Is email killing productivity and reducing your IQ?

The ping of a new email catches my attention as I sit in a meeting with a colleague. The two of us are in his office and we’re talking about an issue that needs resolution. As we talk, behind and over his right shoulder, I can see on his monitor that the ping means that he has a new email.  In the familiar Outlook window, I can see that his highlighted cursor has dropped down one notch and while he was up to date on his email, our conversation and this recent ping has him one down. It is the start of a familiar pattern.

Throughout our chat, I continue to hear that familiar “you’ve got email” ping and I notice his cursor falling lower and lower on his screen as the email piles up. By the end of our talk, he has a completely new page of unread emails – the cost of taking time to speak to someone rather than attending to the non- stop onslaught of email that we face every day. I leave his office wondering about email – is it really “helping” us in our daily work? Does it actually improve communication? Does it actually increase productivity or is the daily tsunami of electronic communications leaving us drowning in a river of information while gasping for the breath of true personal connections in the workplace and quality time with our colleagues on issues that matter and need our undivided attention?

In most of the meetings I now attend or chair, almost everyone will be using an electronic device during the meeting. It would be naive to think that they are all taking copious notes, no, they are time splicing their attention between the topic of conversation,  their email, and sometimes twitter or other social media channels. Perhaps this is effective use of time but we are educators and we know the research on multitasking which is…it cannot be done. It’s true, you can chew gum and walk at the same time but you cannot do a multiplication problem and write a poem simultaneously. The myth of multitasking has long been revealed. I much prefer the term time splicing where we devote thin slices of our attention between multiple tasks hoping that we can weave the threads together. The end result, as you might imagine and as supported by research, is that when our attention is divided our productivity drops and each of the tasks we juggle gets shortchanged beyond the simple loss of time.

Multitaskers have long been thought of as gifted organizers of time. We marvel at their ability to juggle multiple inputs. However, when researchers delve into these gifts, they discover the gift is empty. Ophir, one of the lead researchers at Stanford’s Communications between Humans and Interactive Media Lab stated about multitaskers “We kept looking for what they’re better at, and we didn’t find it.” Research not only shows that multitasking doesn’t work, it actually shows that it may impair brain functioning. So this is not something you want to be proud of or wish to see in children.

How much do people split their attention and time? A recent infographic that I found suggests that 67% of people emailed during a date, 45% while in a movie and 33% while at church. Researchers at Kings College in London suggest that “constant exposure to e-mail and other multitasking-friendly technology temporarily lowers IQ by 10 points–or about as much as skipping a night’s sleep.”

On more than one occasion, I have asked everyone at a meeting to go tech-less. Blackberries and iPhones/iPads down. If you ever want a strong reaction from a group, just try it. People are not only lost without their devices which have become more like appendages than accessories, they are deeply offended by the thought of someone who would dare to cut them off even for 15 minutes.

I do not believe for a minute that this time-spliced multitasking phenomena may change but I think it is worthy of a workplace conversation. For one example, if everyone is on technology most of the day why are we asking them to “come in to the office”? With environmental sustainability an issue and looking for cost savings around every corner, why would we not consider working from home as a serious workplace option? Avoid the commute, stay home to be available for family if needed, save the environment, sleep longer without having to prepare for what is likely 1-2 hours a day on the road.

As we are rethinking education we need to also start rethinking the workplace in general. As educators we criticize the industrial model of learning with students proceeding through strict rotations of blocks in discreet subject areas yet, in office structures, people still come to work, fit into their cubicle, and begin their 8 hour day connected to a computer. Given that we are more connected to each other than ever before do we really need to be sitting next to each other all day long too? Perhaps as we think about 21st Century Learning, we can also think about 21st Century workplaces. Places where work happens when you want, where you want and in a time suitable to your needs. Of course this couldn’t work for all jobs, but perhaps it could for many.

For many executives and managers, we spend time meeting to resolve issues, plan and organize. If we recognize that today’s structures of meetings have become largely ineffective, then why would we continue to meet in the same way we have for a century? The only difference is that people have devices and since we know meetings are typically largely ineffective, perhaps it should come as no surprise that people are opting out more than ever and spending a lot of meeting time checking email and working remotely.

In more than one blog article I have commented on the effectiveness of meetings. Given the lack of attention by participants, we either need to design and develop better meeting structures, use the technology itself in different ways, or abandon structures that we know are ineffective. However, one of the main reasons that people check email during meetings is simply to help deal with the volume of daily mail. If  most of your day is travelling or in meetings, working face to face with students or parents, then email piles up and awaits your attention.

What about ways to handle the never ending email barrage? Recently, I was lucky enough to have someone spend time with me on Outlook and its functionality to handle email and here were some tips handed to me:

• use the “follow up function” – a very quick calendar reminder for those emails that needed to have action by a specific date;
• use File – to put emails with agenda items for meetings, important things to do or reminders about issues
• establish quick rules for specific routine tasks – this makes organization easy.

