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I've got a question for you.

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How many of you were always top of the class?

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All your life, top of the class?

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Right.

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– Liar (Laughter)

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Well, in precisely 9 minutes and 30 seconds, 
I'm going to make you proud

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that you weren't always top of the class.

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(Applause)

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You're going to go home tonight 
and tell your partner, your children,

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your friends and relatives:

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"Hallelujah, thank God, I wasn't 
always top of my class!"

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In 2007, when I started my blog, 
I began studying the lives of several people

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who were successful in their lives.

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And each of them was successful in their field,
each one succeeded in a different way.

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But there was one thing all these people shared,
just one thing

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which intrigued me, and this was the fact

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that these people, these characters --
none of them had been really successful at school.

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Some of them had even cut short their education

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and others didn't even make it to school

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for long periods of time.

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So this was a little worrying and 
frustrating for me when I remembered

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all those years in which parents and teachers

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told us, you must work hard, 
you must get the best marks,

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you must be one of the best 
to get into the best universities

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and in the end, I note that the reality is this:

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not all those who have been successful at the school of life

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were necessarily those who were top of the class.

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So this meant we needed an answer to the following question:

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Why isn't it necessary to succeed at school 
in order to be successful in life?

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Or even: why is there no direct link 
between success at school

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and success in life?

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Because – to mention people you know very well –
such as Steve Jobs

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or Bill Gates who have businesses –
they employ people who were top of the class.

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But when did they leave school?

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They both dropped out

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during their fresher year at university.

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So how come, then, that we, 
who try to be top of the class

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end up working in businesses for people who

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perhaps don't even know how to read and write?

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So that's when I started looking, and luckily

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I took the right approach right from the start, 
so I couldn't – or I didn't have to – look very hard.

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I started looking by identifying 
the qualities these people share

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which have allowed them to be 
successful in life.

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And I found 5 of these.

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Next, I tried to see these qualities 
in the education system

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all over the world, 
how are these qualities developed?

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Or at least appreciated or accommodated
in the education system?

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I was shocked to find I had 
discovered that these qualities –

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not only are they not developed
within the education system,

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but they are even punished 
in the education system.

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In other words, if you are unlucky enough to possess one or even several of these qualities

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you can be absolutely sure that you will be
unable to succeed in the education system.

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And when you get to the workplace, 
you will be needing these qualities.

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So the first of these qualities 
is about being passionate.

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Just imagine this discussion with Einstein:

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you meet Einstein and you say to him:

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"Now, Einstein, it seems that you love physics, right?"

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And he says to you: "No, I hate physics. 
You know, I'm only doing physics

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because my parents made me do it.

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I hate it...but hey, Hamdullah, I've been lucky,

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I've discovered a few theories, 
got a Nobel prize, and all that...well, I've been lucky."

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Or you could talk to Bill Gates,
and so you say to him:

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"So, Bill Gates, it seems that 
computers are what turn you on?"

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And he says: "Nah, it's just destiny 
that pushed me to get into computers.

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Well Hamdullah, it's really taken off!"

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Can you imagine this type of discussion?

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It's impossible because we know 
that these people are passionately enthusiastic.

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So, what is passion?

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Passion means having an emotional 
and sentimental approach

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to a job.

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And if you are unfortunate enough to have
this quality at school, you are going to fall in love

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with certain subjects, and you will work hard on those.

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And you'll hate the other subjects, 
and you won't work as hard on them.

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As soon as you get to secondary school, 
you'll discover what we call the subject weightings.

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The subject weightings - the head will never come
to you at the beginning of the year and say:

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"So, what do you like? You like maths? 
Ah! Let's raise its weighting.

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You don't like physics? We'll bring it down."

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It will never ever happen like that.

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The weighting is already set.

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If you're good at maths, physics and languages, 
we take the highest weighting.

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If you like geography and history, 
and you work hard at those but you hate maths

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then you'll never get a good mark,
or never the top mark, in the exam.

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Which means you'll be hearing
this sort of thing all the time:

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"He's a hard worker, in certain subjects, 
he really is very, very good.

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But in other subjects, 
he really could do better."

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That's what they're passionate about at school:
it's someone who could always do better.

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And that's why those at the top of the class
have no feelings.

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They have no passion.
They work at everything!

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They work hard in every subject!

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And they are good at all the subjects.

