Hey there!

For years, I tried to teach my golden retrievers the Box Trick.

The goal: get the dog to place all four paws inside a progressively smaller box. I could get them into a big box easily enough. But smaller boxes? Impossible.

I'd basically given up.

Then I confessed my problem to Susan Garrett — the internationally acclaimed dog trainer whose workshops transformed how I understood learning.

She looked at me and asked:

"Have you ever seen a dog taking a poo?"

I burst out laughing. And then I got it.

That hunched, compact posture. Of course a dog can compress into a small space.

The next day, Harry mastered the Box Trick.

Not because he'd changed. Because I now believed it was possible. My expectation for success shifted — and that shift changed everything about how I trained the behavior.

Can Harry get all 4 feet in this box? This box is obviously shorter than Harry.

Yes, Harry can! The secret to getting all 4 feet of a golden retriever into a small box... imagine him taking a poo!

This is what Markle and Fowler's research calls "expectation for success." What I call the Believe It's Possible effect.

It works in both directions.

If a teacher doesn't believe a student can do it, that doubt shows up in how they teach — and the student feels it.

If a parent says "I was never good at math" in front of their child, they've just lowered their child's expectation for success before a single problem is attempted.

And if you believe — really believe — that your learner can figure this out?

Everything changes.

The most powerful thing a teacher, parent, or manager can do is not deliver content. It's believe in the learner.

More next week,

Marsha & Mooney

P.S. This week I solved a quilt problem that's been plaguing me for months: why do some couch quilts stay put over the back cushions, while others slide right off?

Turns out it's not the couch. It's the quilting.

A quilt is basically a composite—layers bound together by stitching instead of resin. The quilts I stitched with a 2-inch grid on a 45-degree angle (two sets of perpendicular lines, both diagonal) stayed firmly in place, draped over a vertical cushion. The ones stitched with only one set of parallel lines at 45 degrees? They slouched right off. And a couple of others, quilted on a long-arm with different patterns, didn't hold either.

So my next project is already decided: a new couch quilt for our new couch (when you share your sofa with a golden retriever, a washable quilt is just good sense), quilted on a 2-inch grid at 45 degrees, no exceptions.

Why 45 degrees specifically? Two reasons. First, practical: it's easier to manage the bulk of the quilt through the machine's throat at that angle. Second, a little bit of materials engineering sneaking into my sewing room: a 45-degree grid is a classic strategy for reinforcing composites. I can't orient actual fabric layers at 45 degrees to each other—but the stitching itself can still do that structural job, strengthening the quilt in exactly the direction it needs it most.

Turns out you can take the engineer out of GE, but you can't take the engineer out of the quilter.

P.P.S. Check out these books!

Living at the Edge of the World: The Selkie's Warning Twelve-year-old Tabitha returns to the remote Shetland island of Papala expecting summer adventure—not a selkie skin washed up in the harbor, with local legend warning of a curse if it isn't returned by midnight. But the real threat to Papala is real-world: pollution, a threatened bird sanctuary, and an owner ready to sell. S. J. Barratt's Living at the Edge of the World: Summer is atmospheric, a little magical, and quietly builds confidence and courage in its young readers. Perfect for fans of The Storm Keeper's Island and Malamander. Get the book!

K'Sharra's Unexpected Cargo How does a civilization begin? Sometimes, entirely by accident. Around 1100 A.D., a small gray alien named K'Sharra is scouting the galaxy for a new home for his people—until a collision with a wooden ship on Earth's surface leaves him rescuing an entire crew, and rethinking his mission entirely. A fast-moving sci-fi adventure about improvising under pressure and figuring out what it really takes to build something new. Get the free download here!

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