However, the more I think about the pressures of email, perhaps the pressure to answer emails and the sheer volume is leaving people with what they feel is little choice other than to spend meeting time answering emails. If you do not manage to get to your emails during a day of meetings and travel, then you are left with at least an hour homework to catch up on email. So the pressure is to somehow find time during the day, in any way you can, to answer your emails. It is small wonder we see people emailing at intersections, at dinner tables, while waiting in lines and, yes, during meetings.

In any organization I have ever worked, when you ask employees for one area of improvement, communications is always on the list. Love it or hate it, email is a major part of any organizations communications framework. So if this is the case, how often do we take the time to discuss our etiquette, our strategy, our skills and our goals with using email? Here are some simple questions for you to consider within your organization:

• what email groups do you have and are all members updated and necessary?
• what etiquette have you discussed on simple things like reply all or replying when cc’d?
• when are people cc’d and what does it mean to be cc’d?
• do you ever approve of using bcc? If so under what conditions?
• how are you using your email signature features to identify/celebrate/promote your organization and its values?
• have you discussed the passing of jokes over email?
• what is your employee awareness of FOI legislation and emails?
• who has security levels to read all emails?
• what policies exist for those with high level security access to email?
• have you trained all employees on the features of email systems to support productivity (e.g. flagging, setting reminders and follow up times, writing rules for sorting)?

The purpose of this blog is to hopefully stimulate some conversation about email within your organization. If research tells us that some of our practices are actually hurting us and in our gut we all know it, then perhaps it’s time to step back, don’t hit send for a moment and simply take a half an hour at some point to put down your devices, take a breath and have a good old fashioned face to face chat about how email is, or is not, working for the organization and for enhancing communications. It could be a refreshing break to improve the likely thousands or tens of thousands of messages flying through the bitsphere in any given moment. Perhaps it is a chance to actually chart a new communications course through your organization. A course that you can share with others, maybe even over email.

On a final hypocritical note, I checked my own email 3 times during the first draft of this blog. Pavlov would be proud.

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast – Even in Downton Abbey

I worked in a school that had a rule: No Hats. It was just “the way things are done around here“. In my time in the school, no issue was more hotly debated and more emotional than the discussion about whether or not students should be permitted to wear hats at any time. It was about respect, it was about tradition. The power of this cultural norm was never more apparent to me when, one day, a new staff member arrived to the pro-d day, waltzed in, grabbed his coffee and sat down proudly wearing his red tattered baseball cap proudly backwards on his head. You could have cut the air with a knife.

Peter Drucker’s famous quote about the power of culture is simple, clear and correct. Recently when someone used it at a meeting I attended, it also struck me that if someone has a strategy that doesn’t include dealing with culture, then they are seriously misunderstanding what leadership is and how essential it is to always have culture as the core part of your strategy.

For about a year I worked at the district level asking the question to our senior managers “how can the district do the best job of serving schools?” In the end, the overall themes that emerged have proven to me to be timeless in any organizatation. The themes were:

Communication – communicate effectively, in a timely manner, give background information, and don’t have multiple people in the Board Office send the same or similar URGENT memo to schools and expect them to all jump. The often used quote “a lack of organization on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part” comes to mind. Nothing lands worse than the bullet from upon high saying I need this and I need it now. Communication requires planning and communication requires consciously thinking about how things land in the field.

Collaboration – people need time to connect, to get to know each other, and to be part of the process. Consider the above common email issue that happens when urgent messages come from the district to schools. Simple planning, giving the schools a heads up and rationale can go a long way to soften urgent time sensitive messages. Use the structures you have to collaborate so people know that you care and that they are part of the plan. Think of how one or two simple phone calls to key leaders in the field can help soften such an urgent email. A few moments to give a rationale and talk about the need allows the word to spread a little more effectively when talk starts in the field about why things are done.

Obstacles – those higher up in the hierarchy of things should constantly be thinking of what you can do to remove obstacles to work getting done. Sometimes when you’re looking for the enemy you only need to hold up a mirror. Often districts set up routines and rules that not only don’t make sense, they actually halt processes rather than support them. Policies created a decade ago that don’t reflect current reality but simply have become “the way we do things around here” can often be part of the problem. You need to constantly review practices, policies and procedures and ask your self if they really help. Good policy is essential, and conversly, bad policy is useless and will only end up in people doing work-arounds to actually get anything done.

These three themes could emerge in the culture of any large operation when it looks at how to work more effectively together. Classroom teachers may say we just want effective, timely and respectful communication, time to collaborate, and the autonomy to do good work. Does this sound familiar to anyone? It’s the same themes in a different context.

I spend most of my time considering and working at culture. I found a blog  by John Bernard which had the following acronym to describe culture – STAR. This acronym described culture as the Stories, Taboos, Artifacts and Rituals of an organization and it really made sense to me. I also found a good description in this paper which added ceremonies and I agree that they form an important part.

Whatever your strategy for moving an organization forward, I agree with Drucker and it isn’t as much culture eats strategy but that if your strategy doessn’t include culture you aren’t going far. In fact, you may actually go backwards as just another leadership initiative that went nowhere.

