The Three Questions

It is always about the little things.  When work gets complicated and confusion replaces collaboration, it is time to take away the complexity by remembering what is truly important—the people.  Strategic teams need people to work together through strategic plans developed according to commonly shared understandings in line with an organizations mission, vision, and values (MVV).  Building up the people who are part of any and every organization will ensure that the whole organization is working efficiently and effectively to achieve the goals of the company.  Zeeman (2017) states in his presentation of Senge’s Five Disciplines of Learning Organizations, people expand the capacity to create desired results (para. 2).

The three questions strategic leaders should always consider in decision-making are presented quite aptly in a picture book based on a story written by Leo Tolstoy (Muth, 2002):

1) Who is the most important one?         

2) What is the right thing to do?

3) When is the right time to do things?

If you wish to listen to the story, follow this link, The Three Questions, and someone will kindly read it to you.  Since most of my leadership skills are practiced within the classroom for now, a story with a transformative lesson is more relatable to my followers.

From the Inside Out – Developing Best Practices

Who is the most important one?

You never really know an organization’s true practices until you are on the inside.  One of the organizations in which I have been employed had an excellent initial interview process which was engaging and supportive while also objective.  Two former administrators conducted the interviews and made recommendations to the Human Resource (HR) department.  I was thrilled to work for an organization similar to the one I had to leave behind when I moved.  Galbraith (2014) states that organizations will often hire people of like mind-sets and skill sets that enhance the company (p. 53).  “Human resource policies are some of the most powerful culture builders” (Galbraith, 2014, p. 144), so choose wisely.

When is the right time to do things?

The identity of any educational institution is automatically public due to the service it provides to the surrounding community.  Integrity keeps the company in a positive light while inconsistent practice and forgetting our need to serve people well can create cracks in the veneer. Developing stability with flexibility is an intentional process with a need to stay consistent with the organizations own mission statement, vision, and values.

The past eight years has seen monumental shift in educational pedagogy attempting to prepare students for this digital age (BC New Curriculum).  Ungerer, Ungerer, and Herholdt (2016) mention that there are tectonic shifts happening in education due to digital transitions and which is creating immense disruptions (p. 277). Even educational organizations need to make timely changes to stay current as well as competitive; there are many diverse opportunities for education these days and customers are lost when reactions are too slow and cumbersome.  Public persona of the whole organization can also impact hiring practices when there is little to draw new staff to a district.

What is the right thing to do?

Creating an organizational culture requires intentional decision-making at every turn.  The power structure is weakened without diversity.  Since it is impossible to know everything with just the same people in the same positions for long periods of time, it is necessary to go outside the organization and gather new ideas (Ungerer et al., 2016, p. 286).  Galbraith (2014) says, “If growth creates complex strategies, it is diversity or variety, interdependence, and change that shape organizations” (p. 14).  Rotating leaders to share their strengths in different locations and facilitating best practice training for those who wish to innovate their practice is a wise investment of resources.  Investing in people is always the right thing to do.

Negatively Impacting Practices

One of the biggest negative impacts for my previous organization was the practice of hiring only “local” people to create a more unified front.  While Lepsinger (2010) supports developing the people you need internally, it is also critical to break the cycle of low expectations and low performance (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 56).  Since HR policies play such an enormous part of creating the behaviours and mind-sets that support the necessary changes, hiring practices must support the organization’s MVV (Galbraith, 2014, p. 144).

Working toward a common vision requires supporting and hiring people with divergent thinking to reinforce problem solving without creating bottle necks in the changes.  The Four Actions framework found in Navigating Strategic Possibilities is a good pattern for change-making decisions in a focused and purposeful manner (Ungerer et al., 2016, p. 296).  Trying to maintain the status quo through limited hiring caused slow adjustments to changing trends in that district.  Four suggestions to remediate some of the negative impacts are as follows:

1) Visible leaders who are encouraging and supportive.

• assume value in the people
• focus on what they do well
• make the unconscious good practice conscious (Lepsinger, 2010, pp.56-59).

2) Open access to real data.

• Make decisions based on real numbers
• Intentional use of metrics and measurements tied to the organizations MVV
• Increase accountability through SMART goals (Lepsinger, 2010, pp. 62-63).

3)  Equal and appropriate access to resources.

• Reduces competition
• Reinforces risk-taking for best practice
• Encourages collaboration and working in teams (Galbraith, 2014, p. 145).

4) Balance between autonomy and internal integrity

• Decisions on a common foundation to increase best practice
• Positive interactions for signs of growth and early corrective measures (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 61).

“Synergy is the interaction of multiple elements in a system to produce an effect different from or greater than the sum of the individual effects (Galbraith, 2014, p. 225).

Three Personal Responses to the Three Questions

Being one person who can affect change by investing in changing little practices and ways of conducting business may not seem powerful but the power of one is demonstrated very well (and mathematically proven!) through the story, Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed, by Emily Pearson.  This link should take you to a read-aloud of this book:  Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed 

 

What is the right thing to do?

• Share my knowledge, understandings and pedagogical practices with my colleagues when it can expedite their practice.
• Provide constructive feedback that is descriptive rather than evaluative, collaborative for solutions and balanced (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 65).
• Seek better methods to achieve success for more people.
  • This is tricky because we are all on our developmental journey as teachers
  • A balanced response which can build up my colleagues and encourage problem solving (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 57).

When is the right time to do things?

• In every conversation
  • Build others up, including my leader
  • Lead the Transformational Servant Leadership (TSL) way
  • Consider the effect on others.
• Learn to prioritize for efficacy
  • Have a plan and set goals (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 6)
  • Always focus on strengths and alignment with my personal MVV
  • SMART goals to use time well
• Only participate in confrontational matters when considering the other person’s growth
  • Avoid conflict on small matters
  • “How can I help?” thinking
  • Use time at work for work

Who is the most important one?

Practicing personal self-care for more effective work practices is important.  To make myself important at times, I need to:

• Take care of myself by limiting the extras I agree to help with in the never-ending work environment of helping people.
• Use mental health strategies to reduce the effects of caring and stay aligned with good practice.
• Focus on spiritual growth through scriptural principles which provides the strongest guidance, most consistent walk, and life-long growth.

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

– 1 Corinthians 10:31

References

Galbraith, J. R. (2014). Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit and enterprise levels (3^rd ed.).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Muth, J. (2002). The three questions.  New York, NY: Scholastic.  Retrieved from [October 22, 2018] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70m4KL3hYyc&t=40s

Pearson, E. (2002). Ordinary Mary’s extraordinary deed.  Retrieved from [October 22, 2018] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVSrz-5ps7g&t=73s

Ungerer, M., Ungerer, G., and Herholdt, J. (2016). Navigating strategic possibilities: Strategy formulation and execution practices to flourish. Randburg: KR Publishing.  Retrieved from http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2956/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE0MjcwMjhfX0FO0?sid=5fbd51a5-30a9-4409-a951-e9e184d6d557@pdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=1&format=EB

Zeeman, A. (2017). Senge’s Five Disciplines of Learning Organizations. Retrieved [October 13, 2018] from ToolsHero: https://www.toolshero.com/management/five-disciplines-learning-organizations/