“An overlong list of ‘really important priorities'”

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“An overlong list of ‘really important priorities'” (see quote below).

From my experience in schools, an overlong list of really important priorities names a major struggle for many school leadership teams. Not enough time and effort and concentration are spent on creating clarity and shared understanding of the school’s differentiating organizational capabilities. Too many leaders and too many teams allow the time and effort and concentration needed for such identity work to be crowded out by other things.

Perhaps it’s that overlong list of really important priorities that keeps us from focusing more purposefully on our own identity within a school. Maybe we should make that investigation of identity and purpose the #1 really important priority and recreate the list once we have that critical foundation built of knowing who we really are and what we intend to concentrate on as a learning community.

I have no intent or desire to corporatize education. However, I think that schools can learn a lot by studying other sectors, industries, and organizations that have undergone periods of monumental change and transformation, particularly corporations.

The article cited below has been a recent piece of that study for me. I hope you school leaders find it helpful, too.

Therefore, it is crucial to be clear about the capabilities your organization most needs to stand apart. Too often we see functional leaders and staff struggling because this is not well defined. Imagine trying to use the objective of being “innovative” as a criterion for the multitude of investments a company must make around product launches and R&D.

Unfortunately, when the company isn’t coherent — when its strengths are not linked explicitly to its strategic focus — most functions end up trying to keep up with an overlong list of “really important priorities.” This is an unwinnable proposition.

from “Rethinking the Function of Business Functions,” Harvard Business Review, by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi  |  12:00 PM February 8, 2013

Agile parenting and empowering our children for accumulating small successes

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Bruce Feiler: Agile programming — for your family

And here’s the worst news of all. Our children sense we’re out of control. Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute asked 1,000 children, “If you were granted one wish about your parents, what would it be?” The parents predicted the kids would say, spending more time with them. They were wrong. The kids’ number one wish? That their parents be less tired and less stressed.

So how can we change this dynamic? Are there concrete things we can do to reduce stress, draw our family closer, and generally prepare our children to enter the world?

I spent the last few years trying to answer that question, traveling around, meeting families, talking to scholars, experts ranging from elite peace negotiators to Warren Buffett’s bankers to the Green Berets. I was trying to figure out, what do happy families do right and what can I learn from them to make my family happier?

Great advice from Feiler: (lessons for parenting and many other things)

  1. Adapt all the time.
  2. Empower your children.
  3. Tell your story.

From @SAISnews – Interview about #PedagogicalMasterPlanning

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Recently, Holly Chesser, Director of Member Engagement at SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools), interviewed me about Pedagogical Master Planning. SAIS published the interview in the March 2013 edition of their SAIS Headlines newsletter.

The original Internet source of the interview is here, and I’ve embedded the PDF below. For those of you interested in the development of Pedagogical Master Planning, Chesser’s interview provides an overview and update on the radical rethinking of strategic planning.

Many thanks to Holly, Damian Kavanagh, and everyone at SAIS for all they do in education.

Buying in, not selling out. A personal reflection on #purpose inspired by a good friend.

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Last week, a good friend took a little jab at me. I don’t think he meant it as a jab. He meant it to be funny. Actually, I think he was expressing deep and genuine curiosity, but because he was uncomfortable just asking me the question, he resorted to making a joke. Maybe to see if I would bite.

He said something like, “So, how are things going now that you’ve sold out to the for-profit world?”

Bless his heart – he got an ear full of questions from me about what he was actually curious to know and what assumptions his question was really based on. I say “bless his heart” because he was the one I “unloaded” on. My cup on this topic felt full because in the last three weeks about ten people – all in the school business – had made hints at wanting to talk about the same issues. I didn’t bite at the previous nine innuendoes. [It’s interesting how some things can come in waves (maybe because it’s school contract season?). And, of course, perhaps I was more sensitive to the sentiments and hidden curiosities because of the perceived volume in a short time.]

After a deluge of questions from me and honest replies from him, I shared with my good friend that I had taken about a 12.5% reduction in salary when I moved jobs. I shared that I had given up one of the most incredible benefits packages among all U.S. schools, including a completely free campus house and a meal-a-day cafeteria that I would put up against many three and four star restaurants. I reminded him that I had announced my intent to leave in September 2011 – five to six months before I had secured my next position or any guarantee of “big bucks” (to the horror of my father) – because I felt so strongly about the direction of my next chapter in educational leadership and service. A leap of some faith that was all about purpose and nothing about pay.

I also told him that I gained far more than I had sacrificed or given up. 

After nearly 200 conversations between September 2011 and February 2012, I was able to join an organization that aligned beautifully with my desired purpose to be part of a team who could support schools and educational organizations that truly want to undertake the serious opportunities for significant transformation. I am in a studio of folks that want to amplify and accelerate positive change for groups that invite us in to partner with them to design and implement higher and holistic sets of possibilities.

Now that nearly eight months had passed, I could assure my good friend that I felt justified and reflectively peaceful in making my transition. While I missed the known and “comfortable” life of school principal, I was growing immeasurably among my new team of transformation designers, strategists, and sense makers. I could share that I feel harmonious with a group of people that aim to assist and empower organizations that want to radiate acting on the things that matter most.

I could also share that my quality of life benefits were through the roof. That I had regained my life as a husband and father. That I was in a place that did not brag about level of exhaustion as a measure of worth and productiveness. That I was in a place that places high value on creativity and vulnerability – with actions and daily habits, not just with words.

Throughout the conversation, I could share that my personal decision to begin a new chapter to my book was based on purpose and not paycheck. Despite being as immersed in capitalism as anyone, I could tell my friend that I had not, in my opinion, “sold out.”

But I do feel that I have bought in and anted up – to opportunities for more significant transformation in the educational landscape.

I so appreciate his willingness to listen and engage. And I am grateful for his encouragement to write a post about our conversation. He said he was thankful to understand my actual narrative so that he could throw away his inaccurate assumptions.

He is indeed a very good friend.

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