 00:09:31.915 Unlike those who sat at the top of the class and who, once they've got their qualification, get gifts 00:09:31.915 --> 00:09:36.304 and they say to themselves: "I've finished my studies." 00:09:36.304 --> 00:09:38.631 And this is where the catastrophe lies. 00:09:38.631 --> 00:09:42.871 Third quality: being goal-oriented. 00:09:42.871 --> 00:09:46.769 Peter Drucker, the father of management, taught us that ultimately, within companies, 00:09:46.769 --> 00:09:51.265 it is essential to have annual, considered, goals. It isn't a matter of achieving high performance and being effective 00:09:51.265 --> 00:09:55.871 in the absolute, you have to be effective and high-performing in order to achieve your objectives. 00:09:55.871 --> 00:09:59.874 Which is, incidentally, very intelligent, as well as being what the whole planet 00:09:59.874 --> 00:10:02.713 is currently following as a managerial style. 00:10:02.713 --> 00:10:07.831 Imagine a pupil who has the same state of mind, and is also highly intelligent. 00:10:07.831 --> 00:10:10.592 This pupil is thinking about which job they would like to do. 00:10:10.592 --> 00:10:12.873 Which career they'd like to pursue. 00:10:12.873 --> 00:10:17.752 They look back on their time at school, deciding which marks they want to get, 00:10:17.752 --> 00:10:20.320 what sort of work they want to do, what work they can do 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.670 in order to get where they want to be. 00:10:23.670 --> 00:10:30.592 So you say to them: "Why don't you do enough work? Why don't you try to be the best in the class?" 00:10:30.592 --> 00:10:38.907 And they say to you: "But it's not necessary. Being top of the class doesn't meet my objectives." 00:10:38.907 --> 00:10:44.472 And then the school will be saying that this pupil lacks commitment. 00:10:44.472 --> 00:10:51.471 Pupils who have visibility, vision at school, are non-committed pupils. 00:10:51.471 --> 00:10:56.514 So the school rewards only the act of mixing objective and tool. 00:10:56.514 --> 00:10:59.535 And it rewards the tool, which is the mark. 00:10:59.535 --> 00:11:02.671 It never rewards pupils who come to say, at the end of the year: 00:11:02.671 --> 00:11:05.317 "Here are my plans for a career. This is what I intend to do." 00:11:05.317 --> 00:11:10.903 And here is the necessary energy I will deploy to achieve this objective. 00:11:10.903 --> 00:11:13.722 And I will spend the rest of the time playing, because I want to play." 00:11:13.722 --> 00:11:17.186 And this is what is never rewarded at school. 00:11:17.186 --> 00:11:22.959 The fourth quality is creativity. 00:11:22.959 --> 00:11:27.152 Creativity is fundamental - and yet it's the very first thing they take away from you at school. 00:11:27.152 --> 00:11:30.585 A study has shown - I'm not sure of the figures - but it showed 00:11:30.585 --> 00:11:39.345 that about 92% of the most creative people in the world are less than 5 years old. 00:11:39.345 --> 00:11:43.232 7% or 8% of creative people are over 5. 00:11:43.232 --> 00:11:45.466 So what happened? 00:11:45.466 --> 00:11:47.221 School happened. 00:11:47.221 --> 00:11:53.427 School prevents the pupil or child from thinking as they are used to doing, 00:11:53.427 --> 00:11:56.903 working as they are used to working or learning. 00:11:56.903 --> 00:12:01.671 Now it has to be done in just one way, saying what has to be said, thinking in just one way 00:12:01.671 --> 00:12:05.834 and drawing in just one way. 00:12:05.834 --> 00:12:10.144 There are lines that must not be crossed at school. 00:12:10.144 --> 00:12:14.922 And so later on, in a working life, people say to you: 00:12:14.922 --> 00:12:20.191 "No, you have to be creative, innovative, you must bring something new." 00:12:20.191 --> 00:12:22.321 Even though at school, we have been taught the opposite. 