Accelerating School Initiatives Workbook · PDF fileACCELERATING SCHOOL INITIATIVES 2" ... there is often a sixth category of people we’ll ... " Download and fill out the motivational

WORKBOOK

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

JUSTIN BAEDER

ACCELERATING SCHOOL INITIATIVES

2 principalcenter.com/accelerating

PART 1

NOTES FROM TODAY’S VIDEO

• Initiatives have a life . Initiatives don’t ramp up to full c y c l e

implementation and stay there forever.

• Some initiatives are driven, so when the is e v e n t e v e n t

over the initiative is over.

• Making something doesn’t make it happen instantly. o f f i c i a l

• Sociologist Everett Rogers states that there are types of f i v e

people we’ll encounter during innovations and initiatives:

1. Innovators

2. Early a d o p t e r s

3. The early m a j o r i t y

4. The late m a j o r i t y

5. Laggards

• Innovators and early adopters will most likely be on board with

your initiatives they are even put into place. b e f o r e

• In education, there is often a sixth category of people we’ll

encounter: . f a k e r s



• only pretend to be on board with initiatives and PLCs F a k e r s

when they are aware that you are watching.

• According to Rogers, once the initiative has the early adopters

on board, it probably has enough to reach m o m e n t u m

everyone eventually.

• The late majority will the early majority, and eventually f o l l o w

the laggards and the fakers will come to terms with the initiative

that is put in place.

• The biggest challenge is getting from the early to a d o p t e r s

the early , because of how different those two m a j o r i t y

people groups are.

• Your earliest adopters tend to be the most , and m o t i v a t e d

the most skilled.

• The further along your initiative gets, the more you will

encounter and . s t r u g g l e r s s t r a g g l e r s

• The first major hiccup that usually occurs is when the early

majority realizes they don’t have the and the s k i l l s

they need to succeed. c o n f i d e n c e



• As leaders, we usually the needs of the u n d e r e s t i m a t e

early majority, and the challenges that we’ll face in getting them

on board because they need more from us than the early

adopter.

• Early adopters are usually quite , so it’s s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t

easy to assume that the rest of the initiative is going to succeed

just as effortlessly.

• To get past this point, we typically think of two things, b u y - i n

and . s u p p o r t

• We want our staff to the initiative to succeed, and we w a n t

want to make sure that they have the and s k i l l s

they need. r e s o u r c e s

• However, we often don’t realize what and b u y - i n

actually look like. s u p p o r t

• One of the biggest problems, as pointed out by author Robert

Evans, is that we want people to keep doing what works, and at

the same time start doing something new and . u n p r o v e n

• Evans says that it is unrealistic and unfair to expect people to be

open and flexible now when we wish for them to , i n n o v a t e



and to be firm and resolute only later when we wish for them to

. p e r s e v e r e

• Evans also identifies costs of change: f o u r

1. A sense of l o s s

§ The feeling that we are abandoning something we

previously . v a l u e d

2. Change challenges our sense of c o m p e t e n c e

§ This happens because we are g i v i n g u p

something we are good at for the sake of starting

something that we are not as good at yet.

3. Change creates . c o n f u s i o n

§ It changes roles, rules, and procedures, as well as the

sense of that we rely on. p r e d i c t a b i l i t y

§ This means that we need more communication to

provide . c l a r i t y

4. Change causes . c o n f l i c t

§ Shifting roles and lack of clarity leads to . c o n f l i c t



§ Late adopters tend to feel like s e c o n d c l a s s

citizens when the early adopters receive all of the

praise.

TAKING ACTION q Identify the six people groups—innovators, early adopters, the

early majority, the late majority, laggards and fakers—within your staff.



PART 2 NOTES FROM TODAY’S VIDEO

• Getting good at anything, or becoming comfortable with any

changes, requires . p r a c t i c e

• As leaders, we tend to think of changes as an improvement or an

adjustment, rather than as a , but to our d i s r u p t i o n

teachers a new initiative can in fact be . d i s r u p t i v e

• It is a lot more comfortable to stick a toe in the water rather than

diving in headfirst, and that is one of the reasons that change

initiatives seem to forever. d r a g o n

• As leaders, we strive for fidelity of , i m p l e m e n t a t i o n

because we know that if people half implement something new,

and the other half is still bits of what they were doing before, it

will not succeed.

• In Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch, they identify three main

factors that we need to consider when attempting to make

practical changes in our schools:

1. The factors c o g n i t i v e



2. The factors e m o t i o n a l

3. The factors s i t u a t i o n a l

• The Heath’s refer to these factors as the , the r i d e r

and the . e l e p h a n t p a t h

1. The rider

§ The rider is the of the operation, and it’s b r a i n s

the rider’s job to plan, make decisions and set the

for the elephant. d i r e c t i o n

§ In this analogy, you are not the rider. Each of us has a

, and each of us has an , the r i d e r e l e p h a n t

cognitive and emotional sides of ourselves.

