LNAT Free Resource 1 (On Productivity)

On Productivity

There seems to be a misunderstanding in the teaching of what makes us productive. Suffering through 10,000 hours through the dullest and most mundane tasks was traditionally taught as the way to succeed. ‘No pain, no gain’, they say. However, Harvard graduate and expert in organisational psychology Adam Grant in his latest book, Hidden Potential, seeks to correct this misunderstanding. In Chapter 4 fittingly titled Transforming the Daily Grind, Grant speaks about how there has been a misunderstanding surrounding child prodigies, which people think have succeeded because of their long and obsessive hours dedicated to deliberate performance.

“Mozart wrote letters about how drained he felt”. Mozart wrote about how his fingers ached from composing many recitatives and by Mozart’s late twenties he felt tired from all the performing. Many parents may feel the need to push their kids to be the next new Mozart, but Grant seems to be giving caution to them. “There’s reason to believe that Mozart succeeded in spite of his compulsive practice, not because of it.”

Today burnout is increasingly spoken about. Think of a phenomenon where you used to do something with joy and energy, but can now barely get up of the bed to do it. The passion that we once had seemed temporarily comatose, if not killed. The rise of producitvity experts like Ali Abdaal and James Clear, in addition to Grant himself, come at a ripe time to engage this issue. While they definitely produce convincing content, perhaps their book sales and Youtube clicks can be seen as symptomatic of the new epidemic of this era.

Most of the concert pianists who attained international fame under the age of 40 were not obsessed with their craft. They took regular rests instead of being subject to army-like drills. Their parents encouraged them enthusiastically but not militarily. “They practiced because they were interested in what they were doing,” psychologist Lauren Sosniak explains, and “because they enjoyed working with the teacher.”

This perhaps also calls into question whether our education policy is shortsighted. Is productivity an essential class in schools? Are good coaches equally as important as good doctors? Would this be taken seriously by policy makers in the highest levels of government? Burnout needs to be taken seriously. For all its harms on our mental health, at least burnout has made strides in casting away a misguided theory of the past.

Question 1

What is the author’s central purpose in writing the text?

1. To praise Adam Grant’s theory as revolutionary and one of its kind
2. To encourage the rise of more child prodigies
3. To challenge a traditional assumption for success
4. To redefine the concept of working passionately
5. To encourage positive mental health

The answer is C. This is because the author is taking Adam Grant’s side in trying to rebut the 10,000 hours theory. Option A is wrong because Grant’s theory is nowhere stated as exclusive. Option B is wrong as it seems Grant is trying to make child prodigies like Mozart more human and accessible. Option D is wrong because passion is talked about in the context of the lost of it due to burnout, but there is no redefinition. Option E might be true from your own inferred guess, but the author does not talk explicitly about it and he definitely talks about a more nuanced point than just encouraging positive mental health.

Question 2

What would the author almost certainly agree with?

1. That music class is essential in school curriculum to motivate productivity
2. That governments need to pay coaches as much as they pay doctors
3. That productivity experts like Adam Grant will solve the burnout epidemic
4. That parental attitudes towards productivity are significant
5. That very few people can be like Mozart

The answer is D. This is because the common factor in Mozart and the concert pianists are the involvement of their parents in their productivity and success today. Option A seems contrary to the idea as the author seems to go against the authors intention of making child prodigies more human. Option B is wrong as that is a proposal inferred out of the blue and with no mention of this specific proposal in the text. Option C is wrong as the author does not give such regard to Adam Grant but at most say that he and other productivity experts can “engage” the problem. Option E is wrong as that goes against the author’s tone of humanizing Mozart.

Question 3

Why does the author use the phrase “temporarily comatose”?

1. To show that passion can be revived if certain actions are taken
2. To show the dangers on one’s physical health from burnout
3. To create irony by mimicking the language used by doctors
4. To portray productivity experts as potential people who would revive burnout people from their comatose state
5. To show that passion can be suspended for an unexpectedly long amount of time

The answer is A. It is important to first recognise that this is a metaphor, one that shows a state that allows revival from i.e. comatose into awaken-ness. Option B is wrong as there is no mention of physical health being harmed. Option C is simply off the mark as there is no reason the author has to use irony. Option D is wrong as they are not credited with being those who will “revive” burnout people but only “engage” the problem. This is notwithstanding that the author does believe the burnout people can be “revived”. Option E is wrong as that is the purpose of the paragraph not the use of those words, and the adjective “unexpected” brings in external inference.

Question 4

The author would accept the following as contributing to reducing burnout, except

1. Having productivity classes as a mandatory part of school curicullum
2. Staying informed through YouTube videos and book content of productivity expert
3. Shifting one’s mindset towards the duration of hours put into practice
4. Learning to push through exhaustion to achieve your goals
5. Not imitating the practice regimes of child prodigies

The answer is D. This is because D is contrary to the first paragraph of the passage which seeks to point out that suffering through or the 10,000 hours method does not work. Option A is expressly mentioned in the final paragraph, Option B is quite clearly suggested in paragraph 3. Option C is the main jist of the passage. Option E is clearly suggested in the first passage.