00:12:22.321 --> 00:12:24.880 You've got a sheet of paper. 00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:26.417 You've got a blank sheet of paper. 00:12:26.417 --> 00:12:32.313 I'll just ask you to spend 10 seconds, quickly, turning it into a flying object capable of flying 00:12:32.313 --> 00:12:34.149 as effectively as possible. 00:12:34.149 --> 00:12:36.428 10 seconds! The countdown has started. 00:12:36.428 --> 00:12:38.424 Quick, quick, quick... 00:12:38.424 --> 00:12:42.328 A flying object which can fly as effectively as possible. 00:12:53.145 --> 00:12:56.988 Very good. Launch your planes, your flying objects. 00:12:56.988 --> 00:12:59.188 Yes, that's great. 00:12:59.188 --> 00:13:02.827 People will say they didn't like my talk. 00:13:02.827 --> 00:13:09.224 Okay. I note that people have done that. 00:13:09.224 --> 00:13:10.922 Did I say make a plane? 00:13:10.922 --> 00:13:12.268 No! 00:13:12.268 --> 00:13:18.222 No, I said to make a flying object that can fly as effectively as possible. 00:13:18.222 --> 00:13:22.143 But this flies better than that. 00:13:22.143 --> 00:13:27.720 In other words school has prevented you from really thinking in a creative way. 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.272 How is creativity seen at school? 00:13:30.272 --> 00:13:35.338 It's someone who draws. It's someone who always asks weird questions at school. 00:13:35.338 --> 00:13:39.225 It's someone who's always at the back, it's someone who likes to address matters 00:13:39.225 --> 00:13:42.031 that the teacher hasn't addressed. 00:13:42.031 --> 00:13:47.894 So it's someone who is often distracted. 00:13:48.054 --> 00:13:53.628 And this is why those at the top of the class always control their creativity. 00:13:53.628 --> 00:13:59.467 And to be top of the class, you have to kill your own creativity in the education system. 00:13:59.467 --> 00:14:03.801 The final quality is being sociable. 00:14:03.801 --> 00:14:09.147 The act of being sociable is typified at school by excessive chattering. 00:14:09.147 --> 00:14:15.626 A pupil who is sociable, whose intelligence is sociable, cannot work all alone 00:14:15.626 --> 00:14:18.272 and look at the teacher for a whole hour. 00:14:18.272 --> 00:14:24.073 That pupil needs a certain ambience, needs to talk, needs to seek out the others beside them. 00:14:24.073 --> 00:14:31.271 Because the absence of sociability is, for that pupil, a risk, an emptiness, that is unbearable. 00:14:31.271 --> 00:14:38.064 And the worst thing of all is that at school, those who are most sociable cheat in the exams. 00:14:38.064 --> 00:14:40.802 Why? 00:14:40.802 --> 00:14:44.383 Not because they want to cheat or because they have no morals. 00:14:44.383 --> 00:14:51.065 It's because for them, it's a nice gesture to be sociable -- even during exams. 00:14:51.065 --> 00:14:57.065 They are unable to solve a problem all alone. 00:14:57.065 --> 00:15:01.295 Sometimes, and we've noticed this many times, pupils finish their exam 00:15:01.295 --> 00:15:05.516 and then they wait to see if there are any friends in need of help. 00:15:05.516 --> 00:15:11.833 They say to the others: "Do you need help?" (Applause) 00:15:11.833 --> 00:15:17.020 And unfortunately, this is why today we have to do team building, synergy, and so on... 00:15:17.020 --> 00:15:18.672 And it is also why it doesn't work. 00:15:18.672 --> 00:15:26.302 Because for years, the school has confused two notions: at school, synergy equals cheating. 00:15:26.302 --> 00:15:31.267 Whereas it is in fact pure team building. 00:15:32.177 --> 00:15:40.625 Once, a teacher caught me passing my work to a classmate. 00:15:40.625 --> 00:15:44.970 And I tried to explain to the teacher, back then, that I was forced to cheat. 