Fun Theory: The Troll in the Library Return Box

It’s summer.  We are visiting the library a lot more than we normally do during the school year which is fantastic, except for the returning of the library books.  My boys have excitement when it comes to selecting books, taking them home and reading them, but no one ever wants to engage in the process of returning the library books.  That all changed one afternoon when we experienced a “living troll” in the library return box. Whoever was working behind the library desk that day, decided to have a little fun.  Every time a book came down the chute, he either made a funny sound or comment— “Ouch that hurt.” “Hey, I’m trying to sleep in here.” “What do you think you are doing?” These comments had my boys doubled over laughing.  They called me over, “Mommy there’s a troll living in the library box.” Another book down the chute, another funny comment. Who knew returning library books could be so much fun?

Now my boys fight over who gets to return the library books and even though we’ve only ever encountered our “library troll” once, there is always the chance he might return.  Even if he never returns, the simple memory makes this chore more fun for us all!

This experience got me thinking about how a little novelty and fun goes a long ways. Our library troll became the topic of our dinner conversation. The boys have surely told everyone they know about their experience.  I was intrigued by this so much that I did a little research and it turns out Volkswagen developed what they called the “Fun Theory” back in 2009. It’s really a simple concept. The idea is “if things are more fun, they are better.”  If you are given two identical activities, all things being equal but one of the activities was more fun which would be preferred? Naturally the one that was more fun. If this is the case, then it begs the question “Why aren’t we trying to make everything more fun?”  

Volkswagen went on to test their “fun theory” to see if they could change human behavior simply by making the behavior they wanted to engage people in more fun.  Here are two examples of their fun theory tests:

• Can we get more people to take the stairs than the elevator?  (Musical Stairs Video)  
• Can we get more people to throw away trash by making it fun? (World’s Deepest Trash Can Video)

Is there something you want to encourage students, teachers or even parents to do? How might you make it more fun?  I’m committing to bringing more fun to my work and I hope you will too. I would love to hear if you have any success with the “Fun Theory.”

What if...? Host a Thoughtful Brainstorming Meeting

Those two little words are quite possibly my favorite two words when combined because together they have so much power.  To me, the utterance of these two words opens up a world of possibilities and signifies that the person using them doesn’t have all of the answers.  They are open to exploring ideas. One person asking, “What if..?” is intriguing, a collective group of thought leaders within an organization asking, “What if...?” is powerful.

Last week during the ASCD Webinar on the Intersection of Design Thinking and Leadership, we talked about facilitating a “What if?” conversation with your team.  Gauging by the webinar chat and follow-up emails, there is a lot of interest in facilitating this type of conversation but also lots of questions.  Let me share both my experience facilitating a “What if” conversation and some practical how-to advice.

One of the first intentional “What if..?” conversations I facilitated while I was working as the Assistant Superintendent in the Los Altos School District.  We invited a group of twenty administrators, teachers, parents and board members to spend ninety minutes focused on brainstorming ideas that could improve learning for all students.   We structured this conversation to fall in line with our “Educational Blueprint,” part of our strategic planning process, where we celebrate accomplishments towards our five years goals and set short-term objectives.  So while the process of strategically planning for the future wasn’t a new concept in this district, the format of this meeting was different than what our group was accustomed to.

The outcomes from our ninety minutes together were truly exciting.  In less than two hours, we brainstormed over 300 ideas that we believed would improve student learning for all students in the district and then focused in on 50 of those ideas warranted further investigation and exploration.  A range of ideas were generated that surprisingly fell into natural groupings around concepts such as student-centered learning, skills/content, grades/assessments, class size/groupings of students, community partnerships, instructional day, facilities and instructional approaches.  I recognize that idea generation is only the first step, but it is truly an important one in developing the vision for the future of student learning.

Looking back, I am proud to share that our team realized much of what our group dreamt up - a flexible professional learning space for teachers, support for teachers in rethinking instruction, instructional coaches and increased professional learning opportunities.  Would any of this have happened if we weren’t actively engaging in “What if...?” conversations?

