The best #leaders spend more time #learning than they do #leading. The growth of others is tied to our own #growth. #edchat #QuoteADay #Day9
As leaders, it is of the utmost importance that we keep learning. Sometimes time isn't on our side. We can feel like we spend all our time putting out external fires, and little to no time kindling the internal fire that keeps us going. The importance of continuing to grow as a learner can't be exaggerated. In a world that is anything but stagnant, the best leaders understand that they need to keep moving forward if they hope to have others walk alongside them. An effective leader finds ways to avoid being mired in wholly extrinsic pursuits, knowing that only by constantly learning can a person truly lead.
For me, this quote is a reminder that every day I have to make the time to learn something new. Whether taking thirty minutes to read from a book, spend time with my wife and children, go for a walk, or chat on Twitter, my goal during those time periods is to do whatever I can to learn as much as I can. It isn't always easy, but it is always necessary. Luckily for me, there's a lot I don't know, and millions of opportunities to learn.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 8
Great #goals operate according 2 the #GoldilocksPrinciple: neither too hot nor too cold, nor too big nor too small. #QuoteADay #Day8 #edchat
The Goldilocks Principle has a lot of corollaries re: education. Extremes in the world of teaching and learning are often fraught with difficulties; where possible, better to follow the morale of the Tortoise and the Hare. . .slow and steady wins the race.
When generating goals, we must keep in mind that those that are too extreme (or on the flip side, too "boring") simply won't work. They'll either be useless (due to their simplicity or lack of challenge), impossible to accomplish (if they are too hard or convoluted), or ignored (if they are particularly dicey for various stakeholders).
To turn a goal into a truly great one, there must be some amount of challenge, some amount of risk, and a clear vision of what the goal will accomplish. Only these goals, once met, will provide the requisite energy to propel a community to (and through) the next challenge.
While fairy tales are often simply just that, they go a long way to painting a picture of what works and what doesn't in education, and more generally, in life.
The Goldilocks Principle has a lot of corollaries re: education. Extremes in the world of teaching and learning are often fraught with difficulties; where possible, better to follow the morale of the Tortoise and the Hare. . .slow and steady wins the race.
When generating goals, we must keep in mind that those that are too extreme (or on the flip side, too "boring") simply won't work. They'll either be useless (due to their simplicity or lack of challenge), impossible to accomplish (if they are too hard or convoluted), or ignored (if they are particularly dicey for various stakeholders).
To turn a goal into a truly great one, there must be some amount of challenge, some amount of risk, and a clear vision of what the goal will accomplish. Only these goals, once met, will provide the requisite energy to propel a community to (and through) the next challenge.
While fairy tales are often simply just that, they go a long way to painting a picture of what works and what doesn't in education, and more generally, in life.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 7
A good #idea will never become a #great one unless we ask, "What's wrong with this?" #QuoteADay #Day7 #edchat #edu #EmbraceArgument
Everybody thinks the ideas they generate are better than the ideas generated by anyone else. It's human nature. And, for what it is worth, many of the ideas we do generate are actually quite good. However, what separates a good idea from a great one is being willing to see that your idea isn't perfect, and therefore, to be willing to make your idea stronger by building on constructive criticism received.
With that in mind, I like to offer up ideas with a caveat of "What's wrong with this?" at the end. This isn't meant to detract from the idea itself, but rather to show that ideas are only as good as the feedback they generate, and my expectation is that every idea I have can be made better by the input offered from someone else.
In addition, asking this simple question is a great conversation generator. Though we all love to come up with ideas, many of us love even more to identify holes and areas of improvement in the thoughts of others. What better way to encourage positive argument and debate than to require that every idea generated needs to be critiqued by stakeholders! As far as I'm concerned, if an idea I have is going to go "prime time" I definitely want to make sure it has been vetted by my peers. :)
Everybody thinks the ideas they generate are better than the ideas generated by anyone else. It's human nature. And, for what it is worth, many of the ideas we do generate are actually quite good. However, what separates a good idea from a great one is being willing to see that your idea isn't perfect, and therefore, to be willing to make your idea stronger by building on constructive criticism received.
With that in mind, I like to offer up ideas with a caveat of "What's wrong with this?" at the end. This isn't meant to detract from the idea itself, but rather to show that ideas are only as good as the feedback they generate, and my expectation is that every idea I have can be made better by the input offered from someone else.
In addition, asking this simple question is a great conversation generator. Though we all love to come up with ideas, many of us love even more to identify holes and areas of improvement in the thoughts of others. What better way to encourage positive argument and debate than to require that every idea generated needs to be critiqued by stakeholders! As far as I'm concerned, if an idea I have is going to go "prime time" I definitely want to make sure it has been vetted by my peers. :)
Monday, January 6, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 6
Patience isn't a #virtue, it's a #necessity.If we can't give time to others, why should they give time to us? #edchat #edu #QuoteADay #Day6
As the father of two young girls (one of them being three), I find that my patience is tested regularly. I pride myself on being a very patient person, but there are times when I wish I had an even deeper reserve. As I have to remind myself regularly, my daughter is not a thirty-four-year-old adult, and things that come easily to me may be beyond challenging to her.
