Never Waste a Crisis

 

"Reality is the leading cause of stress for those that are in touch with it."

    - Jane Wagner

Unplanned Innovation 

 If you have worked in public education in Arkansas for more than 15 minutes, you have probably noticed that we don't PLAN innovation nearly as often as we stumble into it while trying to survive something else.

Inclement weather?  Innovation.

Pandemic?  Innovation (whether we liked or agreed with it or not).

System altering legislation rammed through in record time?  Innovation.

Internet goes down during state testing?  Not innovation...but definitely character revealing.

  The title of this post is often attributed to Winston Churchill, "Never let a good crisis go to waste".  While he was not thinking about bus routes, school finance, or school scheduling when he made the statement, it is a little too 'on the nose' for Arkansas public schools.  

  If we are being honest, some of our best ideas didn't come from a 5-year strategic plan.  They came from moments when we looked around and said the following:

"Well, this isn't working. How do we address it?"

"The rules have changed.  How do we make the new rules work for us?"

and the simple, but powerful - "WHAT?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?"

Crisis:  The Extremely Unpopular PD

 No one signs up for a crisis.  There is no breakout session at the summer AAEA conference titled: "When it All Hits the Fan: Fueling Growth with Mild Panic".  (Although, if there were, it would be standing room only.  Maybe I will write that book and sell it to Solution Tree.)

 Crises have a way of stripping things down to what actually matters. During difficult moments, we get very clear, very quickly:

• What truly impacts student learning and student outcomes
• Which systems are actually beneficial, and which are just...there
• Who steps up (usually teachers and support staff)
• What we can change when we really have to.

We distill what we do down to what is actually essential, and discard the minutia we THOUGHT was important just a few moments prior.  Urgency is an amazing accountability partner.  

Innovation:  "We Had to Try SOMETHING"

Our understanding of the word 'innovation' often comes from fallacious thinking.  It is not a mystical mental trait reserved only for geniuses.  It is often described with words like future-ready, forward thinking, transformative, and cutting edge.  In reality, WE do not change.  The world, the job, and our immediate environment change around us and we have to adapt.  So, innovation usually looks like:

"We tried something different because the old way wasn't an option."

That's it.  No dramatic music.  No TED talk or profound statement.  Just a group of educators trying to solve a problem that is facing them in the moment.  Think about what schools have had to do the past few years:

• Teachers learned to deliver instruction in ways they were not trained for.
• Schools reimagined schedules, interventions, communication, and food service
• Inconsistent expectations of collaboration with colleagues
• The technology pendulum continually swings back and forth. It goes from a luxury - to essential - to a distraction - to a need and so on.

Was it perfect?  No. Was it innovative? Absolutely.

What We Learn (If We're Paying Attention):  Pressure is Good

Here is where Dr. Alvis makes folks uncomfortable:

Schools are full of good ideas that never happen....because nothing is FORCING them to happen.

Then a crisis shows up like an uninvited state department representative and says:

"You've got 48 hours...aaannnnd GO!"

Suddenly:

• Meetings get quicker and more to the point
• Timetable for decisions are so small they don't allow for overthinking
• More meaningful collaboration with peers
• The mindset of "we have always done it this way" exits the building. It either exits quietly or it gets drug out like an unruly parent after a bad holding call on their child's 70 yard touchdown run.

It is truly remarkable what becomes possible when the only other choice is failure.

The real value of a crisis isn't just getting through it, it is learning from it.  Our tendency is to rush back to "normal" when things stabilize.  Much like a child who almost falls off the trampoline, gets scared, and runs back into the comforting arms of mom.  However, "normal" was the reason we were unprepared in the first place.  Instead, we should be asking:

• What worked better than expected?
• What did we do more efficiently?
• What obstacles disappeared when we stopped overthinking?  
• What did students and staff actually respond positively to?

In other words:  What do we keep?

No one wants more crises.  We have had enough of those.  But there are things worth keeping:

• Urgency
• Creativity
• Willingness to try something new
• The renewed confidence in our capability and efficacy

We don't need a crisis to innovate. If we can harness even a fraction of that crisis energy on a Tuesday in October, we will find ourselves doing some of the best work of our career.  Preferably with fully functioning internet.