Learning Environments Action Research Network (LEARN)
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Iterative Review Process

In this episode David Vroonland, Executive Director of L.E.A.R.N, speaks with Mark Gerner, CEO of RADAND, about how districts, through an iterative review process, can better manage rapid change and those “big right and big left turns” they often have to navigate.

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1 00:00:02,540 --> 00:00:04,740 I want to welcome our audience to this 2 00:00:04,740 --> 00:00:06,899 learned podcast it is in these podcasts 3 00:00:06,899 --> 00:00:08,460 to learn what you to meet experts that 4 00:00:08,460 --> 00:00:09,840 can help you and your work as school 5 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:11,280 leaders suppress Partners in the 6 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:12,719 education landscape 7 00:00:12,719 --> 00:00:15,000 the topic for this podcast is iterative 8 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,980 review process and our guest is Mark 9 00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:20,100 gerner CEO of ratan on the learn website 10 00:00:20,100 --> 00:00:21,960 you will find on the research page under 11 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,660 the Coe of innovation and the element of 12 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:26,699 iterative review process research in 13 00:00:26,699 --> 00:00:28,619 this area being discussed along with 14 00:00:28,619 --> 00:00:30,840 potential resources to access 15 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,579 Mark I want to welcome you to the learn 16 00:00:32,579 --> 00:00:34,559 podcast it's good to have you here to 17 00:00:34,559 --> 00:00:36,239 speak with us about this important topic 18 00:00:36,239 --> 00:00:38,040 now I know you have an extensive 19 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:39,540 research and work background in the area 20 00:00:39,540 --> 00:00:42,000 of iterative review process with a 21 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,700 special focus on design thinking would 22 00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:46,079 you please share with the audience some 23 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:48,120 of that background and experience you 24 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,520 bet thank thanks Dave for having me uh 25 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:52,440 on your podcast 26 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,600 um so rad and is a design thinking firm 27 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,140 and we work with a very wide range of 28 00:00:58,140 --> 00:01:00,780 clients much of them are many of them 29 00:01:00,780 --> 00:01:03,300 are Tech clients who are in the middle 30 00:01:03,300 --> 00:01:05,700 of what we call replexity Rapid 31 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:09,600 complexity very fast change uh and we 32 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,380 have developed an approach that allows 33 00:01:12,380 --> 00:01:15,420 organizations to implement change in 34 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:18,540 iterative ways but stay focused on their 35 00:01:18,540 --> 00:01:21,180 end goals so when we talk about design 36 00:01:21,180 --> 00:01:23,340 thinking we talk about starting at the 37 00:01:23,340 --> 00:01:25,380 end which is the outcome that we want 38 00:01:25,380 --> 00:01:27,900 and working our way backwards in our 39 00:01:27,900 --> 00:01:30,600 design and then moving forward one step 40 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:32,580 at a time in our planning and 41 00:01:32,580 --> 00:01:35,820 implementation well and Rad Rad and is a 42 00:01:35,820 --> 00:01:38,220 relatively new Organization for you but 43 00:01:38,220 --> 00:01:39,840 the work you've been doing is not new 44 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,220 how long have you been doing this kind 45 00:01:41,220 --> 00:01:42,119 of work 46 00:01:42,119 --> 00:01:44,700 uh most of my life I have a very 47 00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:47,520 eclectic background I uh started out a 48 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,920 life as a brand manager excuse me a 49 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,140 marketing in international marketing and 50 00:01:52,140 --> 00:01:54,180 I moved from there and for about 10 51 00:01:54,180 --> 00:01:56,880 years I ran software firms and after 52 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,860 that I had a friend who did educational 53 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:01,079 architecture who asked me to come run 54 00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:04,020 one of his offices uh for a year and I 55 00:02:04,020 --> 00:02:05,820 did that and fell in love with the 56 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:07,439 design process and architecture 57 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:09,440 especially as it applies to education 58 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,959 but the fact is I've worked with 59 00:02:11,959 --> 00:02:14,580 Industries uh that are all over the map 60 00:02:14,580 --> 00:02:17,040 from Healthcare to architecture to high 61 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,860 tech and what you began to see when you 62 00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:21,480 work with a myriad of clients like that 63 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:23,520 are patterns that transcend the 64 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,800 differences of each industry and are 65 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,080 more tied to human behavior and how we 66 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,959 actually make things happen so what rad 67 00:02:30,959 --> 00:02:33,720 and is about is this culmination of 68 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,459 learning how different kinds of 69 00:02:35,459 --> 00:02:37,940 organizations have implemented change 70 00:02:37,940 --> 00:02:40,379 successfully and the kind of thinking 71 00:02:40,379 --> 00:02:42,200 that that takes and then we help 72 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,780 organizations right now what the past 73 00:02:45,780 --> 00:02:49,040 five years has been primarily Tech firms 74 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,200 who are well-funded startups move into 75 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,140 the marketplace in a very expansive way 76 00:02:55,140 --> 00:02:57,660 and still maintain their focus on the 77 00:02:57,660 --> 00:02:58,980 value that they