Nurture Shock

I recently read NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. It provides important insights into parenting and education. I was particularly struck by the results of the tests they performed concerning the subtle use of language when praising children. There is a world of difference between telling a child that he or she is smart and encouraging a child by telling him or her that they did a good job. Children who were told they are smart were less likely to attempt something challenging because they might fail while children who had been encouraged would try irrespective of the possibility of failure. The implications for innovation and creativity in the future are clear. What happened to "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." or "practice makes perfect."?