The Only Three Questions that Matter: What Can I Do?

There are three questions that should be the foundation of all formative development: “Who am I?”, “What can I do?”, and “How do I prove it?” Learn to Start uses these three questions as the guiding principles of all pedagogy and curriculum because they maintain the integrity needed for students to experience true formative environments for learning rather than superficially formative environments that are truly designed for never-ending summative assessment.

By asking the question, “What can I do?”, we are giving students the ability to determine their own metrics for their development. Traditional education asks students “Can you do [blank]” creating a system of uniformity that does not give students the time and space to figure out what is worth their time and how it feels to be curious. Creating the environment and structure through which a student can ask themself “What can I do” allows them to start at a real place of action. Even if the answer is “I can learn,” that creates tasks for you to accomplish until you can get to a point of additional skill development that leads to production and service.

Asking about who you are allows a story to form about your character, values, and traits. It lays the foundation for asking about what you can do which adds your skills and abilities to the story you are telling. It also opens the door for real collaboration and mentorship. If you have awareness of your abilities, you will seek out those who complement you rather than finding people with the same stories. If you have awareness that your abilities can grow, you will reach out to mentors who can guide you to the next level of development. LTS participants build their market-ready portfolio to communicate their value as producers in the marketplace. 

When you ask yourself “What can I do?”, do you feel valuable?