For instance, this morning, our three-year-old (who is also incredibly independent, imagine that) wanted to put her mittens on herself. The first mitten was a breeze, but the dexterity needed for the second one was beyond her. She wouldn't take any assistance, so I forced myself to patiently wait the five minutes while she struggled (only telling her once that we needed to hurry or we would be late for school :) ) until she finally got them on. My stress level was heightened, but this was a necessary accomplishment for her. But, in reality, had I been an even more patient person, I would have seen no rise in my stress level, knowing that the learning she took from the experience was much more important than the five minutest it took to complete the task.
The point is, everyone comes to a decision and/or action with a slightly different (or tremendously different) set of skills, background knowledge, and/or perspective. If we can't give people the time they need to process and act, then we shouldn't be surprised when that same courtesy is denied to us. True reflection and learning require time, and as we all know, time is not a commodity we have a lot of. Yet, if we don't provide people with it, we have to be willing to deal with sub-par results. In life, I don't think that is an outcome anybody would want.
As the father of two young girls (one of them being three), I find that my patience is tested regularly. I pride myself on being a very patient person, but there are times when I wish I had an even deeper reserve. As I have to remind myself regularly, my daughter is not a thirty-four-year-old adult, and things that come easily to me may be beyond challenging to her.
For instance, this morning, our three-year-old (who is also incredibly independent, imagine that) wanted to put her mittens on herself. The first mitten was a breeze, but the dexterity needed for the second one was beyond her. She wouldn't take any assistance, so I forced myself to patiently wait the five minutes while she struggled (only telling her once that we needed to hurry or we would be late for school :) ) until she finally got them on. My stress level was heightened, but this was a necessary accomplishment for her. But, in reality, had I been an even more patient person, I would have seen no rise in my stress level, knowing that the learning she took from the experience was much more important than the five minutest it took to complete the task.
The point is, everyone comes to a decision and/or action with a slightly different (or tremendously different) set of skills, background knowledge, and/or perspective. If we can't give people the time they need to process and act, then we shouldn't be surprised when that same courtesy is denied to us. True reflection and learning require time, and as we all know, time is not a commodity we have a lot of. Yet, if we don't provide people with it, we have to be willing to deal with sub-par results. In life, I don't think that is an outcome anybody would want.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 5
#Collaboration + #competition are equal #partners. To #learn + #lead, you can't have one w/o the other. #edchat #satchat #QuoteADay #Day5
I recently finished reading Michael Fullan's book Change Leader. One of the important characteristics Fullan discusses for leaders is the ability to cultivate both collaboration and competition in leadership and management. This is a powerful idea. We often speak of collaboration as being a necessity to take learning and leading further, but in reality, collaboration without competition will never be as effective as when the two work together to emphasize the drive to keep getting better. That constant drive is what competition is all about.
I like to think of a true combining of the two terms into what I call "collabetition." The idea here is that teamwork always is at the heart of the work being undertaken. We work as a team when we collaborate towards an end, and we also work as a team when we compete positively to see who can reach the desired end in the most effective and efficient way possible. Collabetition requires everyone to work together, even if people are pursuing the same result in "competing ways." Why? Because the goal is always the same: the betterment of the world around us, and the betterment of ourselves.
I recently finished reading Michael Fullan's book Change Leader. One of the important characteristics Fullan discusses for leaders is the ability to cultivate both collaboration and competition in leadership and management. This is a powerful idea. We often speak of collaboration as being a necessity to take learning and leading further, but in reality, collaboration without competition will never be as effective as when the two work together to emphasize the drive to keep getting better. That constant drive is what competition is all about.
I like to think of a true combining of the two terms into what I call "collabetition." The idea here is that teamwork always is at the heart of the work being undertaken. We work as a team when we collaborate towards an end, and we also work as a team when we compete positively to see who can reach the desired end in the most effective and efficient way possible. Collabetition requires everyone to work together, even if people are pursuing the same result in "competing ways." Why? Because the goal is always the same: the betterment of the world around us, and the betterment of ourselves.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 4
Today's quote:
Never underestimate power of positive conversation. Contrary to popular belief, we can accomplish more by talking about it. #QuoteADay #Day4
This morning I had the chance to get involved in #satchat, an excellent Saturday morning chat session for educators and those interested in talking about education. With two young daughters, it is hard to find the time for weekend chats, but I was happy to be able to make the time today. Like most educational chats I've participated in, #satchat is equal parts inspiring and eye-opening; causing a participant to both reflect on his/her actions and contemplate how to keep getting better.
In thinking of the benefit of collaborative discussion, I was struck by the fact that we often equate conversation with inaction. We've often heard (and likely often said), "We need less talk and more doing." Yet, after a powerful discussion, we can actually end up with more doing than if we had embarked on action alone.
To me, it seems that the better frame is to make sure we talk quite a bit, and enough to truly motivate our processes. However, our talk has to be focused, positive, and collaborative, if ti is going to truly lead to the action we all want to take.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Quote-A-Day: Day 3
Even the most beautiful #ideas have potential #dangers. #Research, #data, + the power of time shouldn't be ignored. #edchat #QuoteADay #Day3
Ideas can be beautiful, but even those that seem to be totally innocent, can have potentially devastating consequences. In no way does this mean we shouldn't "play" with innovative ideas and take risks, but it does mean that any and every idea deserves the research and thought necessary to truly consider whether it's beauty will transfer from idea to actuality. A snow storm is a beautiful thing, but under the surface can be very dangerous. Sometimes it is better to sit tight and think, than act on an impulse.
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| The view into our backyard this morning |
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