§ The Heaths point out that what looks like

to an initiative is often the rider’s r e s i s t a n c e

lack of . As leaders, we need to help c l a r i t y

people establish clarity on the initiative.

2. The elephant

§ The elephant has the drive and the to get p o w e r

things done.



§ The problem that the elephant often faces is a lack of

, and often what seems to be m o t i v a t i o n

laziness is actually . e x h a u s t i o n

§ When we upset the established order of things, it can

be , so the elephant needs to be e x h a u s t i n g

motivated.

3. The path

§ The Heath’s say that what looks like a people

problem may in fact be an e n v i r o n m e n t

problem.

§ If we’re making it easy for people, they’re more likely

to succeed, because they can focus their energy on

moving down the path, not climbing over

. o b s t a c l e s

TAKING ACTION q Thinking in terms of your initiative:

o How is it going for the rider, the elephant and the path? o Are the challenges you are facing rider related? o Are they about clarity and direction, or about motivation

and energy? o Is it the path, the conditions and environment that is

making change hard for people?



q Leave a comment on the Principal Center website with your answers to today’s action items.

PART 3

NOTES FROM TODAY’S VIDEO

• You can increase an initiatives odds of success through

achieving , or what the Heath brothers refer to as, c l a r i t y

“Directing the rider.”

• In their book Switch, the Heath brothers break the recipe for

success down three ways:

1. Finding the b r i g h t s p o t s

2. Scripting the c r i t i c a l m o v e s

3. Pointing to the d e s t i n a t i o n



• First, we have the bright spots. We are always better off when we

can figure out what is already , the bright spots, and w o r k i n g

see how we can get more of that.

• Rogers’ concept of early is critical here, because a d o p t e r s

in any initiative you are going to have bright spots among your

early . a d o p t e r s

• Second, we must give people clear for getting d i r e c t i o n s

started. This is what the Heath brothers refer to as “scripting the

critical moves.”

• We tend to focus more on the vision, but it is b i g p i c t u r e

critically important to be specific in the beginning when people

have the least amount of . c o n f i d e n c e

• If we want to give people a recipe for success, we cannot leave

out the crucial steps. f i r s t

• Because these first steps are often simple and straightforward,

we often don’t think we need to hold people a c c o u n t a b l e

for them. This can be a mistake for your initiative. f a t a l



• Finally, we need to point to the destination. This meets the

needs of both the elephant and the rider. It the m o t i v a t e s

elephant and it gives to the rider. d i r e c t i o n

• The more vividly we can paint this picture, the clearer we can

make this vision, the more it’s going to be. c o m p e l l i n g

• What we don’t need to do is everything in between s p e c i f y

those first steps and the ultimate destination. That’s where we

leave room for people to learn and take of the o w n e r s h i p

process as professionals.

• If we’re clear about where we’re going and how to get started,

that will give the rider, the side of each our staff r a t i o n a l

members, clear direction so they can get the elephant moving.

TAKING ACTION q List the critical moves that you want your staff to take for your

initiative, and describe the ultimate destination. q Think of three to five things that you want all of your staff to do

immediately, and where you want them to end up. q Comment with your answers on the Principal Center website.




• If there is not proper , good intentions won’t m o t i v a t i o n

matter.

• Seven transitions need to take place in order to help your staff

move from being truly unmotivated to being fully motivated.

1. The shift from fear to . c o n f i d e n c e

§ People tend to feel that they will fail, or the initiative

will fail, leaving students than they w o r s e o f f

were before.

2. The shift from complacency to . u r g e n c y

§ Most people aren’t complacent about

, just the one particular issue. e v e r y t h i n g

§ , not data, is the best way to create a E m o t i o n

sense of . u r g e n c y

3. The shift from indifference to . p a s s i o n

§ People need to want to do something, not just see

the issue as . i m p o r t a n t



§ Our job as leaders is to light a fire in our staff so that

their can give our initiative the p a s s i o n

it needs. e n e r g y

4. The shift from powerlessness to . e f f i c a c y

§ People need to know that they can make a

. d i f f e r e n c e

§ We must identify what has happened in the past to

damage peoples self- as well as create e f f i c a c y

to build skills and increase e x p e r i e n c e s

efficacy,

5. The shift from exhaustion to . e n e r g y

§ Change requires a ton of , and it’s our job e n e r g y

to help people tap into the energy they need to move

, and renew that energy when it runs f o r w a r d

low.

6. The shift from resistance to . c o m m i t m e n t

§ Figure out what specifically is being resisted and

address that, rather than treating it as a

issue. p e r s o n a l i t y



7. The shift from individualism to . c o l l e c t i v i s m

§ As with efficacy, this shift is largely about people’s

in the past, and it’s our job to help e x p e r i e n c e s

people see how they can move forward by working

. t o g e t h e r

TAKING ACTION q Download and fill out the motivational worksheet provided on

the Principal Center website. q Leave a comment on the Principal Center website, telling us

which shift is most important to you right now for your initiative.


