The Success Sequence & Other Obvious, Yet Rare Success Advice
Introducing the Fire Carrier Reading List. Great content worth checking out.
Hello Bar-Setters!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve come across several powerful articles that I believe every parent and educator should read—pieces that help us better understand the challenges of our time and how to respond with clarity and conviction.
I’ve also been curating a categorized list of what I consider essential reading—The Fire Carrier Reading List—articles, podcasts, books, and book excerpts that cut through the noise and get to the heart of what matters. In the coming months, I’ll be sharing these along with brief commentary. Today’s pick is a recent standout.
What Values Disadvantage a Person? Which Lift Them Up?
Dr. Rob K. Henderson has an extraordinary story: raised in foster care, abandoned by multiple father figures, and caught in cycles of delinquency. Lacking much of a plan, he joined the Air Force after high school. Despite his poor high school grades, this decision eventually opened the door for him to attend Yale, which then allowed him to earn a Ph.D from Cambridge. His unlikely journey has given him a rare lens on class, character, and what actually holds people back—(and, likewise, what lifts them up).
When his excellent memoir Troubled was released, Henderson also published an article making a bold but essential claim: family structure and values matter more than education in determining a child’s long-term success and well-being. Education is clearly important—Henderson’s a product of two elite universities—but what struck him at places like Yale was the unspoken lifestyle code of the elite. While many of his classmates professed fashionable “non-judgy” beliefs, their private lives reflected far more traditional values—delayed gratification, stable relationships, a focus on self-discipline. These, Henderson argues, are the real engines of success.
Dr. Henderson’s Advice on How to Best Help Kids in Poverty
Recently, Henderson was invited to share his thoughts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Drawing from research, personal experience, and common sense, his response outlines several unconventional—but deeply practical—strategies to help kids in poverty. It’s clear-eyed, courageous, and exactly the kind of thinking we need more of. But it is also the type of advice that you aren’t likely to hear. As Henderson explains of his recommendations:
These are not radical ideas. They are grounded in common sense, empirical research, and everyday observation. But for various reasons—political, cultural, reputational—they are often left unsaid in official settings.
We should say them anyway.
Among his recommendations are:
Promote the Success Sequence
Prioritize Family Structure and Stability
All of these come with shocking and impressive empirical support.
Check it out!
What I Told Health & Human Services About Helping Poor Kids
Thank you for reading and sharing!
Shane