{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"High Octane Leadership","title":"The University of Michigan Just Lowered the Bar. The Real World Didn't.","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":706,"description":"The University of Michigan recently announced it would go pass-fail for freshmen and remove SAT and ACT requirements, all in the name of protecting mental health. Donald Thompson isn't buying it.\n\nIn this 11-minute segment, Donald makes the case that lowering academic standards doesn't protect young people — it underprepares them. The business world doesn't go pass-fail. Pressure is the curriculum. Failure is how you build a career. And the generation coming out the other side of these policies is going to find that out the hard way.\n\nInside this episode:\n• Why removing grades and test scores is a disservice — not a kindness\n• The real job of a university: prepare students for the world they're going to live in\n• Why the business reality is a stress test on resiliency — and always will be\n• Don's mentoring story: the young professional who almost quit, stayed, and landed a new job in a down economy\n• The difference between \"I can't handle this\" and \"I'm choosing not to\" — and why that distinction is everything\n• Who wins when standards drop: the people who kept them\n\nDonald Thompson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldthompsonjr\nDonald's Newsletter & Substack: https://substack.com/@donaldthompsonjr\nDonald's Books: https://donaldthompson.com/books-resources/\nStay connected with Donald: Get his newsletter packed with actionable insights and the kind of straight-talk leadership intelligence that helps build authority, drive performance, and stay ahead of what’s coming next: donaldthompson.com.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/lgmj79F6u_aksHXmYERU-fwjthI5JqnlRVWJ-A5NESw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80MGQ0/YjZiYWJmNDlkMWNh/N2Q1YjEzNTgwMzA3/ZDEzYS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}