Jenny wanted to continue using Sarah’s diary to develop a sense of the beginning of the mindset for being an innovator. She felt that she needed to introduce Sarah’s siblings to her class. At the end of her class she decided to spend a few minutes giving them a description of each of the siblings that she had learned from their father’s memoirs.
“Today I want to tell you about each of Sarah’s siblings. Take notes because I want you to evaluate their innovation potential as homework. We’ll keep your predictions until the end of the semester to see how well you do.”
“You’ve already met Elizabeth in Sarah’s first diary entry. She was the oldest child in the family and like many first born children, she felt responsible for her siblings. She viewed herself as a second mother.”
“Mary was the second-born child and the most ardent in expressing herself. She was an excellent student but wasn’t a fan of course material she couldn’t see a use for. When she believed in a subject, she was outstanding but a challenge to teachers on other subjects.”
“Jacob was very creative, but also lazy. Unlike the other siblings, Jacob would shirk the work that needed to be done.”
“Luke was the farmer in the family. While other siblings had interests that would take them away from the farm, Luke hoped to be the keeper of the farm after his parents could no longer sustain it.”
“Harriett was the fiery one of the siblings. She had a strong sense of outrage and would often challenge those who she believed were being unjust.”
“Ben was a wild-child who spent more time in the woods than he did at home. He had inherited his mother’s nature interests.”
“Matthew was the youngest child. He was a dreamer who would spend long hours reading. He had an active imagination that came out in many different ways.”
“And then there’s Sarah. As you know from her diary, she was a chronicler of the family. She liked to learn from her siblings and would often boost their confidence when they seemed to get down on themselves.”
“Now that you have heard about each of the siblings, how do you assess their innovator potential? I’d like you to rank them from highest (8) to lowest (1) potential. Then we will see how you do.”
“Although I’ve read their father’s memoirs, I want to use your assessments in a study I’m doing. I’m trying to identify traits of innovators from only childhood.”
* * *
“I am too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful, and way too determined to be defeated.” – Unknown