“
If you don’t know what you would do if you could do whatever you wanted, then how on earth can you know what you would do under constraints?
”

— Russell Ackoff

When was the last time you had a “What if..?” conversation?  Maybe it is time to structure one for your team, your classroom, or even your family.  If you are ready to jump into a “What if...?” conversation, I encourage you to spend some time on the front end planning the facilitation of the conversation.  An effective hour-long brainstorming conversation easily takes a few hours of pre-work to ensure you will get the very best of your team. Here is a list of suggestions, largely taken from the work of Tina Seeling, author of inGenius (which has a fabulous chapter on how to host brainstorming meetings):

• Ensure every participant understands their role.  While the perspective of every participant is valued, it was important for us to clarify their role and set accurate expectations.  Those in the brainstorming session would not necessarily be the ones making the decisions.

• Get the group warmed up prior to brainstorming. We used a combine & connect activity called “Two Buckets”  One bucket had a list of name brands, the other bucket had a list of product categories.  Participants selected cards and paired up. Their challenge? Create a new product with the information they were given and design a slogan using six words or less.  This is a quick activity that requires all participants to loosen up and begin exploring new ideas. One of our teams developed a “Harley Davidson Car Seat” with the slogan “Ride Safe in Style.”

• Establish & review brainstorming rules.  Here are a few to get you started.

  • reiterate that THERE ARE NO BAD IDEAS

  • do not evaluate ideas as they come but include everything

  • encourage wild and crazy ideas

  • defer judgment and push beyond obvious solutions

  • build on the ideas of others with a simple, "Yes, and..."

• Encourage flare!  Prepare questions that can be used to spur new ideas. The questions are essential because the way you ask the question will frame all of the solutions. Below are a few sample questions we used:

1. What if we could create a school guided by the best instructional, innovative, & creative practices available? What would that look like?  
2. If money was no object, what instructional practices would we want to see implemented across the grades/school sites?
3. If we had the opportunity to visit a school in the year 2118, what would it look like?  
4. If we wanted to prepare a student to be the individual that cures cancer/solves world hunger/eliminates global warming, what skills would he/she need to learn and what would their educational program look like, K-8?  
5. What kind of educational program would students create, if given the chance? How could we build in student choice throughout the instructional day?

• Be prepared for when people feel stuck!  Sadly we aren't accustomed to being allowed to dream big in education.  It is natural for people to feel stuck after 30 minutes, encourage them to push through.  Switch up the groups if needed.  Throw out some wild prompts. Encourage people to throw out their worst idea.  Usually, the first hundred ideas we come up with aren't very interesting, and yet we stop generating way before we stumble on anything interesting.
• Spend time narrowing the focus to provide closure. After brainstorming in small groups, we asked every participant to place a red circle next to idea with the biggest impact; a blue circle next to the “Pie in the Sky” idea,  a yellow circle next to quickly implemented ideas or the low hanging fruit; & a green circle next to ideas that are the most cost-effective. This allowed every participant to have a say in highlighting their favorite idea.

I encourage you to take the opportunity to engage in thoughtful brainstorming with colleagues, family, friends, and students.  The possibilities are endless. “What if...?” I'd love to hear what your team dreams up.

3 Phrases That Will Change How You Lead

Changing how we lead isn’t always easy, in fact changing behavior can be downright difficult.  We have to consciously work to shift behaviors that may have been ingrained over time. We’ve practiced behaviors that may come naturally but we have to ask ourselves is it really working? Our schools desperately need leaders who are willing to change and seek out new opportunities.  

As I spend time with educators, I have become more aware of the ingrained language we collectively use in education.  Language has power. Too often I hear the same words or phrases used by leaders that indicate a culture of powerlessness or that unintentionally supports the status quo.  Here are just a few common responses I hear to new ideas or opportunities: Great idea, but we don’t have the time (or money, or staff). We’ve never done it that way. We have too much on our plate right now. Let’s form a committee to talk more about it.  ALL of these responses have become habitual and actually shut down possibility and opportunity before they even have a fighting chance.  

