Self-Regulation in the Age of Distraction

I went to a workshop today. This is always a tricky thing to do in the middle of the day. While I was there, my mind (I am sure like everyone else’s) was flying around not only on the workshop but on the email threads I was following on the side, the phone calls I was receiving, and my own thoughts of the tyranny of the urgent back at the office. As I time-spliced my way through the session, I was again reminded of how we don’t really take the time to grapple with complex things that need our attention. The workshop was thoughtful, engaging and posed interesting questions. The questions posed were worthy of follow-up but how do we make that happen?

When I am at workshops I tend to scribble down random thoughts. These thoughts are sparked by something speakers say but often are completely in a different direction to the speaker’s main point. The topic today was technology, education and change.

As I listened, I scribbled the following notes on my pad of paper:

• What is the role of self-regulation in the daily life of a district-leader?
• If we believe self-regulation is important for children, do we believe it needs to be taught to adults?
• Are we entering a new age of innovation and creativity in education as a result of the tools that we are placing in the hands of children and the power of these tools to connect and create?
• What role does cloud storage play in the new way we look at mobile technology for students, teachers and district staff?
• What is my personal plan to connect (online and face to face) to those who work in schools in my district?
• If we believe that we can define a new set of skills that we should be teaching our children in a 21st Century Curriculum – then how are we teaching those skills to our incoming leaders?
• What role does this new skillset play in our hiring and support of new teachers and Questionsleaders?
• What does a hiring, development, evaluation, and succession plan look like as we head to the next decade?
• Are we using the right leadership competencies in hiring for the decade to come?

I often write notes like these above and then use the notes for future blog articles, presentations or simply for my own personal reading and professional development. But once again, I was reminded of how these thoughts were inspired by a presentation and I feel like I should actually do something with them. Now I will, and others will, head back to the office and the daily work and what will become of what I think are important ideas? Will they be pursued or will they simply fall off the end of the desk?

When I have thought about this in the past, I have felt that one should never attend a workshop unless you are willing to devote equal time post-workshop to grapple with what to do with the information you’ve received. I know of course it doubles the cost in terms of time but, on the other hand, we know that drive-by professional development doesn’t work for anyone. Unless you purposefully structure time to grapple collectively with material, formulate a plan for next steps, and then pursue that plan, then we all know the end result. When we are considering system change, the cost of no progress simply is too high.

What I decided to do today was to take my notes, do a blog post to see if anyone else has the same experience and then at the very least, the thoughts are down for the future and I can reference them again. I know that for me, the issue of taking the time to think of what a curriculum of self-regulation for adults might look like is the next step.

Perhaps as I found my own calm and focussed time to at least think of what happened today, it’s my first step in making plans for what’s next.

So, to pose a question for comments – for anyone who engages in pro-d in an ongoing way, what strategies do you use to devote time after workshops for a “what now” session or do you struggle with the same issue of finding time to follow-up?

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.

From Pockets of Innovation to Webs of Collaboration: Leadbeater and the BC Education Plan

Charles Leadbeater recently came to Vancouver and presented at the BC School Superintendents’ Association conference. I very much enjoyed his discussions of disruptive innovation. The purpose of this post is to try to weave a common thread through what I heard and to consider what implications might be taken from Leadbeater’s talk.

In addition to a main session, I had the benefit of spending an additional half day with Leadbeater. At a local metro version of his presentation, about 130 participants including teachers and administrators got to hear his message of how do you sow the seeds of innovation. After listing to him twice, what I took from Leadbeater is that in order to set the stage for innovation, you need to spend adequate time defining the problem. Once you have adequately orchestrated a conversation to explore/identify the problem, then you need to embark upon a novel solution. The novel solution is the opportunity for innovation. These innovations, if they are founded upon leveraging/exploring networks of individuals or groups, will be scalable. A fairly easy to follow theme rooted in incredible complexity when you consider developing innovative solutions to public institutions and overlaying the obstacles embedded in wide scale systemic change.