The room quietened as the young staff member arrived (slightly late) to the session for all staff, grabbed his coffee and took his seat with his red ball cap on backwards. I was standing at the front presenting at the time, just doing welcomes. What was most interesting to me was that for all our conversations about hats in our school and what an important part of the culture it was for staff, for all the passionate stand and deliver speeches I heard about tradition, integrity and the importance of our no hat rule, not one single staff member asked him to remove his hat. Instead…everyone kind of looked up at me as if to say “Well, Jordan – what are you going to do about that?” I could see that those on both sides of the argument were watching with great interest.

As I normally try to do, in some kind of light, joking way I managed to ask him to remove his cap. He did so most willingly. But this episode reminds me of the power of culture, traditions and norms in a building. In its own way, that small red cap would have been the artifact to dominate the day if it wasn’t dealt with in the moment. Writing about it makes it sound so trivial but I can tell you that in the moment and 100 people looking on – our norms, beliefs, traditions and values were all being challenged and everyone knew it. Not only that, his reputation and relationship with many staff members was being shaken just by the act and, to this day, I don’t know if it was a simple oversight or a purposeful shot at some of his collegues. My careful strategy for the pro-d day was indeed being eaten for breakfast by a simple red cap.

Everything you do unfolds as part of the culture. Every person in the building plays a role in the culture of a building as culture is all about how we relate to each other on a daily basis. What you do today may become part of tradition tomorrow.

The wonderful series Downton Abbey is rife with great material for leadership, culture and traditions. Mr. Carson is among my most favourite characters as he staunchly clings to tradition and standards while watching the world change around him. As a study in tradition and cultural norms, the series is a gem. For the Crawleys and the Granthams, culture and tradition not only are their way of being, they are the actual strategy to secure their future. We’ll all watch with great interest how the future unfolds for Downton because one of the central struggles is, of course, that their personal strategy to maintain their own traditions are being eaten for breakfast by the changes in culture around them. As this great exchange between Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith shows:

Dowager Countess (Smith): “You Americans never understand the importance of Tradition.”

Martha Levinson (MacLaine): “Yes we do, we just don’t give it power over us. Maybe you should think about letting go of its hand.”

If Shirley MacLaine was watching closely, she may have seen that Maggie Smith was indeed right, but the outcome is certainly one she won’t expect and it will challenge Downton to its core. We’ll all watch with interest.

Size and Complexity – Challenges in Each Setting

Big schools, small schools, big districts, small districts, urban settings and rural settings – what are the challenges of scale and what leadership skills does it take to be successful in any setting?

People often discuss the challenges and complexity of leadership no matter how big or small the context. My best lesson on the issue of “scale” was given to me by the principal of a small elementary school years ago. Louise Jovanovic, now retired was a wonderful colleague. At the time we spoke, she was principal at Durrance Elementary which, if I recall had about 6 staff.  I was also a principal of a school which had about 120 staff and we were talking about the similarities and differences that principals face no matter what the size of their school. Her point of view forever changed my thoughts about the challenges that those in small schools face and over time I have seen those challenges also reflected in small and rural districts compared to those large and urban.

At the time of our conversation, Louise and I were talking about the ability to influence staff and have a school move along in pursuit of a particular direction. We talked of the difference between large and small staffs and how resistance to change unfolds in places with different scale. For her, the impact of having only one staff member in opposition to a particular initiative was simply monumental compared to what I may face with even a dozen staff members who also may not be in support. She talked of the absolutely critical network of close relationships that exist in small schools and it seemed like those who lead in such places would have to be so careful, inclusive and encouraging in their directions and to always tap into the particular needs and beliefs of all staff. In a larger school with over 100 staff, being in touch with every single person’s needs and beliefs is far more difficult to do but, with a bulk of staff moving forward, the momentum of such a large group of people often created such an initiative, that it was difficult to stop. Those who were not on-side or unsure often were caught up in the initiative or, at the very least, content to let their colleagues move on. The leadership task was to pay attention to those less satisfied, to listen to their concerns, adjust where able and always to include, but having a couple of staff members in opposition to a particular direction was not a show-stopper by any regard. For Louise, having one or two staff members in opposition represented a significant part of her staff.

The other day, I was fortunate to have a chance to talk to superintendents from around the province. Once again, the issue of the differences that leaders face regardless of size and scale of organization came to mind.  Just as when I was with Louise, I was reminded just how the challenges in small and rural districts are in many ways so extremely challenging compared to the things we tackle in large urban districts. Urban districts may take some things for granted like transportation, proximity to services, reasonable weather, access to staff, resources and relative ease of contact and communications. These are challenges that rural and remote areas face every day in such a different way than we do in a metropolitan area. In addition, those in rural settings are often “living in the fish bowl” and not only do people watch what you do in public life, they watch in private life as well as some towns are only so big. The local school principal is well known by almost everyone. In BC, we have some schools on small islands and for those who live and work on these island schools the spotlight can be always on regardless of where you are.

