The Bennett Principle

Byryan

This article first appeared in the Eduk8me newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to be the first to get articles such as this.

The Bennett Principle states that the value you receive from an activity is proportional to the energy invested. Creating content requires more energy, but it’s value is greater than the energy used.

When you create, you receive more value expending that energy than if you used that same amount of energy to passively consume content. Some aspects of the Bennett Principle rely on creating things in the real world, but I can see it being pertinent to things created in the virtual world.

Unfortunately, I see the Bennett Principle in people that are already self-motivated. So, how do we reach this level of motivation?

I look for other much smarter than I for help, and in this case I look toward Dan Pink’s book Drive The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Summed up in this RSA Animate video, the book distills motivation to 3 items: Purpose, Autonomy, and Mastery.

By combining Drive with the Bennett Principle, you have a very powerful pathway to help your students and peers reach their potential.

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