Colleagues,
It’s October 8th, and fall is upon us. The leaves on the trees are in full transition. It is a fitting analogy for the time we are in. Life is simultaneously normal and COVID crazy (here in the Carolinas). There is a dissonance that leaves me feeling a bit less connected to my colleagues, friends, and the world. I wish someone would help me focus on all the great things that are happening. I wish someone would help me process through these surprising feelings. I wish someone would help me figure out how to make some improvements. I phrased these three statements specifically to invoke an emotional response. Not because I need you to support me, but because someone in your organization needs you to support them! It’s time to take a pulse check on your peeps! Walk around or pick up the phone. Ask people what is going well, what has surprised them, and what they, you, or the organization can do to make things a bit better. Not only will you gain valuable insights, but you will also help people like me reconnect and recharge. Cheers! Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
Do you ever struggle to ask for help? I do. Here’s how bad it is. I’ve been talking with my friend Mike about the new greenhouse/shed since first imagining it. In fact, Mike gave me the tempered glass panels that inspired me to build a greenhouse in the first place. More recently, he gave me some 8 by 8-inch posts so the shed could be a post and beam structure. It is going to be so cool when it is done, but there are two problems. First, I don’t know how to build a post and beam structure. Second, I am afraid to ask for help. Mike spent 10 years building post and beam homes. He gave me the posts for this project, and I do not want to ask him for help. Have you ever experienced this as a leader? Faced with a daunting challenge, you won’t ask for help. Maybe you are trying to execute a plan the team came up with but are afraid to ask the team for help? Why? Here is what I am telling myself:
When I type it out, my list seems ridiculous. Who is too busy to help a friend? Why should I be able to do something I don’t know how to do? I hope you have been reflecting on your own willingness to ask for help, but maybe I’ve missed the mark. If today’s message resonated with you, please just reply here and let me know that I’m not on an island. Thanks. Cheers! Frederick
That flywheel suggested that after providing professional development to teachers we should follow up with focused observations and use the data from those observations to inform the next round of professional development.
Fast forward to last week when I facilitated another flywheel workshop, this time with assistant principals. That training was so much better than the first one! Not only is the model more refined, but the training materials and learning progressions are so much better. I now realize how bad the first version was. However, the first version was good enough. It was a minimally viable product (MVP) and never meant to be the final version. It was simply the first iteration of a concept. As bad as it was, it was usable. An MVP is not where you end, it is where you begin. If I had not been willing to use that crude flywheel two years ago, today’s improved version would not have been possible. And next year’s version will be even better. MVPs are critical because they allow us to move forward without long delays, and the resulting feedback helps us improve our product (or process). Cheers! Frederick Colleagues, In my driveway there is a stack of lumber, plywood, and 8x8 inch posts for my greenhouse and shed project. On the north wall of my shed is 1,000 linear feet of unfinished oak for new door and window trim. On the south side of my shop are our new stair treads that I am varnishing. This is insanity! I didn’t plan on doing all these things concurrently, but here I am. I just kept seeing needs and started to address them individually. They all seemed urgent. Now, I’m barely making progress on any of them. I hope you are laughing at me right now, but you probably aren’t. Do you feel my pain because you are doing the same thing, either at work or in your personal life? Had I been strategic and thought about what was important, I would have prioritized better, focused on one thing, and that one thing would be done by now. What about you? Did you prioritize well, or did you react to urgent needs to the extent that you aren’t making progress?
Episode 1 exceeded that number and subsequent episodes are on track to do the same. We are above average! Next milestone is 78 downloads, so please share the show link with your assistant principal friends.
Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
Disclosure: I feel uncomfortable with today’s email as it feels like marketing. Blech. However, the point of the message is that there are different ways we can invest our time, and that if we collaborate, we might increase the value of this community to its members. Today we build on the epiphany I had late last week that if you would recruit people to our community, then I would not have to spend time doing social media stuff. It sounds great to me, but what is the value for you? If I didn’t have to do social media stuff, and we had a large enough community, I would be able to:
I hope this raises your V in the recruiting members equation. Outside of our situation, the broader point is this:
Cheers! Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|