I am not suggesting that anyone can do any job, any time regardless of context and scale. What I am suggesting is that we should pay more attention to the complexity of issues that rural and small schools face and the intricate leadership that it takes to be successful in such a setting. That does not mean that I would take the principal of a highly successful elementary school of 50 students and plunk them down in a struggling secondary school of 2000 students. I do believe that would just set someone up for failure. But…when the principal of 50 speaks, I am just saying that what they bring to the leadership table should not be discounted.

As I’ve often quoted Ursula Franklin, schools are more like organisms than they are mechanisms. Schools live and breathe based on the network of relationships and interactions that emerge within. Whether big or small, urban or rural, the ability to navigate, communicate, listen and respond in settings is about the human condition, it is not about how big a place is. In my district, we have over 9000 staff. There is no doubt that communication with that size is a huge issue compared to communication with 500. We cannot easily pull all teachers together for a talk, it just doesn’t work that way. However, in smaller places, not only is it possible to meet with all teaching staff, it is routinely done. The ability to establish personal connections and relationships in larger places is much more difficult and your communication has to be so clear, concise and consistent because you don’t get many opportunities to speak to everyone. In smaller places, you can revisit, connect, clarify, meet and discuss. These are advantages that big places just can’t realize.

While leadership differences in dealing with scale are obvious, the similarities remain. The leadership journey is about influence and influence is realized by connecting and communicating. So the next time you consider a team to pull together or there are voices in the room around a particular issue, pay attention to what everyone brings to the table. Whether from small, large, rural or urban, everyone has something unique to offer. Sometimes in education we get inside our own bubble and don’t listen to what those who are outside our sector have to say or we don’t fully appreciate the perspective brought by those in completely different educational contexts. Even better, suggest that your principal of your largest secondary school spend a day in a tiny elementary and vice-versa. These learning exchanges can be a great learning experience both ways.

One of my favourite anecdotes is about a secondary principal who, in a time of need, was placed in an elementary school on virtually no notice. The need was urgent and this was the best solution at hand. On the principal’s first day, the school’s kindergarten teacher was ill and, as happens in rural areas, no replacement was available. With no prep at all and thrown into teaching kindergarten for a full day with zero experience at that level, that secondary leader learned more about valuing kindergarten in an hour than a whole graduate course could have taught. The irony, of course, is the real teachers and mentors that day were just 5 years old. As we know so well, we all are on the learning journey any given day and no matter how small some people may seem, the leadership advice they bring can be large indeed.

Articles for further interest:

• Sustainable Leadership in Small Rural Schools: Selected Australian Vignettes
• Rural School Leadership for Collaborative Community Development
• The Small Rural School Principalship: Key Challenges and Cross-School Responses

Women on Leadership – Quotes

I am learning to use Adobe’s After Effects as I prepare for a presentation on leadership. I decided to have a portion of the project focus on quotes by women. I hope that you enjoy this first attempt at using this tool.

Guest Post – Grade 9 student on Take Our Kids to Work

Each year, school districts and employers across Canada support an event called Take Our Kids to Work Day. Initiated by The Learning Partnership, this event falls on the first Wednesday of November.

The event is an opportunity for grade 9 students to spend a day in the workplace of parents, friends or relatives. It is an opportunity for students to develop an appreciation of their parents’ career roles, to understand the skills necessary to work in a variety of occupations and to consider the wide range of careers possible as they visit worksites.

In Surrey we hosted a group of students at the District Education Centre. When I first heard that they were coming,  I put myself on the list to spend lunch with the students and also made an offer to one student to do a guest writeup for my blog so others could hear about the students’ day and experiences. I was thrilled to get the time with the students and welcomed the blog opportunity as a way to share the stories.

It was a great day, I enjoyed it very much and here is the writeup done by one of our students, Ethan Carlson.

          Today I spent the day at my mother’s workplace, SD36 Board Office for Grade 9 “Take Your Kids To Work Day”. I was shocked to discover that my mother is not the Superintendent of Schools like she told me. I also learned my mother has a secret stash of junk food she has never told us about. I took a tour with six other grade nines around the school district building which is so large it holds a college, Surrey College and a school, Surrey Connect, for students from kindergarten to grade twelve. I even had an opportunity to get a free haircut by some student hairdressers but unfortunately my mother had just massacred my hair on Monday. Talk about timing!

          Surrey School District is the largest school district in British Columbia with 70 000 students;  however, I was disappointed to find out each student is only worth $8 200. I thought we were worth more than that! The School District is also the largest employer in Surrey with about 9 300 employees. Surrey Schools has over 1,000 Teachers On Call; on the day we visited, 410 TOCs were out on the job. We had lunch with the Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Tinney, who knows a lot. Obviously, that must be a requirement for being a Deputy Superintendent in Surrey!

          We as students usually only see school board employees like teachers, principals, secretaries, custodians and childcare workers; however, at the Surrey School Board Office there’s a whole army of individuals working behind the school scenes. I highly recommend going to Surrey School District Board Office for “Take Your Kid To Work Day” because there are so many career opportunities all in one building and furthermore, the district did a fantastic job in hosting us.