• Now that the importance of has been m o t i v a t i o n

analyzed, we will take a look at the Heath brothers’ framework

for motivating the elephant.

1. Find the . f e e l i n g

§ It is emotion, not that motivates people to l o g i c

act.

2. Shrink the . c h a n g e



§ This targets the issues of , c o n f i d e n c e

, and . e f f i c a c y e n e r g y

§ If people feel like they are starting from , it can z e r o

be too dramatic of a change.

§ Just because we aren’t where we need to be doesn’t

mean we don’t have good going on. a n y t h i n g

It’s critical that we recognize how far down the

we already are. r i g h t t r a c k

§ Look for ways to capitalize on strengths that already

. e x i s t

3. Grow our . p e o p l e

§ If we want to make our changes look smaller, we

need to help our people take on a b i g g e r

. i d e n t i t y

§ After you get past a certain point your growth doesn’t

come from attending a training. It’s self-

. d i r e c t e d



§ The people who do the most self-directed growth

are those who have the strongest

p r o f e s s i o n a l i d e n t i t y

TAKING ACTION q Think of two ways you can engineer a head start in some small

wins. o What are some existing strengths or successes you can

build on and give your staff credit for achieving? q Think of an aspect of your professional identity that you can start

to appeal to. o If your initiative is about reading, how can you help all of

your teachers identify with the idea that we’re all reading teachers?

o If it’s about classroom culture, how can you help teachers see themselves as skilled culture builders?

o What identity do you want your teachers to take on, and how can you engineer some progress toward that identity?

q Comment with your answers to these questions on the Principal Center website.




• What looks like a people problem is often a s i t u a t i o n a l

problem.

• If we treat every problem like a people problem, we miss out on

a critical opportunity to the path ahead. s h a p e

• The Heath brothers list out three main ways to shape the path:

1. Tweaking the e n v i r o n m e n t

2. Building h a b i t s

3. Rallying the h e r d

• The Heaths emphasize that tweaking the environment can serve

as an antidote to a tendency known as “ f u n d a m e n t a l

error.” a t t r i b u t i o n

• Fundamental attribution error is our propensity to blame our

own failures on the but to blame other c i r c u m s t a n c e s

people’s failures on some sort of . c h a r a c t e r f l a w

• With our staff we tend to make the fundamental attribution error

about . We assume that people are resistant r e s i s t a n c e



because they’re lazy or mean or stuck in their ways. When often

times, is a natural function r e s i s t a n c e s e l f - d e f e n s e

against poorly implemented ideas.

• Even if it is in fact people causing the problem, treating it as a

problem can be more effective. s i t u a t i o n a l

• When we tweak the , we’re making the right e n v i r o n m e n t

behaviors easier and we’re making the wrong behaviors harder.

• Second, the Heaths say that we need to build habits, and the

environment people work in can either or r e i n f o r c e

their habits. u n d e r m i n e

• Habits are our default path. They consume little , w i l l p o w e r

and serve as a plan for dealing with situations p r e - m a d e

that might come up.

• When we can rely on a habit, we tend to be more

in our decisions because we’re not forced to c o n s i s t e n t

make so many decisions in the . m o m e n t

• The Heaths recommend using “action ” to shape t r i g g e r s

habits. These triggers are a pre-made plan for something that is



not yet , for when a certain circumstance comes h a b i t u a l

up. When A happens, do B.

• Third, the Heaths tell us to rally the . This taps into the h e r d

power of social pressure because people tend to do what the

people around them are doing.

• If you don’t know what to do, you can your peers and w a t c h

see what they are doing.

• As the administrator you have a very powerful asset

. You know what teachers are doing, and you i n f o r m a t i o n

can share that information to point out that are going t r e n d s

in the right direction.

TAKING ACTION q How can you shape the path for your initiative?

o Take a moment to think about whether there’s anything you could do to make it easier for your teachers

o Are there any action triggers you could suggest to help people build habits?

o Are there any celebrations of progress you should share to rally the herd?

q Share your ideas about this in the comments on the Principal Center website.




1. Clarify your . a g e n d a

§ Even if you have many priorities, the c o m p e t i n g

reality is that not everything can be a priority. t o p

2. Create regular channels for . c o m m u n i c a t i o n

§ Create a weekly staff , which you n e w s l e t t e r

can do in a simple email.

§ It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to be

. c o n s i s t e n t

3. Keep track of each , and be crystal clear on all p r o j e c t

of your steps.

§ Use an electronic for the steps in t o - d o - l i s t

your projects.

4. Use the motivational worksheet to plan out specific

and professional development c e l e b r a t i o n s

opportunities for your staff.



§ The real challenge is maintaining , m o m e n t u m

especially when things get tough.

Documents

Accelerating School Initiatives Workbook · PDF fileACCELERATING SCHOOL INITIATIVES 2" ... there is often a sixth category of people we’ll ... " Download and fill out the motivational