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And this creates a big problem
for those at the top of the class.

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Because later on, they can apply to study 
medicine, law, and accountancy.

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They can do it all.

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At the outset, they are impressed by their abilities.

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But later, when you get to work, they'll say to you:

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"No, no, no: Stop!"

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If you want to succeed, there are two things
that are very important – primordial – in life.

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If you want to achieve happiness and excellence, 
you must be passionate about what you do.

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Without passion, you can't succeed at work, 
or even in your personal life.

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Yet at school, we've always been forced 
to take compulsory subjects, rather than follow our passion.

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Second quality: curiosity.

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Curiosity is the foundation of all discovery. 
It's curiosity that allows each of us

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to discover solutions to everyday problems.

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So – how does curiosity manifest itself at school?

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A curious pupil or student is someone
who seeks to know more.

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Such a student is more likely to read what is suggested in class, to carry out their own research,

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to discover new ways of solving mathematical problems.

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And because this student is 
very proud of what they do,

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they are happy to have learned a lot, and will try
to develop their own ideas in the exam.

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And if the teacher doesn't understand 
what you are talking about,

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you work really hard, you put in more energy
than anyone else,

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you hand in a really great, highly developed paper, 
your teacher doesn't get it,

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and awards you a shockingly low mark,
often accompanied by the remark: Off Topic.

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This is why, in the education system, 
being top doesn't mean you are smart.

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In the education system, the fact of being top

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just means you have the ability to 
cram information and then regurgitate it –

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just as it was, without developing it at all.

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And then when you get to the world of work,
you'll be told that no,

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to be able to get the third ingredient of success, 
which is promotion at work,

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each time you have to learn, train yourself, 
look further, know more,

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never settle for the information you were given at school.

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And you know what the difference is, 
between these people who didn't pass,

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or who didn't complete their education system, 
in comparison with those who did graduate?

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One small difference which changes life.

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In fact, those who didn't graduate 
and who become entrepreneurs, heads of state,

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or who take on big projects, they often have
this worry about not having known enough.

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So they are constantly searching, 
they are real self-starters.

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Unlike those who sat at the top of the class and who,
once they've got their qualification, get gifts

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and they say to themselves: "I've finished my studies."

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And this is where the catastrophe lies.

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Third quality: being goal-oriented.

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Peter Drucker, the father of management, 
taught us that ultimately, within companies,

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it is essential to have annual, considered goals. 
It isn't about being efficient and effective

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in the absolute, just effective and efficient
enough to achieve your objectives.

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Which is, incidentally, very intelligent, 
as well as being what the whole planet

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is currently following as a managerial style.

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Imagine a pupil who has the same state of mind, 
and is also highly intelligent.

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This pupil is thinking about which job
they would like to do.

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Which career they'd like to pursue.

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They look back on their time at school, 
deciding which marks they want to get,

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what sort of work they want to do, 
what work they can do

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in order to get where they want to be.

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So you say: "Why don't you work enough? 
Why don't you try to be the best in the class?"

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They reply: "But it's not necessary. 
Being top of the class doesn't meet my objectives."

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And the school will be saying that 
this pupil lacks commitment.

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Pupils who have insight, 
vision at school, appear as non-committed.

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The school rewards only the act 
of mixing objective and tool.

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It rewards the tool, which is the mark.

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It never rewards pupils who come to say, 
at the end of the year:

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"Here are my plans for a career. 
This is what I intend to do."

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And here is the necessary energy I will deploy
to achieve this objective.

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And I will spend the rest of the time playing, 
because I want to play."

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This is what is never rewarded at school.

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The fourth quality is creativity.

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Creativity is fundamental – yet it's the very first
thing they take away from you at school.

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A study has shown – I'm not sure of the figures –
but it showed

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that about 92% of the most creative people
in the world are less than 5 years old.

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7% or 8% of creative people are over 5.

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So what happened?

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School happened.

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School prevents the pupil or child from thinking
as they used to do,

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working as they used to work or learn.

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Now it has to be done in just one way, 
saying what has to be said,

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thinking and drawing in just one way.

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There are lines that must not be crossed at school.

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So later on, in a working life, people say to you:

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"No, you have to be creative, inventive, 
you must bring something new."

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Even though at school, 
we have been taught the opposite.

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You all have a sheet of paper.

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You've got a blank sheet of paper.