I want to thank Ethan for his straight from the heart post. It certainly gives the flavour of what was a whirlwind day thanks to great organzation by staff and the many hosts. The students had a very full day and saw everything from Human Resources to Finance, Planning, Student Services and Curriculum. For my time, I enjoyed talking with them  about the impact of social media and technology on the classroom. I know we’ll certanly look forward to next year when I think at lunch we’ll ask the students to help us build a school!

DBA – Death by Acronym

A while ago I wrote a post titled “Nothing you say matters if people can’t understand you.” Recently, we were talking with a group of parents and I was reminded of how easily those in education jump at acronyms and often this leaves those to whom you are speaking simply in the dark. So this post is a reflection on all the acronyms we use and a reminder to just speak plainly with no jargon when talking to parents or others who don’t live in our daily world.  All that education jargon doesn’t help convey the meaning of the real message.

We had a good DPAC meeting last week where we presented on the BCedPlan. After the meeting I met a couple of ABA parents who had questions. I reminded them that in November, there is a joint BCSTA, BCSSA, BCASBO, BCPVPA, FNESC, MoE, and BCCPAC pro-d meeting. I don’t think that the ABCDE are co-sponsors of the event but I believe the event will also be the BCSSA’s AGM.

BCPSEA and the BCTF both commented recently on the LIF monies districts have received from the MoE. Many districts will hire ESL support, LST’s,  OW’s, ICSSW’s, EA’s or SEA’s and we make sure that the focus is on students with an IEP, some who may need an SLP or OT. In our district, we met with CUPE and the STA to debrief the process.  With LIF, we think our SER will be down.

September was the end of student enrolment for funding. Likely some will be talking of the recent comments by FISA about enrolment. Speaking of enrolment and FISA, FTE versus HC is always critical in September. We need to make sure there is no GAAP as we head to spring and the time for FSA. We were watching the number of IDS courses but not so concerned about CAPP. 

At our recent NID, teachers had Pro-D events on Web 2.0 technologies supported, of course, by PLN. There were no workshops on BCeSIS. There was, however, a workshop on EBS. Another workshop that would be helpful is for educators to understand FOIPPA and all the info that is held by a PEN. Perhaps if we did that on a NID, it wouldn’t require as may TOC’s.

Ok, enough. All of the above tongue in cheek of course.

So the next time you are talking to a parent, a community member, or even an educator from another jurisdiction please remember that acronyms that fall so easily off of our tongues do not mean anything to those who aren’t “in the system.” If want people to truly understand what we say, we need to take the time to communicate the full message.

After all, DBA can come as easily as ABC if you don’t watch your P’s and Q’s.

Where have all the heroes gone?

We all need role models. We all likely have a handful of people in our lives that we can point to and say that we admired them. Perhaps for different reasons, often quite personal, but we all need heroes.

In our lives in schools and education, we also know that children need healthy adult role models. After graduation, many students will talk or the one or two teachers who made a difference in their lives. To them, these are people who made a difference. Yes, adults matter and kids watch very closely.

In society, we know this fact and we not only recognize but we also sculpt and create heroes. These are often high profile public figures like athletes, musicians, singers, or actors. These often end up being the very embodiment of the values to which we aspire.

So it was with great sadness that I continued this week to watch Lance Armstrong’s plummet from a place of admiration and heroism to a black hole so deep I don’t know where it ends. Given what I read, I wasn’t sad for Lance, I was sad for all those who admired him, wore the bracelets symbolic of fighting for cancer only to find that here again is another “hero” in whom our admiration was clearly misplaced.

What do our children think when they are let down so much by adults? For athletes who are put on pedestals, our children have watched them teeter and collapse oh so many times. I thought of making a list but then thought better of it as the list is very long.

Which leads me to my main point which is that we don’t really need to look far for heroes. For children in our schools, their lives will touch many heroes locally. They may not make a billion dollars playing sports, they may not be a recognizable TV face or name, but they do things heroically all the same.

We celebrate the adults who care and take that extra time, the community members and parents who volunteer countless hours in service of their school and community, the children who stop, open a door and welcome you to their school, the 9000 employees in our district who play a role, each of whom has a chance to make a difference.

The purpose of public education is not to “just” educate children. We are building hope, optimism, creativity and wonderment for the world to come. We are creating critical thinkers a healthy democracy and those who can speak and advocate for what is right. We do this through relationships on a one to one basis. I know from experience that each of us can play a role. We don’t need another hero’s picture on the Wheaties box to find an adult who cares. Too often that distant hero ends up letting us down. For many of our children looking for a role model, they don’t have to reach too far. In our own communities, the next heroes may be just around the corner. S/he might not hold an Olympic medal, world record or dazzling trophies, but to be a true hero is simply to make a difference in the life of another. The need is great, the possibilities endless, and opportunity awaits. The choice of whether or not to play a role is all yours. So reach out, make a difference. It is possible to be your own local hero.  To be of service to others and, in particular, to children is a reward far greater than all the TV coverage in the world.

September Stories – Education in B.C.