00:15:44.970 --> 00:15:47.386 He said: "No, that's not good, you mustn't do it." 00:15:47.386 --> 00:15:52.153 But I said: "But it's a friend. I can't say no to him." 00:15:52.153 --> 00:15:56.382 He told me no: "I don't care, in the exam, you have to solve your problem all alone." 00:15:56.382 --> 00:16:01.071 I told him: "But you don't understand, I can't sacrifice this friendship." 00:16:01.071 --> 00:16:02.521 He said: "Not even if it gets you a zero?" 00:16:02.521 --> 00:16:09.919 I said: "Yes, even if I get a zero. He's a friend. And I can't sacrifice my reputation either." 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:16.066 It's very important for anyone who is socially intelligent, who is in possession of social reasoning. 00:16:16.066 --> 00:16:20.626 And later on, in a working life, you are told: "You must do the opposite, you must never work alone." 00:16:20.626 --> 00:16:25.781 You have to contribute to the others, you have to give the others what you know. Maintain your reputation. 00:16:25.781 --> 00:16:30.435 So throughout your school career, you're prevented from doing this. 00:16:30.435 --> 00:16:35.986 This is why nobody like those who are top of the class. 00:16:35.986 --> 00:16:38.905 (Applause) 00:16:38.905 --> 00:16:44.392 This is why those who are top of the class have such difficulty integrating into the class. 00:16:44.392 --> 00:16:49.636 And this is why those who are top of the class are always unhappy. 00:16:49.636 --> 00:16:55.054 And this is why, the higher you climb in the company, the more team building you need to do. 00:16:55.054 --> 00:16:59.420 Because the more these people are intelligent and best in the class, the more used they are 00:16:59.420 --> 00:17:03.468 to working alone - and the more likely they are to be at war with themselves. 00:17:03.468 --> 00:17:05.577 Why am I talking about all this? 00:17:05.577 --> 00:17:07.301 For one very, very important reason. 00:17:07.301 --> 00:17:11.587 Now, we are all familiar with all of these qualities, and we know that ultimately, 00:17:11.587 --> 00:17:14.075 perhaps it's not so important in a school career. 00:17:14.075 --> 00:17:19.616 But what is very, very dangerous as well as very important, is that when you are not successful at school, 00:17:19.616 --> 00:17:27.577 you are condemned, each year, to sitting on a bench and applauding these classmates, 00:17:27.577 --> 00:17:32.594 all the time hating them because they've got prizes, and I haven't. 00:17:32.594 --> 00:17:38.271 And what's worst of all is that after a few years, all those who aren't top of the class 00:17:38.271 --> 00:17:42.880 applaud these people all the time, all the time. And they end up with the idea 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:48.659 that ultimately, success isn't for me, perhaps I will never be successful in life. 00:17:48.659 --> 00:17:55.753 Success is for others, it's for strange people who never help their friends, who aren't liked. 00:17:55.753 --> 00:18:00.224 That's what success is. Sometimes, we are even afraid of success. 00:18:00.224 --> 00:18:05.754 Because success is people who are too cold, too closed, and I end up putting myself among the failures. 00:18:05.754 --> 00:18:09.644 All that changes as soon as I have my first interviews for joining a company, 00:18:09.644 --> 00:18:15.890 when I join a company, that's it -- I've taken on the idea, I'm convinced that I am incapable of success 00:18:15.890 --> 00:18:21.548 because for all these years, I've never been top of the class all the time. 00:18:21.548 --> 00:18:28.799 So now, what you must bear in mind is that if you haven't succeeded, 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.672 if you haven't always been top of the class, there's only one reason for this: 00:18:31.672 --> 00:18:37.740 it's because you are a strong candidate for being top in the school of life. 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:42.693 So turn the page, and begin a new life. Thank you.