Overcoming the knowing-doing gap

The flush of new year is now beginning to wear off. New year resolutions (which seemed so right with a glass of red!) now seem to have lost some of their lustre and attractiveness. Left is the uncomfortable feeling that change and achieving goals requires effort and (often) sacrifice.

The same can be said as we begin another year in the world of education. The beginning of the year is a time to re-focus on those things we wish to change and our goals for the year. Our lists can range from simple to complex. From personal to professional. From organisation to team-wide. But how do we ensure they are not just another set of new year resolutions? How can we ensure they get past knowing and into doing?

Pfeffer and Sutton provide some good advice for us in their book The Knowing-Doing Gap. Pfeffer and Sutton describe a range of reasons as to why organisations often under-deliver, or fail to achieve their stated goals. A central premise of the book is that 'there are fewer and smaller differences in what we know than in our ability to act on that knowledge.' i.e. we struggle to transform the wealth of available information outlining what we should do into productive action. 

And at the end of the book the authors offer eight guidelines for action. These guidelines build on the experience of companies which have successfully turned their knowledge into action. I have picked up on four of these which I consider useful 'thought-provokers' for the new year:

1.    Why before how: philosophy is important – successful organisations understand that their people are their greatest asset. As such, they invest time helping these people understand not only what, but why they are doing what they are doing. They embody these understandings in a set of shared principles, guidelines, or values. The best organisations or teams I have been or worked in have taken the time to develop and communicate shared values and direction.

2.    Action counts more than elegant plans and concepts – ‘ready, fire, aim!’ Momentum is critical to success. Small actions informed by evidence and followed by adjustment often lead to change faster than getting stuck in the ‘paralysis by analysis’. Providing an environment where team members can share practical learning and results supports an action focussed culture.

3.    Fear fosters knowing-doing gaps, so drive out fear – there is no learning without mistakes. A culture of rapid improvement requires leaders who encourage risk-taking and avoid a culture of blame and punishment. 'Ako' is a Māori word that describes the state of being a reciprocal learner / inquirer and describes the kind of approach we need as educators if we are going to address some of educations most persistent and resistant problems.

4.    Measure what matters and what can help turn knowledge into action - “The foundation of any successfully run business is a strategy everyone understands coupled with a few key measurements that are routinely tracked.” (Brenneman) 

      As educators we are in the business of human potential. If we are successful our business will provide a secure foundation from which the next generation can step / surge into the future. 

      As leaders we need to consider our role in closing the knowing-doing gap. Others in the organisation will take their lead from what we do, where we spend our time, how we respond to failure, and what is important to us.

      So all the best for the new year. May it be one in which our actions speak louder than our words. 

the three laws of performance

Transformation in education will require some new ways of doing things. We will need to be open to looking at old problems in new ways.

An old Sufi parable (told by Zaffron and Logan in their book 'the three laws of performance') describes a man searching for his keys one night. A friend of his arrives to find him on his knees under a streetlamp. The friend joins him and starts searching. After a while the friend turns to the man and asks him where exactly he dropped the keys. The man points into the darkness and responds "over there". To which the friend asks why he is searching here. "Because this is where the light is."

This certainly rang a few bells for me. How much time do we spend searching for new solutions in the same old places? Hoping that we will get to a new place while walking the well trod path?

The three laws of performance sheds some light on how we can address some of the old leadership challenges in new ways. In particular it suggests that we (as individuals and organisations) get tied up in 'language knots' that need to resolved and replaced with future based or generative language. The three laws are:

1. How people perform correlates to how situations occur to them

2. How a situation occurs arises in language

3. Future-based language transforms how situations occur to people

According to Zaffron and Logan the challenge for leaders is to listen for what is not being said. To be willing to explore the 'unsaid'. In this way you shed light on areas often left in the dark. Organisational blind-spots.