The office staff greeted me warmly as I entered the school. It was lunchtime. Kids were everywhere on this hot September day. After introducing myself, the admin assistant told me that I would likely find the principal on the upper field supervising students and I headed that way. As I wandered to the top field, a child in tears was coming down the hill. He was very young, kindergarten I guessed as he stopped in front of me to seek assistance. Something had happened, he wasn’t injured but he was upset. I felt rather helpless standing there with this weeping young child at my feet. Keenly aware that I was an “outsider” I looked around for a helping adult. Coming my way, only a few short steps from me was a young staff member who saw the situation and arriving at my side she knelt at his feet. She asked him what was wrong, comforted him and they began to move inside. She said thank you to me for helping and she was off. I knew the boy would be well cared for.  This was the start of a reminder for me of how great and caring our schools are. In this post, I devote a few stories to the beginning of school this year and what these stories tells us about the quality of our schools and those who work within.

I walked up the hill glancing back to see if the boy had stopped crying. He already looked better and I felt more at ease knowing that he was in good hands. As I got to the top of the hill, a gravel soccer field was before me. It hadn’t rained for quite a while and grey dust filled the air as groups of children moved to and fro on the field in search of the ball. What was immediately obvious was that this was not eleven a side soccer. This was a game for all comers regardless of age or ability and a great time was being had by all. Children of all sizes and shapes were laughing, running, and chasing the ball in the mid-day heat. Teams on each side were so large it was impossible to count. Through the dust, on the far end of the field, I saw a man in an orange safety vest. Whistle in his mouth, blowing from time to time, he called out the names of children, guided them in their play and watched with interest. It was the principal, I realized and I went to say hi and to chat, carefully dodging running children on the way. After a short talk, I left him to his most important task which was supervision of this large group and to let the play continue.

I headed down the hill toward my car. I began reflecting on all the schools I had visited in September. While not having visited all 125 of our schools, I was now well over 30. The stories I heard and the sites I saw showed me a system that is welcoming, focused, open, and inclusive. It left me with so much hope and simply reaffirmed all that I know about schools in BC. Some of what I saw:

• The Special Education Assistant who stopped me to introduce herself and to tell me about her startup and the joys of watching children progress. From tiny steps to giant leaps, the joy with which she told the story showed me how much care our adults have for those with whom they work.
• The group of 42 teachers, administrators and district staff who spent the afternoon talking about how we can work together to ensure that our district commitments are focused on the needs of teachers and schools. Their level of engagement in the task and their resolve for improvement was palpable.
• The principal who with his fellow administrators spent the better part of the morning doing a barbeque for students to welcome them to the year and to support them in their journey ahead. It was more than the gesture, it was the open commitment to the well-being of students and working to ensure that they connected to their school.
• The four boys, who leaving their school at the end of the day stopped, opened the door for me and welcomed me to their school as they headed out. Smiles, a warm greeting and truly pride in welcoming me to their site.
• The office staffs who in the opening weeks managed to deal with the pace and frenzy of competing demands from parents, students, staff and the public, yet in each and every case welcomed me to the school, clarified who I was, what I wanted and pointed me in the right direction.
• The PAC at one school who ran their local fun fair that night. Reaching out to the community, engaging parents, students and staff all in the interest of building community and yes, raising funds for a specific school need.

These are only a few of the many stories I could share. The essence of this post was that I was so struck by the quality, care and integrity of our programs and sites that I felt compelled to write.

So if you want to know about the quality of education in BC, it’s easy. Visit your neighbourhood school. There you will likely find the same caring teachers, support staff, administrators, students and parents that I see every day.

Education in B.C., it’s something of which we can all be proud.

Picking the hill on which to die – the fine art of de-escalation

Ever get in a battle with a 4 year old and you reach a point (very quickly) where you realize you’ve lost? That realization normally comes when you’ve taken a stance that you realize you can’t possibly uphold. The mind starts to spin with “how am I going to get out of this?” What about teenagers where you may say “you do that one more time and I’ll….” – you’ll what? In my role, I spend a lot of time helping people through tough situations. When things are at their breaking point, they sometimes head this way. In so many cases, I am reminded of how important it is to find ways to de-escalate a situation before it gets to the point of no return. Sometimes the road back is a lot longer than the road to get there. Here are some thoughts on strategies to avoid or de-escalate conflict in the public arena.

1)      Pick the hill on which to die. I won’t put listening as the first skill and advice as it truly is but…as you listen to situations, as you weigh core values, processes, the overall situation, you need to decide what your eventual stance will entail. As you weigh things, you have to decide if this is the hill on which you wish to die. This really is important as often people think that conflict is about power when it really isn’t. Conflict is about differing views, process, negotiation, compromise. It is hard work and it requires that each side normally must give something to the process. If your starting point is “I’m right” and they just need to know why I’m right…you are in for a long day. Picking the hill is about weighing core values. If the conflict is about a clash of core values and not process or procedure, as you begin you need to carefully think about how far you are willing to go to seek resolution. Values-based conflicts are among the most difficult to resolve.

2)      Enter the situation prepared to lose. Dealing with conflict certainly isn’t about winning or losing but often I feel that it can go that way for one side or the other. If you enter a situation prepared to realize that you or the institution may be wrong, then it’s a good starting point. Feeling that you come from a place of power, that people simply don’t understand the complexity of the situation and you need to help them understand is normally not a good starting place. If you aren’t willing to believe that you or the organization may not have got it right, then you really aren’t open to the possibility that they have a legitimate concern that you need to hear.

