The Questions We Aren’t Asking

“How are you?” “How is your day going?”  These used to be easy questions to answer, but now that the world is so much more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous than ever I’m struggling to answer the simplest of questions.  I can’t generalize how the day is going, for the last seven months I would be hard-pressed to categorize the days into “good” days or “bad” days.  In our house, we have good moments and bad moments.  I’m guessing I’m not alone. No matter what your current situation or circumstances, these are trying times. 

We have all been forced into situations that have pushed us outside our comfort zone and sometimes outside the zone of what we previously would have thought possible.  But the longer we spend in quarantine and virtual learning, the more I am starting to think about the future.  I am less interested in the immediate future and am turning my attention to what I hope the future will bring for learning and learners.   

I’m hearing a lot of focus on the immediate or near-term future.  

The questions we are asking…

• When can we bring students and teachers back to campus?

• How do we create safety for students?

• What procedures need to be put in place to adhere to CDC guidelines? 

• How do we support the social + emotional learning of students virtually? 

• How do we provide resources for all students to learn virtually? 

• When, how can we start athletic programs? After school enrichment programs? Bussing?

You get the idea.  The questions currently being asked will answer short term valid concerns but fail to look at long term changes and possibilities. I am in no way trying to minimize the work that is happening, trust me I want my own two kids back in school! But, I am starting to worry that we may miss the opportunity to ask bigger questions that need to be asked in order for the future to be different than school as we know it. 

The questions we aren’t asking…

• How do we erase the arbitrary lines between school & learning? 

• Are we focused on creating new or just digitizing past practices? 

• What does this give schools permission to stop forever?

• What new elements of “school” are working?

• Do we really want our schools to look the same post-COVID as they did pre-COVID?

• How might we embrace more flexibility in scheduling as we return to school? 

• How have our learners changed?  What about their expectations around school and learning? 

• What are parents” learning and experiencing with students at home and how is this shifting their view of school as we know it? 

• What assumptions are we making about learning and school?

This may be the perfect time to ask some really big questions before we just return to normal. What big questions are you asking?  I’d love to shift the conversation to designing a new future, one that embraces new models of learning in and out of the classroom.

What Bugs You? Opportunities Might Be Hiding in Your Biggest Annoyances

As you go through your day, you likely have annoyances.  We all do. What if you kept track of things that bug you?  The goal here isn’t to overly focus on the negative, but often times opportunities are hidden in these annoyances. Identifying a point of friction, when reframed, can be an incredible opportunity for a design thinker who is armed and ready to tackle problems. This is a strategy that works across all ages. As shared by Tom & David Kelley in Creative Confidence, adults and students alike can create and keep “Bug Lists” which is as simple as it sounds, a running list of things that “bug” you.  We have seen teachers create a “What Bugs You?” wall in their classrooms where students can place sticky notes or record the things that may be getting in their way of learning at school, then pull these ideas for design sprints, helping students see that within every problem, there lies an opportunity for innovation.

“Almost every annoyance, every point of friction, hides a design opportunity.  Instead of just complaining, ask yourself, “How might I improve this situation?”

— David Kelley, Author of Creative Confidence

Normally when utilizing design thinking we focus on designing for someone other than ourselves but this doesn’t mean you can’t apply the design thinking process and mindsets to take care of something that bugs you as well.  A 12-year old girl from Connecticut recently turned her hospital annoyance into a new solution that not only solved her problem but will also help other kids undergoing treatments. Ella, who has an autoimmune disease, started spending considerable amounts of time at the hospital for treatments starting at the age of seven and was frightened by the IV hanging bag and machine.  Instead of just accepting the annoyance for what it was, Ella had an idea to cover the IV bag with a teddy bear making the entire machine appear less scary. This idea has turned into the Medi-Teddy, an online business that Ella is now running in the hopes of helping other children have friendlier stays in the hospital. 

We could all take some inspiration from Ella and do something about our annoyances. The summer offers many opportunities to test out the “bug list” outside of your normal work routine, whether you are traveling or spending more time with family you are bound to find things that bug you.  Try creating your own “bug list” and see if you can’t find some opportunities hiding in your list. I’d love to hear what ends up on your bug list, share on twitter using #DT4EduLeaders.