It also provides leaders with a framework for thinking about their own or their teams performance. Taking the time to consider how the team is perceiving situations becomes time well spent, as does listening to the type of language that is being used. Is the team stuck in descriptive language of how things 'have always been around here', or is future based language transforming perceptions and releasing hope and motivation?

Why is this important? 

Because as leaders we are only as good as our teams. And our teams deserve work-places that draw out the best from them in order to give the best to our young people.

So.... how are you using words to shape your organisation's future?

Using your brain

"Use your brain!"I do recall my Dad giving me this instruction on the odd occasion (usually the message being that I was not!) However, the difficulty (as with many other things in life) is that the brain does not come with an instruction manual. It does not have a help menu that you can search, or an 'Idiots Guide' that helps you solve your latest problem quickly and efficiently. Rather, you find yourself drawing upon a series of strategies that you have imported from youth, which may or may not be relevant to the problem at hand.

But things have changed.

Last week I attended the ULearn conference. During the conference I listened to Mark Treadwell who was speaking on brain research and the light it sheds upon teaching and learning. It was fascinating to learn about our different memory systems and how they interact together.

But what captured me the most was Mark's notion of a conceptual curriculum. A curriculum that focusses upon the 'big ideas'. One that builds on the way the brain works and is explicit in supporting learners in understanding and applying these big ideas across a range of contexts using relevant and engaging content. A curriculum that has the potential to accelerate students learning, and support enhanced self-regulation, engagement and creativity.

The Ministry of Education is doing something similar. It is developing a series of Secondary Teacher and Learning Guides. These guides are / have been developed by experienced teachers and subject experts. They have been written to support teachers to develop quality teaching and learning programmes at levels 6 - 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum. An important part of these guides is pulling together the 'big ideas' or key concepts of each subject area. A great example of this is the key concepts for physics.

So why should leaders be interested in brain research? My reason is simple. We need to accelerate the progress and achievement of our young people. And particularly those who have consistently struggled in our classrooms.  Such acceleration will require innovative ways of teaching and learning drawing upon the best evidence and research available to us. Brain research provides a potentially 'rich vein' of knowledge for achieving these ambitious goals. Organising knowledge around concepts (rather than disconnected facts) appears to be another high potential area for further exploration.

P.S. Turns out there IS an idiots guide to the brain!!

Artist's rendering of neurons. (Credit: iStockphoto)

sciencentechnologyupdates.com

Leaders matter

There is no doubt in my mind that leaders matter. 


They matter to the organisation they are in, to the people they serve, to the goals they are seeking to achieve. And while this may be a 'truism' at a general level, there is clear evidence that this is true in schools. Schools need leaders (both those in formal and informal roles), and schools with good leaders are better places for our young people. In fact, certain leadership practices have been linked to better outcomes for young people from all backgrounds.


For leaders to be effective they require access to a toolkit of understandings, skills, resources and supports that is fit for the context they are leading in. Many of these 'tools' are carried in leaders heads, or are on the end of the phone, or on their bookshelves, or a part of their online support network. But one of the greatest of these tools (if you can call it that) that leaders have at their disposal are the relationships they are able to form with those around them. These relationships form the 'glue' that takes them through the good and the bad, the times when things are going smoothly, and when they are not.


The Leadership Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) written by Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd call this aspect of leadership relational trust (see chapter 8). Relational trust can be strengthened or weakened. Gained or lost. And the effects of high or low trust have a real impact on teacher and community engagement / motivation, and ultimately students' academic outcomes. The BES delves into the qualities and leadership practices required to strengthen relational trust. But it is no surprise that the integrity, competence and skills such as listening and problem solving of leaders are critical. The diagram below comes from the BES and illustrates how relational trust works.

I believe in leaders and the important role they play. 


We need to find better ways to support our leaders and the changes they are seeking to lead for the good of our young people. We also need to find ways of better spreading ideas and innovations that are taking place in our schools. In this way our leaders will have access to an even broader toolkit to foster learning environments focussed on growing the confident and connected students we all seek.