3)      Take your sail out of their wind. As you listen to the concern, don’t counter-argue. The first step is to truly understand their concern not to further establish a counterargument. Listen, then listen some more, then articulate back to them their concern in different language so that you show them that you get it. Show people that you truly understand their viewpoint, their concern and that you take it at face value.

4)     Don’t reaffirm things you don’t agree with. Sometimes, when I watch people listen to tough situations, they nod their head, they smile and they reaffirm the speaker to let them know that they are listening. Just a word of caution in that sometimes, people are telling you things that are not positive about your employees and they may not be accurately representing the scenario in its full context.  A nod, a smile and “yes” that you may have intended to be reaffirming that you are indeed listening can be taken as agreement that the employee has done the wrong thing or behaved inappropriately. As stated above, don’t counter and absolutely listen with interest but don’t lead people to believe that if they tell you someone did something inappropriate, that you agree with that. What you are affirming is that you understand, not that you agree. What you want to avoid is, for example, the potential for a parent dissatisfied with a principal’s decision going back to the principal and saying that they’ve met with district staff and the district agreed that the principal was wrong.

5)     Seek resolution that honours people’s concerns. Each side will have a point. Each side probably feels strongly about the role they played. Your job, in seeking resolution is to find an outcome where people know, most importantly, that you listened, you were fair, and you gave full weight to their concerns.

6)      Seek help when needed. No one knows it all. As you listen, as you form a resolution find a trusted colleague to bounce it off of. If you are unsure at all, seek help. This is the best thing you can do and as a colleague, there is actually a great feeling to have someone come and ask “what do you think about this” knowing that you get to give your unbridled feedback and then let them lead the way. People love to offer advice. It is valued. It is valuable. It honours others and makes you better. So want to know if you’ve got it right – just ask someone. Great colleagues are all around you.

7)      Delivery is everything. Facebook has a “Like” button but have you ever looked for the “Unlike” button? You get one shot at making an impression on people where they feel that they have been dealt with fairly or not. When you have a resolution or a decision, themanner in which you deliver it is of utmost importance. Your outcome should reflect that you heard what people had to say, you weighed the consequences, processes, and you’ve made a call. Deliver with care. Deliver as if you were the recipient.

8)      Make a call and act as if there is no higher level. – The worst outcome is no outcome. People come to you looking for help. A delay or a pushing up or off to another level really isn’t help at all. As a leader, you were hired to make a decision in a transparent and fair manner. You should be comfortable making a decision and standing behind it. Don’t suggest that it’s the best you can do and if they don’t like it they can appeal a higher level. There may be a time for that when you’ve done all you possibly can do but, you should act as if you are the highest level and you want an outcome that is final with people leaving feeling that they were dealt with fairly.

9)      The gut test, the front page test, the mom test. In homage to Rushworth Kidder, when you serve in the public, you need to be comfortable with whatever you’re doing being on the front page of the local paper. No one wants a headline that puts the district in bad light, but if you feel that the headline will be bad (“School Board Denies Education to Homeless Child”) then the situation probably requires a bunch more work. Not because you are afraid of the media – but because what is happening probably really isn’t the best you can do. If it doesn’t “feel” right, if it isn’t something you would be comfortable sharing with your mom as an example of good work, then it probably is a situation that requires more work. So when you make your final call, give it the test and see how it holds.

One of the great joys of working in service of the public is that you get to help people. Every day you can make a difference in people’s lives. Inserting yourself to help in situations of conflict can be rewarding and yet it can be tough as well. People call on you because they need your skill and expertise. They called because they want you to help. Hopefully, the above offer some points of reflection on how to wade through tough times.

So the next time someone comes to you with a problem. Listen with interest, clarify for them to show that you understand, seek a resolution that is honouring and test your result with a colleague. If it’s really tricky, ask yourself the mom test. Would she be proud of your work?

Finally, often I hear that people need a resolution today/now – or they’re going to the media or government or lawyers or elsewhere. Rarely is it true that an immediate resolution is required. They might want a resolution today but it isn’t essential. Seeking a quick resolution is often also seeking a bad resolution process-wise.  My experience has taught me that in the vast majority of situations, you always have more time than you think you do. Take the time you need get it right. Spending time to get it right may be the most important thing you do as you work to a successful outcome. In the end, people will appreciate the time and care that you did invest in addressing their concern.

So the next time you see a toddler in a tantrum, watch a teenager up the ante when a parent doesn’t want them to do something, or you see two adults moving up the anger mountain, look for the strategies at play. Likely, with some of the above suggestions, you too can have success with the next opportunity to test your skills.

Judgement or Talent – Harry Potter and Leadership

“It is our choices Harry that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.“

Albus Dumbledore

Very often in my career I have been in situations where I watch normally talented and capable people make decisions that leave me wondering what went wrong. Often, it isn’t a matter of talent or skill, it’s professional judgement. I was reminded of this again watching Harry Potter this past weekend. It truly does not matter if you have all the talent in the world, if you lack the judgement of what to do and when to do it, you will be lost. So how will you know when you’ve made an error in judgement? How can we continue to support people so that such errors or lapses are minimized?