Leadbeater suggested that we could have solution for a low investment that will provide a high impact in our education system. He argued that simply providing “more” or “better” of the same solutions to our existing educational challenges will not take us to the next level. We require a “different” framework. The BC Education Plan proposes that different framework is a personalized learning agenda. Leadbeater sees the BC Plan as a step in the right direction, arguing that if we continue to pursue our current agenda within our same framework, we could put in a significant amount of resources and not see a huge improvement. He outlines his vision in his paper “Learning from the Extremes.”

From Improvement to Innovation

To make learning effective in the future, to teach the skills children will need, on the scale they will be needed (especially in the developing world), will require disruptive innovation to create new low-cost, mass models for learning. Even relying on good schools will not be enough.

This means there will have to be a wholesale shift of emphasis in education policies.

School improvement is still a vital goal. But more emphasis will need to be put on innovation that supplements school, reinvents it, and transforms learning by making it available in new ways, often using technology.

The chief policy aim in the 20th century was to spread access to and improve the quality of schooling. In the future it will be vital to encourage entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation in education, to find new and more effective approaches to learning.

Learning from the Extremes

That kind of disruptive innovation may well not come from the best schools. It is much more likely to come from social entrepreneurs often seeking to meet huge need but without the resources for traditional solutions: teachers, text books, and schools. Disruptive innovation invariably starts in the margins rather than the mainstream.

Governments should continue to look to the very best school systems to guide improvement strategies. But increasingly they should also look to social entrepreneurs working at the extremes who may well create the lowcost, mass, participatory models of learning that will be needed in the future.

Taking his presentation to heart, we would be advised not to look to our very best schools as models, but to teacher entrepreneurs who are working in the margins. In your buildings and districts, perhaps existing examples of personalized learning are widespread but hidden…drowning in the mainstream so to speak. Leadbetter suggests that if we want to have those solid examples of personalized learning result in scalable models, then we need to establish social networks that connect teachers.

Once again, we hear a common theme that a major role that a powerful leader can play is to identify exemplary practice and then to work with your colleagues to develop structures and opportunities for teachers to collaborate. Only if we manage to develop and foster such opportunities can we help these pockets of innovation become webs of collaboration.

Feedback – the single most powerful mechanism to improve leading/learning?

John Hattie’s (2003) research paper titled “Teachers Make a Difference: What is the research evidence?” has been referenced many times when I’ve been present to talk about what we know about learning. His research explored the factors that have an impact on learning and which factors make the biggest difference.

One of Hattie’s first findings was that “it is what students bring to the table that predicts achievement more than any other variable.” This background knowledge and ability account for about 50% of the variance of achievement. After this opening finding, he goes on to look at several other factors including home, the principal, the school, peer effects, and finally teachers. Not surprisingly, next to the background that the student brings to the classroom, the overwhelming determinant on learning is the teacher.

When you continue into Hattie’s study and what makes exceptional teachers, he finds that effective feedback has the single highest impact on learning. Once he goes in depth into discrete factors in all areas, effective feedback is seen to have even more impact on learning than prior cognitive ability. This is an astounding finding in that effective feedback as an indicator of achievement even surpasses what students already know and are able to do.

I am always curious about what research tells us about learning and how this knowledge not only applies to students, but applies to adults. When you move into a position of leadership – it is a learning journey. If you are to be an effective leader, you must prove to be a powerful learner. This learning, as so many people know, occurs on the job and is situational. You learn from your experiences and (hopefully) become a better leader with each year. If effective feedback is the greatest determinant of learning, then how do you as a leader gather such feedback? Sometimes this is difficult in a role that has power-over relationships.

In earlier posts, I wrote about:

• Critical friends;
• The importance of perception;
• The power of apology and accepting responsibility; and
• The importance of learning to listen.

The link that I’m trying to make in this post is that the above items are all feedback mechanisms. If you choose to use them and to pay attention to “the song beneath the words” as Heifetz would say, you not only are responding to the feedback you are getting, but you are probably learning a great deal along the way.

If it’s good for young people, it’s probably good for all of us. Effective feedback is more than just words. When people give you feedback, they are helping make you better. It’s your choice to listen or not but the reality is that we all need great teachers in our lives. The best teacher you have may be that critical friend, colleague or peer who simply tells you in a kind and gentle way about how you are doing. So Hattie would suggest that you do pay attention. After all, it may be the single most powerful thing to help you in your leadership/learning journey.