Does Your School Have a Culture of Compliance or a Culture of Creativity?

One of the most difficult challenges in education is our posture toward the possible, which is directly tied to the type of culture that has been created over time in our schools. Take a minute and think about the culture of your school or district.  What one word might you use to describe it? Now think about the culture you want to create within your school or district. What one word might you use to describe the culture you want? If there is a gap between the culture you currently have and the culture you hope to have, take comfort in knowing that  (1) you aren’t alone and (2) there are intentional things you can do as the leader to start shifting your culture in the direction you want. Anything that has been designed, can be redesigned including your school’s culture. And while we have likely inherited a culture, the way we lead can have a drastic impact on the culture moving forward and permeate every aspect of our school or district.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to assess the current state of the culture of your school with a quick culture audit.  Where does your school fall on the continuum between having a compliant culture or a creative culture?

So how do you build a design inspired culture—an environment where the mindsets and practices of designers are shared and become the new normal?   Put most simply, culture is a way of thinking, behaving or working that exists in a place or organization. When we are trying to transform our schools, our culture can be a huge barrier to change.  I firmly believe that our imagination and posture towards possibility is bound by culture.

“The culture of school is radically at odds with the culture of learning necessary for innovation.”

— Tony Wagner, Harvard Professor

Like any work viewed through a design thinking lens, we begin with empathy.  Why? Empathy serves as a catalyst to transform your culture. The very definition of empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” It might sound very soft but empathy allows individuals to bring their experiences, their world views, their very lives into the workplace and create ideas for a better world. That same empathy allows their teammates to hear them, to see them, and to help them craft that vision. Without empathy, innovation is merely an empty idea. We cannot see our way to the future without our ability to see each other. If you are feeling the need to dive deeper into empathy work as you work to transform your culture check out “Putting the Human in Human-Centered Design.”  

Keep in mind that changing a culture isn’t something that happens overnight and it isn’t something that happens alone.  Getting clear on the culture you have and the culture you want is a fantastic first step!

Designing Experiences That Inspire & Delight

Ichi-go Ichi-e, which roughly translates to “one moment, one meeting in your life that will never happen again,” describes a cultural concept of treasuring meetings with people. The busyness we all feel is one of the reasons I so firmly believe that the way we in which we come together matters—it determines how successful we can be as a group and also creates a foundation for relationships that can be nurtured outside of organized experiences. How might we stop and appreciate the opportunities we have to interact with one another?   

Think of all the moments you experience each day. Some are thought out, but many “just happen.” Which experiences do you remember?  What if we intentionally crafted, both large and small moments and experiences for those we lead? YOU have the power to create incredible experiences by learning to be an experience architect.  Whether you choose to use these strategies to redesign a staff meeting or craft a critical conversation, the skills of an Experience Architect will shift how you approach planning any experience.

“A mind that has been stretched by a new experience can never go back to its original dimensions.”

— Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Four elements to keep in mind when embracing your role as an “Experience Architect”

1. Planning for the Big 3: Who? Why? Constraints? So many of the experiences we participate in become routine and we forget to really think about the building blocks of the experience.  Who are you creating for, why does the experience need to exisit and what are your constraints? See if you can turn your constraints into your advantage and design around them.  

2. Break with the Norm When it comes to experience design, routine is the enemy of creating great experiences.  As Tania Luna shared in Surprise, “ We feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they’re not.”  The most memorable times of our lives tend to be when we have experienced something new, different or novel.  Businesses that are memorable also break with the Norm. If you’ve ever flown Southwest airlines they break with the norm by telling funny jokes during their safety announcements “Ladies & gentlemen, if you wish to smoke ,the smoking section on this plane is on the wing and if you can light’ em, you can smoke ‘em.”  How might you break the norm of the experience you are creating?

