Making change. The task seems to be on everyone's mind, in one form or another. However, in our haste to innovate, we often forget about the importance refining, revisiting, and refocusing what's already in place. That's probably because truly perfecting something is hard work.
Alas, refining something that's already in place feels a bit like this:
Innovation doesn't always have to be "new" or "more." Sometimes innovation is actually the act of fixing something that's already in place. True change can express itself in many different ways. It's not always an add-on.
While a culture of excellence embraces change, it does NOT embrace something new every week. That mostly confuses people and encourages them to "opt out" since nothing ever lasts.
For those of us who like to be on the cutting edge, being caught within change via revision can be daunting and a bit lackluster. (George Couros recently spoke to this exact problem here.)
However, if we don't engage in a process of continuous renewal, we'll end up contracting one of education's most common diseases: INITIATIVE FATIGUE. I recently visited a school infected with over 41 concurrent initiatives. The staff can't even remember all of them!
So, try the following strategies to refocus and recenter your change efforts by doing some hard work and fixing a few clunky problems within your organization.
Refine
Consider a system or process that is functional, but not perfect. Maybe it's your lesson planning technique, classroom management routine, or strategic plan committee format. Think of 1-2 small changes you can make to your existing practice to improve it. For example, maybe you start lesson planning in Evernote and use tags to make your plans easily findable next year. Or perhaps you tweak your classroom management routine by using a visual timer during choice reading time. Perhaps you change the location of your strategic plan committee meeting to someplace comfortable and innovative in an effort to generate a little bit of excitement. These aren't major changes, but they can make a big difference in how you feel about the process and its overall success.
Revisit
When something is working, we tend to ignore it. We just let it run its course, regardless of how the landscape may be changing around it. When I was a tech director, we had an email-based tech ticket system that worked. Sort of. But since it was keeping us afloat, it never seemed like a priority. We had to intentionally set aside time as a team to revisit this issue. Once we did, it became clear that some changes and tweaks were needed. By revisiting this issue, we were able to make changes that served everyone better. You don't know if something is broken unless you actually X-ray it closely!
Refocus
As processes, initiatives, and strategies become entrenched in our organizations, we sometimes forget why we started doing them in the first place! It's important to take time to refocus our efforts on our goals. Once we remember how the activity is linked to our goals, we are much more likely to see the value in it! When I first started teaching, we had to submit lengthy lesson plans for guided reading. After some time, I found myself merely going through the motions. Then, one day, I overheard a student tell another student that guided reading had been boring lately. In that moment, I remembered why the plans were important, and I took some time to make my plans even more engaging for my kids!
Starting a new initiative often feels like this:
Alas, refining something that's already in place feels a bit like this:
Innovation doesn't always have to be "new" or "more." Sometimes innovation is actually the act of fixing something that's already in place. True change can express itself in many different ways. It's not always an add-on.
While a culture of excellence embraces change, it does NOT embrace something new every week. That mostly confuses people and encourages them to "opt out" since nothing ever lasts.
For those of us who like to be on the cutting edge, being caught within change via revision can be daunting and a bit lackluster. (George Couros recently spoke to this exact problem here.)
However, if we don't engage in a process of continuous renewal, we'll end up contracting one of education's most common diseases: INITIATIVE FATIGUE. I recently visited a school infected with over 41 concurrent initiatives. The staff can't even remember all of them!
So, try the following strategies to refocus and recenter your change efforts by doing some hard work and fixing a few clunky problems within your organization.
Refine
Consider a system or process that is functional, but not perfect. Maybe it's your lesson planning technique, classroom management routine, or strategic plan committee format. Think of 1-2 small changes you can make to your existing practice to improve it. For example, maybe you start lesson planning in Evernote and use tags to make your plans easily findable next year. Or perhaps you tweak your classroom management routine by using a visual timer during choice reading time. Perhaps you change the location of your strategic plan committee meeting to someplace comfortable and innovative in an effort to generate a little bit of excitement. These aren't major changes, but they can make a big difference in how you feel about the process and its overall success.
Revisit
When something is working, we tend to ignore it. We just let it run its course, regardless of how the landscape may be changing around it. When I was a tech director, we had an email-based tech ticket system that worked. Sort of. But since it was keeping us afloat, it never seemed like a priority. We had to intentionally set aside time as a team to revisit this issue. Once we did, it became clear that some changes and tweaks were needed. By revisiting this issue, we were able to make changes that served everyone better. You don't know if something is broken unless you actually X-ray it closely!
Refocus
As processes, initiatives, and strategies become entrenched in our organizations, we sometimes forget why we started doing them in the first place! It's important to take time to refocus our efforts on our goals. Once we remember how the activity is linked to our goals, we are much more likely to see the value in it! When I first started teaching, we had to submit lengthy lesson plans for guided reading. After some time, I found myself merely going through the motions. Then, one day, I overheard a student tell another student that guided reading had been boring lately. In that moment, I remembered why the plans were important, and I took some time to make my plans even more engaging for my kids!
Change happens in many ways on many days,
even if there's nothing "new."
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