#5thSunday: Year-End Reflection Infographic–R.E.F.L.E.C.T.
Every month at TheSchoolHouse302, you get a blog post with a leadership development model, a podcast with a leading expert, a “read this” with three book selections, and a review and reflection tool–all on a particular topic of leadership to help you lead better and grow faster. Posts are always blasted out on Sundays so that leaders can think and prepare for the week ahead.
In months when we have 5 Sundays, we also provide an infographic to help visualize and solidify the concept. This month, as we end our year, we want to R.E.F.L.E.C.T. on several powerful concepts to propel our success into the future of 2019. We hope you enjoy and Happy New Year.
As always, please like, follow, and comment. If you have topics of interest, guests you want us to interview, or books that we should read and recommend, please let us know that as well.
Joe & T.J.
As always, please like, follow, and comment. If you have topics of interest, guests you want us to interview, or books that we should read and recommend, please let us know that as well.
Joe & T.J.
The Four Daggers for Data Decision-Making
This month has been all about data at TheSchoolHouse302.com. We posted 3 ideas for ensuring that data is actionable in your organization, and we focused on unconventional data sources, using data to tell a story, and taking steps to ensure that data means strategic action.
We welcomed Dr. Liz Farley-Ripple, Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, to our #onethingseries. If you haven’t heard the podcast, listen here. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll get awesome and practical recommendations for using data.
At TheSchoolHouse302, we are always “getting to simple” so leaders can grow and learn. Leadership is about taking action to make improvements to our environments, and using data is one tool that all great leaders use to improve their organization. As great leaders develop, though, they often grow accustom to making quick decisions based on intuition. Malcolm Gladwell calls this “the power of thinking without thinking.” In his book Blink, he describes a reality where some people can make quick decisions in complex scenarios where others simply can’t. But Victoria Bernhardt tells readers that quick decision-making is not the best route, especially in schools where we should be working to “replace hunches and hypotheses with facts concerning what changes are needed.” After all, using data to inform decisions is really a strategy about determining what actions to take to influence change. Here are the four most important strategies to consider when using data to make a change in your organization. We call them “data daggers” because they’re meant to pierce a target and penetrate your organization to produce just the right results for positive change to occur.
The Four Daggers for Data Decision-making
Dagger #1: Think big and take a data inventory. There are far more data sources than we often acknowledge. Dr. Farley-Ripple talks about an inventory exercise that you can do with your team where you might start with 5 or 6 typical data sources and then expand to up to 150 data points. Although that’s too many to use, the inventory helps us to recognize that we can get “stuck” in our paradigm and we have access to more data and information than we realize. Once you go big, you can scale back to the most important metrics, hopefully new sources that use data as a flashlight rather than a hammer. This takes us right to our next dagger.
Consideration: Switch the target from a narrow view of typical data sources to a broader scope of available data.
Dagger #2: Use the right data in the first place. With a proper data inventory, we can identify new and often unconventional data sources. As Dr. Farley-Ripple pointed out, most data fall into four categories: process data, performance data, demographic data, and perception data. Schools are great at using performance data and even demographic data, but these commonplace sources can only drive change so far. Let’s ask different questions about outcomes to reach new heights. Instead of asking how students are performing on assessments, we might ask how they feel about their experiences with a certain subject. This switches instrumentation from a test to a survey and should prompt new and important conversations about the story that data can tell us if we listen to the right sources of information.
Consideration: Switch the target from performance and demographic data to process and perception data.
Dagger #3: Don’t just use one source of data. Situations are complex but they don’t have to be complicated. Let data tell a story over time rather than looking at one source of data after the story has been told. This means that data collection has to be a process rather than a product. When we look at data, we should see trends and themes and not just singular points. When your team presents a number to represent one point in time, challenge any assumption you might make with that cross-sectional reference by using more of a longitudinal approach. Singular sources of data can lead to quick and false conclusions. Prevent your team from using single sources of data after the fact and look for trends at checkpoints along the way.
Consideration: Switch the target from singular outcome data points to trend and thematic analyses.
Dagger #4: Leadership matters. Turn data into action with leadership. As leaders, we have to model data usage using the first three daggers as our guide. We can’t expect others to think big, think differently, or uncover a trend if we don’t explicitly and consistently demonstrate that as the leader. Leadership also means handing over the data daggers to one or more of the team members who might be best suited for hitting the target. Let members of the team present their data stories using new data sources rather than doing all the data digging yourself. At the heart of great data conversations is a team of people working together to drive change. The leader can’t stand alone, drowning in all of the names and numbers.
Consideration: Switch the target from an individual approach to a teamwork approach by modeling the way.
We hope you find value in using these four data daggers for decision-making in your school or organization. Using data might be complex but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple and maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.
We value your comments, likes, and follows.
Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. New York: Little Brown and Company
Reflection: Using Models to Advance and Accelerate Your Organization’s #Growth
Models = Momentum ~John Green (DE Small Business Owner)
Reinforce Ideas through Models
As the old adage says, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Or what is often attributed to Napoleon, “a good sketch is better than a long speech.” Why? The reason is many people are visuals learners. Some research indicates that up to 65% of people learn visually[i]. Visual representations such as pictures, graphic organizers, and particularly our focus this month on MODELS, provide clear unambiguous depictions of the content being covered. Models have the ability to visually summarize, organize, and actually engage individuals. Ultimately, the real benefit, through the use of models, is that they allow abstract ideas, thoughts, and concepts to come together, which simply enhances our ability to understand something. As leaders, we use words like Vision, Goals, Mission, but are we certain they communicate what we want?
Consider the following quote: “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”
This is a powerful motivational message, but now consider the same quote embedded into a thoughtful picture of Lincoln. The quote is powerful, but the quote combined with the picture evokes emotion. Seeing Lincoln poised as a thinker allows us to imagine him creating the future in his mind. An organization’s vision and mission statements are no different. We need models to breath life into the basic print on paper. Creating a conceptual visualization of what we expect adds clarity, evokes action, and provides a meaningful resource.
Take a look at this basic model for maintaining the key elements for classroom walkthroughs, or for organizational leaders, management by walking around. This basic model might sit at the top of your school’s data collection tool just as a reminder of the three-step process for walkthroughs.
This funnel demonstrates the three key expectations of the walkthroughs, as well as the ultimate goal—improved practice. Spending time in the most important spaces of your organization, improves practices for both the observer and the observed.
75/25 Rule
Once you have an effective model, consider the 75/25 rule that we heard about in our interview with local small business owner John Green. Listen here. The premise of the rule is that the model the organization uses provides 75% of what should be done without deviation. The 75% houses the key processes, ideas, and vetted best practices. However, the remaining 25% allows for the individual to infuse their own vision and their own passion. Passion = Momentum.
75/25 also means that models allow people to work within frameworks that are understood, providing guidance, but still allowing for creativity. This is the heart of our most recent post whereby leaders provide the opportunity for workers to learn, grow, and succeed by developing self-efficacy. It is the leader’s responsibility to create an environment that nurtures growth and development and ultimately a belief that success is attainable.
TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple and maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.
Let us know if these strategies work for you.
[i]http://www.etown.edu/offices/learning/How_Your_Learning_Style_Affects_Your_Use_of_Mnemonics.aspx
More Resources for You
Grab a Copy of One of Our Books:
7 Mindshifts for School Leaders: Finding New Ways to Think About Old Problems. Order it Here
Retention for a Change is an Amazon Best Seller and our Latest Book: Order it Here
Passionate Leadership is an Amazon Best Seller. Click here to order today.