Leaders on all sides know that we have significant succession/talent promotion issues. A key factor in the health of our organizations is how we nurture, grow and sustain the talent of our staff whether they are classroom leaders, school leaders, or district leaders. What advice can we give on how to support those around us so that they can grow, feel fulfilled in their daily work, and continue to contribute to the organization? How do we help cultivate not only talented leaders, but those who make critical professional judgements that are sound and enacted with grace?

Here are some thoughts and some things we’ve put in place in Vancouver to support school-based leaders who are trying to seek higher positions. Regardless of this context, I feel that the advice below is sound in a variety of situations whether it’s nurturing district leaders or supporting teachers or other staff every day:

1)      Get to know the people with whom you work.

• You cannot possibly support, nurture and promote talent development if you don’t know those with whom you are working. If you value those who you wish to support, then you need to make an effort to connect with them.
• One simple example we’ve used in Vancouver is a vice-principal seminar series. This is a four part dinner series through the year where we provide case-study examples to current vice-principals, provide tools to debrief/analyze situations, and then sit with them and problem solve. The real goal – getting to know our VP’s – they are our next principals. A simple structure, a simple goal – meeting our VP’s, listening to them think, interact and learn. It’s been a great start.

2)      Give constructive and precise feedback.

• Meeting with people and telling them to “just keep doing what you’re doing” and their time will come for a promotion is not really supporting anyone. It leaves the candidates feeling uncertain of why they were not selected for a job (if just off an interview) or it gives the impression that their time will indeed come when, in my experience, “just keep doing what you’re doing” rarely ends up in success the next time around.
• Recently, we have changed our interview debriefing processes to provide more precise feedback. Honestly, I have to say that this has been hard in some cases. Some candidates have heard tough messages. I try to live the philosophy that you have to care enough to confront. Not confront as in seeking conflict but confront the reality of what can be said about you. I believe that people are worthy of the truth and somehow you have to find a way to tell them honestly the areas in need of support/attention so that they can improve. When you tell someone what they need to improve, be precise, tell them exactly the behaviours or skills you would like to see improved, give them an example and then ask them if they understand. At first when things like this are shared, you have to spend the time to ensure they take a moment to let emotion get out of the way, then they can truly listen to the meaning behind your words. Let them defend, let them second guess you, they are working through it. They may need time to hear things that are points of significant improvement. If you care enough, you’ll find the way to deliver the message in a supportive way.

3)      Ask questions when you see/hear judgements that cause you concern

• Sometimes, when you hear things said or see things done that you don’t agree with or you don’t feel fit with the organization’s beliefs, then you simply don’t say anything. Perhaps you question to judgement of someone in an action or comment. You let it “slide by” and wonder quietly about it yourself. Perhaps you “tuck this away” for a later date to consider in another context. A suggestion here is that when someone says or does something that doesn’t sit right with you – ask them about it. Sometimes the comment or action is taken out of context, not fully explained or there is another reason. But taking the time to challenge things that seem to be poor in judgment is not only the right thing to do; it is ultimately supportive of individuals.
• There is also another reason to question and clarify – what if they’re right – and you are not? While we all would probably like to know we’re always right – not likely. When you challenge someone else’s view of the world to clarify, justify, elaborate, then truly you have an opportunity to share, clarify, and justify your own views. I am not suggesting this is an argument or debate opportunity – I am suggesting it’s about listening, sharing, and clarifying. If someone’s comment or judgement isn’t in line with what you expect or what you believe as an organization and if they are not called on it in some way – how are they to know that what they said or did isn’t exactly right? People aren’t mind readers, they need to know when something isn’t right. These questions and quiet challenges to understand more can truly be done in a way that doesn’t put anyone on the spot. It can be done professionally and as support. You do it when the timing is right. You use your judgement. You come from a place of caring.

I started this thread on professional judgement and its importance. As a leader yourself, you use judgement on a daily basis and hopefully you use it to get to know the people with whom you work, given them constructive feedback on their skills, talents and abilities and you let them know when something isn’t just right.

As I’ve stated before, schools are more like organisms than they are mechanisms. They need care and attention, a little light and nourishment from time to time. Using your own professional judgement and support, you can help people within an organization feel supported and encouraged. Being a critical friend to those with whom we work is of central importance to organizational growth. Spend a moment a day helping others improve. Get to know your staff, give feedback that is precise and also don’t be afraid to question people on behaviours/comments that just don’t seem right. In the end, it really is about supporting those with whom we work and the organization that we serve. If we all want public education to flourish, that begins with getting the most out of all of us within.

Just like Dumbledore said, while we may all like to believe that talent is everything, the reality is that all the talent in the world won’t get you out of a mess if your judgement isn’t sound. Sound judgement takes practice, it takes critical friends, and it takes the ability to learn from mistakes.

It’s really just Praxis – a philosphy in action.