What percentage of people with the ability to achieve something actually succeed in doing so?
In asking this question, Malcomb Gladwell is referring to cap rate.
You may recognize Malcolm Gladwell as the bestselling author of Outliers and other thought-provoking works. His insights are often both exceptional and unconventional. One concept not covered in Outliers is the capitalization rate—or “cap rate”—a term familiar in investing and financial analysis, which Gladwell has applied in a uniquely human context.
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Like HSe4Metrics, Malcolm Gladwell applies the term “capitalization rate” to people. Drawing on his background in psychology, sociology, and social science, he highlights the importance of human cap rate—and the tragic consequences of failing to develop it.
Unlocking human potential—measured by cap rate
In economics, human capital refers to the productivity of a nation’s potential workforce. The HSe4Metrics platform inserts itself in this process at the level of the individual K–12 student—while scaling its impact across the entire K–12 population. Ultimately, the nation’s productivity depends on the strength and readiness of its post–K–12 workforce pool.
While low NAEP proficiency hinders cap rate development, higher NAEP scores—on their own—offer no guarantee of a high cap rate.
The HSe4Metrics platform offers the potential for unprecedented cap rate development during the most critical years of life: the K–12 years—and even the years leading up to kindergarten.
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Malcomb Gladwell's simple but eloquent question
What percentage of people with the ability to achieve something actually succeed in doing so?
Malcolm Gladwell poses this simple yet profound question in exploring the concept of human capitalization rate—or cap rate. He cites a stark example from an East Tennessee high school, where only 1 in 6 students who received football scholarships ultimately went on to attend college. This disheartening cap rate of just 16.67% underscores a larger concern: In a society so fixated on sports, how much lower might the cap rates be for young people with gifts in less celebrated areas?
The Terman Study
Gladwell also references the Terman longitudinal study from the 1920s, which tracked individuals with IQs of 135 or higher. Psychologist Lewis Terman predicted that genius-level intelligence would be the primary driver of long-term success over a 50-year span. Yet within just 30 years, the study revealed an unexpected truth: it wasn’t IQ, but external factors that led to success. From an early age, those factors included the individual’s relationship with the education provided and the quality of the environment in which it was offered—some environments are considerably more enriching than others. Today, the HSe4Metrics innovation has the potential to become a vital part of that equation.
The hidden metric: cap rate flies below the radar of national awareness.
Human capital productivity and cap rate hold immense potential for every individual—but the most strategic time to unlock that potential is during the K–12 years, not decades later in the workforce after time spent on less fulfilling paths.
Cap rate development through the HSe4Metrics platform builds upon the existing K–12 environment—whether weak or exceptional. Operating independently as a powerful multiplier outside the formal education system, the platform delivers unmatched opportunity and innovation for every K–12 student.
Cap rate monitoring
Cap rate cannot be left to chance. U.S. competitiveness depends on accurately tracking how effectively—or ineffectively—it is developing its K–12 human capital. This requires intensive, continuous monitoring—both through external benchmarks like NAEP and through internal, real-time processes within the HSe4Metrics platform—at every stage of the K–12 journey.
As the DOE fumbled on NAEP and cap rate development, did DOL or other agencies sound the alarm?
For example, key metrics for the Department of Labor include the size, educational success, and trainability of the nation’s workforce. Surely, the Secretary of Labor must have recognized the connection between NAEP performance and its troubling implications for workforce readiness—after all, the potential loss of half the nation’s workforce is no small matter.
Today, as global manufacturing giants like Apple, Amgen, and NVIDIA consider expanding operations in the United States, a central concern remains: the strength and preparedness of the American workforce.
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