There is hope for the future

Colleagues,

About two years ago I facilitated a professional development with a group of school principals that focused on the flywheel. An organizational flywheel is a set of practices that, when implemented consistently over time, drive organizational improvement. 

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