3. Set the Stage  This may seem trivial or an afterthought, but looking at your space and taking the time to “set the stage” can change the experience. Research suggests you only have seven seconds to make a first impression.  While this research is focused on introductions to new people, I believe it holds true to experieces as well. Think about it. Within seconds of walking into a room, you not only get a feeling about the time you’ll be spending there, you also know what type of role you will play.  Does the room invite you to engage with others or compel you to sit in the back row with your eyes glued to your smartphone? Take a quick inventory of your experience space. What does it communicate? Are you happy with the message being sent? If not, what can you do to change the message?  Consider playing music to build energy or calm the room. Think about your seating arrangements. How will participants engage with each other? Details matter.

4. The Fun Factor  There should be joy in our work at schools, yes even at meetings. When designing an experience, consider the element of fun. I know some work is serious business, but even serious businesses like banking are looking to incorporate fun into their experiences. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always think “fun” when I think of banking. Metro Bank in the UK is challenging that thinking. Their new tagline is  “Banking, But Better.” They have completely reimagined the banking experience and all of their branches have a Magic Money Machine that counts coins in the lobby. How can you add a fun or interesting twist to the work you are doing?

   Redesigning experiences doesn’t have to take a ton of time but the difference between a good experience and a great experience is the intentionality in the design. Here’s an “Experience Design Planning Template” that can speed up your planning process.  You too can design experiences that inspire and delight others! I’d love to hear about any experience you redesign. Share in the comments below or on social media using #Dt4EduLeaders

Pop Your Bubble! How Might We Seek Out New Perspectives?

Our family strives to have dinner together every night but with varying work schedules, travel schedules, sporting games, & practices, sometimes nightly families dinners become more of a wish than a reality  As my boys have gotten older, our breakfast time has become more important, travel aside, it is the one time we are all together. It’s not uncommon for us to have the morning news on in the background and I love the conversations we have as a result.  Not too long ago, we had the news on when the entire morning news cycle was consumed by Comey’s testimony. Political beliefs aside, I have been & continue to be appalled by (& apparently outspoken about) the actions of our current President. As we sat and watched the morning headlines, I overheard the comments my boys were making and realized how much they were repeating information they had absorbed from me!  My husband, a Brit but also a US Citizen, has always been able to take a more middle of the road approach when talking to our kids about politics. “No, we may not like the actions of our president, but he still deserves our respect, etc” He is quick to point out multiple perspectives and provides the counterbalance to my vocal opinions. In fact, recently he called me out on how one-sided my views were and he was right. Guilty, as charged.

But, I’m not alone.  It turns out our world is becoming more and more siloed into our beliefs, ideas and perspectives and not just about politics.  So much so, that The Kind Foundation launched a social media experiment in 2017 that challenged Americans to add different perspectives to their social media feeds after learning that only 5% of what people see in their news feed differs from their own personal opinions.  5%!  I found that number to be shocking, especially because I consider myself to be so open-minded and accepting.  I guess it shouldn’t be so surprising given that our natural tendency as humans is to surround ourselves with like-minded people and ideas.

Unlike common social media algorithms, the Pop Your Bubble “anti-algorithm” scanned a user’s profile and actively found other users whose profile was LEAST like theirs.  Specifically, it matched users with those who had different demographics such as geographic location, age, and political affiliations. As a part of the campaign, users were encouraged to follow at least 10 new people whose posts would then appear into their daily feed.

Official results of their study haven’t been released, but the data the KIND Foundation has shared is pretty incredible.  In the first two weeks of the campaign, Pop Your Bubble resulted in more than 140 million earned media impressions. But more importantly, within the first two weeks of the campaign, users established over 40,000 new relationships furthering the KIND Foundation’s message to connect people from all walks of life, one conversation, and encounter at a time.  While the Pop Your Bubble campaign is no longer active, The Kind Foundation continues to offer advice on how to get outside of your bubble. Advice that is so relevant to the work we do in education.  

In a time where our world is becoming even more polarized, I LOVE that ASCD is challenging us to seek out new perspectives at this year’s #Empower19 conference in Chicago.  What might you need to do differently to “pop your bubble?” I don't know about you but I am accepting this challenge head-on and am excited to encounter new people, ideas and perspectives that will shape my thinking ultimately making me a better leader.  I am heading to Chicago ready to meet new people, build new relationships and have new conversations! I hope to see you there,

Alyssa