If you want to start seeing potential where others see problems, try shifting from a language of status quo to a language of possibility.   Practice incorporating the following three phrases to change your pattern of thinking into your daily work and I think you’ll be surprised with how these subtle shifts can open up new opportunities for the team and organization you lead.

1. Yes, and…  Creativity is fueled by the uplifting words and actions of others. When faced with a new idea it can be tempting to offer a “yes, but..” pointing out reasons why it may not work. Instead try to build on the idea, but adding a “yes, and..”  Focus on taking someone’s idea and making it bigger. “Yes, and….promotes a positive dialogue whereas “yes, but . . . ,” shuts down the conversation.

2. How might we…?  These three words are  powerful because the “how” implies there is not yet an answer and there is room for discovery, the “might” implies there is a world of possibility, and the “we” implies we are in this together. “How might we . . . ?” becomes an irresistible invitation to the work. Once people accept your invitation, you can continually nudge them further.

3. What if…?  These two little words are quite possibly my favorite two words when combined, because together they have so much power. The utterance of these two words opens up a world of possibilities and signifies that the person asking them doesn’t have all the answers. They are open to exploring new ideas. One person asking, “What if . . . ?” is intriguing, and a collective group of thought leaders or educators within an organization asking, “What if . . . ?” is powerful.

What are some ways you might incorporate these phrases into your work? What are some habits in your language that maybe blocking what you need to change? I’d love to hear about the new possibilities and opportunities that shifting your language can create.

When Was the Last Time You Were Bored?

“When was the last time you were bored?” was the question posed by Manoush Zomorodi, author of Bored and Brilliant, host of @Notetoself, during a session at SXSWedu earlier this month.  The question stumped me. The last time I was bored?  I’m a working mom of two elementary school kids currently launching my first book who also volunteers to run our school’s foundation.  Who has time to be bored? I can’t remember being bored since at least 2008. Who cares?  And yet, the question lingered and nagged at me long after Manoush’s session.  On the flight home, other questions started flooding my mind. When had life become so busy? Was I wearing busy as a badge of honor?  How much did my phone and all the apps, dings, texts and notifications contribute to my business? Was any of it necessary? And worse, what was I teaching my kids by living such a busy life largely dictated by my phone?

In Bored and Brilliant, Manoush shares incredible research about how our smartphones are not only taking control of our lives but are actually reshaping our brains.  She offers seven challenges to help you establish a baseline for your habits and clear some of the noise to create the space for boredom.  Was I ready to take on the challenge?

“When you pay attention to boredom, it gets unbelievably interesting.”

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as we were headed to Mexico for five days.  Sharing what I learned with my family, I committed to really disconnecting for our vacation.  No facebook, Instagram, Twitter or email. I was ready to turn it all off. When I told my boys, they cheered (and I knew they would hold me accountable!)  We all agreed our goal was to get bored and it was the best thing we have done as a family in a long time. Our days were filled with sandcastles, ice cream cones, and naps in hammocks.  I felt so happy watching Owen, my seven-year-old, laying by the side of the pool watching a line of ants do their thing. It was then that I decided I wanted more of this and I was capable of making it happen at home as well.  

Vacations end all too quickly and life resumes with all the daily challenges.  While life isn’t as slow as it was on vacation, we have managed to slow it down.  Getting bored is now an option at our house. We are creating space for thinking, creativity, and downtime that we hadn’t done before.  Thank you Manoush, for reminding me that I am in control of when my phone gets to interrupt my life and I don’t need all those notifications all the time.  Thank you for helping me see how important my habits are in setting the tone for those around me. It will be an ongoing journey for sure, but given the choice, I’ll choose the boredom badge over the busy badge anytime!

When was the last time you were bored?