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I'm asking you in 10 seconds, quickly, 
turn it into a flying object capable of flying

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as effectively as possible.

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10 seconds! The countdown has started.

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Quick, quick, quick...

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A flying object which can fly as effectively as possible.

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Very good. Launch your planes, your flying objects.

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Yes, that's great.

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People will say they didn't like my talk.

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Okay. I note that some people have done it.

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Did I say make a plane?

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No!

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No, I said to make a flying object 
that can fly as effectively as possible.

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But this flies better than that.

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In other words school has prevented you from really thinking creatively.

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How is creativity seen at school?

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It's someone who draws.
It's someone who always asks weird questions at school.

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It's someone who's always at the back, 
it's someone who likes to address matters

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that the teacher hasn't addressed.

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So it's someone who is often distracted.

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And this is why those at the top of the class 
always control their creativity.

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To be top of the class, you have to 
kill your own creativity in this education system.

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The final quality is being sociable.

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The act of being sociable is typified 
at school by excessive chattering.

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A pupil who is sociable, 
whose intelligence is sociable, cannot work all alone

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and look at the teacher for a whole hour.

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That pupil needs a certain ambience, 
needs to talk, needs to seek out the others beside them.

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Because the absence of sociability is, for that pupil, 
a risk, an unbearable emptiness.

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And the worst thing is that at school,
those who are most sociable cheat in the exams.

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Why?

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Not because they want to cheat 
or because they have no morals.

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It's because for them, it's a nice gesture 
to be sociable – even during exams.

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They are unable to solve a problem all alone.

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Sometimes, and we've noticed this many times, 
pupils finish their exam

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and they wait to see if there are
any friends in need of help.

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They say to the others: "Do you need help?"
(Applause)

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And unfortunately, this is why today
we have to do team building, synergy, and so on...

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It is also why it doesn't work.

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Because for years, the school has confused 
two notions: synergy, at school equals cheating.

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Whereas it is in fact pure team building.

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Once, a teacher caught me 
passing my work to a classmate.

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And I tried to explain to the teacher, back then, 
that I was forced to cheat.

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He said: "No, that's not good, you mustn't do it."

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But I said: "But it's a friend. I can't say no to him."

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He said: "No, I don't care, in the exam 
you have to solve your problem all alone."

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I told him: "But you don't understand, 
I can't sacrifice this friendship."

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He said: "Not even if it gets you a zero?"

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I said: "Yes, even if I get a zero. He's a friend.
And I can't sacrifice my reputation either."

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It's important for anyone who is socially intelligent,
capable of social reasoning.

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And later on, in a working life, you are told: 
"You must do the opposite, you must never work alone."

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You have to contribute to the others, give others what you know. Maintain your reputation.

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So throughout your school career, 
you're prevented from doing this.

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This is why nobody likes those 
who are top of the class.

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(Applause)

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This is why those who are top of the class 
have such difficulty integrating into the class.

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This is why those who are top of the class
are always unhappy.

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This is why, the higher you climb in the company,
the more team building you need to do.

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Because the more these people are intelligent 
and best in the class, the more used they are

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to working alone – and the more likely they are to be at war with themselves.

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Why am I talking about all this?

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For one very, very important reason.

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Now, we are all familiar with all of these qualities,
and we know that ultimately,

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perhaps it's not so important in a school career.

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But what is very dangerous as well as very important,
is that when you are not successful at school,

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you are condemned, each year, to sitting on a bench
and applauding these classmates,

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all the time hating them
because they've got prizes, and I haven't.

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And what's worst is that after a few years, 
all those who aren't top of the class

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applaud these people all the time, all the time.
And they end up with the idea

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that ultimately, success isn't for me,
perhaps I will never be successful in life.

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Success is for others, it's for strange people
who never help their friends, who have no feelings.

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That's what success is. Sometimes, we are even afraid of success.

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Because success is people who are too cold, too closed, 
and I end up putting myself among the failures.

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All that changes as soon as I have 
my first interviews for joining a company,

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when I join a company, that's it -- I've taken on the idea, 
I'm convinced that I am incapable of success

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because for all these years, 
I've never been top of the class all the time.

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So now, what you must bear in mind
is that if you haven't succeeded,

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if you haven't always been top of the class, 
there's only one reason for this:

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it's because you are a strong candidate
for being top in the school of life.

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So turn the page, and begin a new life.
Thank you.