climate control?

 

Like businesses & companies, there are downward cycles of motivation and productivity in education. Encouraging autonomy and participation has been found to be the best counter. Consider the following story found in Bolman & Deal’s (2008) Reframing Organizations.

A group of manual workers painted dolls in a toy factory. In a reengineered process, the worker took a toy from a tray, painted it, and put it on a passing hook. They received an hourly rate, a group bonus, and a learning bonus. Although management expected little difficulty, production was disappointing & morale was worse. Workers complained that the room was too hot and hooks moved too fast.

Reluctantly, the foreman gathered feedback from the workers. After hearing the complaints, fans were brought in. Although no benefit was expected by the foreman, morale improved. Discussions continued, and the workers proposed a radical idea: let them control the belt’s speed. This was met by opposition as the speed had been calculated for optimal performance. However, it was agreed to give it a try. The workers developed a complicated production schedule: start slow at the beginning of the day, increase speed once they warmed up, slow down before lunch, and so on.

Results were stunning: Morale skyrocketed; production increased far beyond the most optimistic calculations. Bonuses escalated to the point that the manual workers were earning more than skilled/experienced workers. And for that reason, it ended. The manual worker’s production and high pay became a problem as other higher-skilled workers protested. To restore harmony, management reverted to earlier practice: a fixed speed for the belt. Production plunged, morale plummeted, and most of the manual workers quit.

There are many things that can be taken from this story. Here are some of my take-aways: (I’d love to hear your take-aways).
 

*I’m wondering how we really do with asking staff about their ideas.  They are closest to what works and what doesn't, and probably have a great many ideas that would work.  Consider this example - McDonald’s best known combination is the Happy Meal. The Happy Meal was actually an idea from an front-line worker, not a manager/leader.  I believe most of any organizations' great ideas potentially go untapped, because the frontline workers aren't in a position or welcomed to share their innovative thoughts.  Do we open up our staff, team & grade level meetings to innovation and creativity? This would not only make teaching & learning more effective, but fun, engaging and participation-focused.

 

 

**We have a curriculum scope & sequence for content & standards, but the timing, intensity & delivery is part of the artisty of teaching.  The master teacher uses effective feedback from the students, formal and informal, as evidences that learning has taken place.

 

***Our schools are certainly not production lines. Let’s be cautious in producing packaged learners that don't have opportunities themselves to be active paricipants in their own learning.  These opportunities include developing the capabilities of Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking.  For more, consider Sir Ken Robinson's Changing Education Paradigms

****Finally, why do we feel vulnerable when others do well and surpass us in performance?  While healthy competition should be encouraged and welcomed, it shouldn't be used as a measure to maintain the status-quo.  Think of the implications for our under-resourced learners.  Placing superficial standards of allowing them to learn up to a point where they only match learners at the higher-end of the performance spectrum certainly limits them.  Why clip their wings? What if, in the right system, they could move beyond that?  What if we all worked collaboratively to move beyond any reeenginered & predetermined benchmarks of success?
 
Studies lend themselves to show participation is a powerful tool, both to increase morale and productivity. Even with just a few weeks left in this school year, increased contribution by students and staff alike could impact the learning climate. Give it a try; we may be surprised by end product.

can you hear me now?

I was reading this week an interesting article from the 1968 Phi Delta Kappan entitled The unheroic side of leadership: Notes from the swamp by Jerome T. Murphy.  A portion of his thoughts focused on listening and acknowledging.

 

It is the ability to listen that ought to be predicated by any action.  I have often heard that listening is a “soft” leadership skill, and I couldn't disagree more.  The skill of listening, empathetic listening, is one of the most difficult things to do.  It is so much easier for me to shut the person down quickly, with limited information, make a judgment and move on.  Good listening, however, requires an active effort to understand the world from another’s perspective.  It requires analysis of what has been said (including body language) and a sense of what has been left unsaid.  It’s just not listening to facts; a leader needs to understand feelings, meanings,  & perceptions.  It is an opening at an emotional level.


Often, folks just want an opportunity to express their frustrations and concerns.  To quote Murphy: “The very process of verbalizing frustrations and having them acknowledged often enables these individuals to move forward.”

On a bigger scale, organizational resources typically don’t meet the demands, as reasonable as they may be. This puts leaders in a tough spot, and listening is often the only thing that can be done. “...There is a big difference between a disappointed employee (who can deal with limited resources) and an employee who feels unheard (and therefore angry).”

 

Listening may be the key factor in acknowledging others.  It shares that we care and that we value what they bring to the table. 

 

 

My challenge this week is to practice listening skills...we may be surprised at how it also transforms relationships, and acknowledges individual worth.

 

eat the frog

When I moved over to central office to support our 33 elementary sites and leaders, one of my first sit-down meetings was with GB, who  serves as the Elementary Division Administrative Assistant.  She shared how she operates with matters as far as priorities, and that if I ever came in to my office and found some paperwork that had a frog accompanying it, that it was time sensitive and critical to attend to.

The back story of the frog is what prompts my thoughts today.  The idea comes from a book entitled Eat That Frog, by Brian Tracy.  Said Mark Twain, “"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day."

Applied to our roles, that frog is the biggest, toughest, scariest, and/or most important task, and one that we might most likely procrastinate.  It’s the task that we may spend 80% of our time, effort & day trying to avoid.

Tracy states an associated rule: if you have to eat a frog, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it very long.  Consider the immediate and consequential mental, emotional, and physical accomplishment you would feel to start your day by tackling that most important task, having that courageous conversation,  and making that tough decision that followers count on you to make.

I’ve tried to apply this concept this week.  Every morning, I consider the challenges, tasks & opportunities before me, and designate one or two to be my frogs.  I limit myself to no more than two frogs a day, and for self-preservation reasons, I choose frogs that are not poisonous.

So, as you consider what will make the greatest impact to start your day...