Many people carry the belief that they simply aren’t “math people,” that ability is something you’re born with, not something you build. In this Tugboat Institute® talk, Jo Boaler dismantles that myth and makes the case for a limitless approach to learning, one that applies as much to leaders and teams as it does to students.

Jo is a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University and co-founder of Stanford’s YouCubed research center, which reaches educators, parents, and students in more than 160 countries. Drawing on her book Limitless Mind, she explains the neuroscience behind learning: every new challenge forms or strengthens brain pathways, and struggle is where the deepest understanding and creativity actually take root. Jo shares research on how mindset shapes performance and even long-term health, and describes how a mistakes-friendly culture, encouragement of skepticism and reasoning, and collaboration over individual brilliance can transform outcomes in the classroom. These same behaviors sit close to the core of Evergreen® leadership.