How do you avoid distraction from the thing that matters?
How do you stop your team being pulled off to the latest disruptive thing, and keep going with finishing what you started?
Back in April 2020, I wrote the first of our “Provocation” newsletters, at the start of the pandemic lockdowns. At the time, people were talking about how school and life, in general, would never be the same thanks to the new habits of learning and working at home, increased opportunities for students to take more ownership of their learning, and the questionable value of qualifications of old. Universities designed new and better ways to triage and accept students.
None of that thinking has lasted.
In April 2020 I wrote this:
“What history shows us is that, in spite of massive turbulence, old habits really do die hard. The chances of revolutionising education or “smart working” in the mourning period of this crisis are slim. We’ll build new habits over the next 90 days — that’s what it takes to build a habit. But we also know it takes just days to break them.
“That’s why it’s so important that leaders don’t panic, don’t rush to name the revolution that won’t happen, but instead set up a large chunk of their workforce to do what they could have done at any time in the past ten years: ask how they might work, think, learn or play differently, to achieve more, be happier and choose the way they live.”
Schools need to operate on three levels most of the time.
Level 1 is maintaining and reinforcing the basic habits, systems and capabilities that lead to a consistently reasonable learning experience for everyone. The thinking in this work is at the back of people’s minds, because most of it is built on practice, routine and habits.
Level 2 is having a bold ambition that everyone is pulling towards. It’s the singular focus that’s at the front of their minds.
Level 3 is work undertaken by that small, quiet group in the corner, the ones who have a feverish interest in what’s emerging, thinking about how it could be useful, writing off what’s useless and planning how to seize the opportunities that could be great for everyone. The R&D group. The working party.
Their work has to be quiet so as not to distract the crowd from their focus on Level 2.
But the work in Level 3 is what informs the next bold ambition once everyone has arrived at Level 2.
What’s the work you’ve got going on at each level? You can have as many things as you like in Level 1 as long as they’re all routine, ticking along like clockwork. You can have one thing on Level 2. And Level 3 is a bountiful place, defined only by the amount of talent on your team.
If you’re interested in how to get your Middle Leaders engaging more with Level 2 type work, then consider adding them to Leading from the Middle, starting this month. Places are running out so move now: https://learn.notosh.com/leading_from_the_middle