bring 78 00:02:58,980 --> 00:03:00,959 yeah I I'm just really excited I've had 79 00:03:00,959 --> 00:03:02,340 a number of conversations with you about 80 00:03:02,340 --> 00:03:03,840 this I'm really excited about the 81 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,940 opportunities for school districts to 82 00:03:05,940 --> 00:03:07,379 really enter into this kind of design 83 00:03:07,379 --> 00:03:09,420 thinking process and iterative review 84 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:12,480 process that you have used in in other 85 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,400 organizations and in different kind of 86 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,500 areas and I know as you've done that 87 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:17,900 you've you've 88 00:03:17,900 --> 00:03:20,159 experienced a great amount of research 89 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:22,140 in that process you have key insights we 90 00:03:22,140 --> 00:03:24,120 can't discuss all that today obviously 91 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,040 but I'd like you to share with the 92 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,260 audience just some some key insights or 93 00:03:28,260 --> 00:03:29,580 information about the research that's 94 00:03:29,580 --> 00:03:31,860 out there around design thinking and 95 00:03:31,860 --> 00:03:34,680 iterative review process well I think 96 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,180 the thing that 97 00:03:36,180 --> 00:03:38,540 um is most relevant to schools today 98 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:41,040 especially post covered but I think this 99 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,099 applied even prior to that is 100 00:03:44,099 --> 00:03:47,700 uh we talk about change as discontinuous 101 00:03:47,700 --> 00:03:49,860 change there are changes that are 102 00:03:49,860 --> 00:03:52,680 continuous and we see the next step and 103 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,799 we it's logical for us how we go from 104 00:03:55,799 --> 00:03:57,360 the step that we're in to the next step 105 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,060 but when life takes a big right turn or 106 00:04:00,060 --> 00:04:02,640 a big left turn and suddenly we're in a 107 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,319 place that we've not been before as an 108 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:06,440 organization it can be very disorienting 109 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,840 so the the thoughts that we have around 110 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,180 and the research that we have around how 111 00:04:12,180 --> 00:04:14,220 our brain works when we're confronted 112 00:04:14,220 --> 00:04:16,760 with rapid change that's unpredictable 113 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,079 uh I think is more relevant than ever 114 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:20,760 for schools because there's no 115 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,040 organization that I know of that has 116 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,520 more loud voices speaking into it as to 117 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,259 what that school district should become 118 00:04:28,259 --> 00:04:30,660 so when you have that when you have 119 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:33,840 those kinds of constituencies that uh 120 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,000 may not understand fully all the changes 121 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,520 that you're making it does make any kind 122 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,620 of implementation difficult 123 00:04:40,620 --> 00:04:43,380 so what we do rad really means from the 124 00:04:43,380 --> 00:04:47,400 root and what we do is we go to the root 125 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,979 of the issues that your school district 126 00:04:49,979 --> 00:04:53,759 for instance is facing what is unique 127 00:04:53,759 --> 00:04:55,560 about the experience that you're being 128 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,540 asked to bring based on the demographics 129 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:01,500 brace based on uh the location based on 130 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:05,040 so many things that are in flux how do 131 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,900 you stay true to the ultimate intention 132 00:05:08,900 --> 00:05:12,000 of your organization in this case a 133 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,860 school that's providing learning 134 00:05:13,860 --> 00:05:16,800 experiences while there's so much going 135 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,680 on around it that is changing 136 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,139 so we talk about if you're going to make 137 00:05:22,139 --> 00:05:24,180 iterative changes which is the only way 138 00:05:24,180 --> 00:05:28,020 to make changes uh successfully you have 139 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:29,940 to stay focused on this ultimate 140 00:05:29,940 --> 00:05:32,699 intention so we spend a good deal of 141 00:05:32,699 --> 00:05:35,880 investment with organizations defining 142 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,979 that intention and we talk about it in 143 00:05:37,979 --> 00:05:41,340 terms of experience so for instance 144 00:05:41,340 --> 00:05:45,180 in a school what is the experience 145 00:05:45,180 --> 00:05:47,520 that we want the student to have what is 146 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,139 the experience we want the teacher to 147 00:05:49,139 --> 00:05:53,160 have and that's not just a surface try 148 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,740 question I mean we go with a great deal 149 00:05:55,740 --> 00:05:58,560 a great deal of explanation and 150 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,320 description about these experiences so 151 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,199 that we can stay focused on them once 152 00:06:04,199 --> 00:06:06,300 we've done that and there's Clarity with 153 00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:08,820 your core team about what that 154 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:11,100 experience needs to be then we could 155 00:06:11,100 --> 00:06:13,080 talk about different expressions of that 156 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,060 experience the building the curriculum 157 00:06:15,060 --> 00:06:16,919 delivery all the things that it takes 158 00:06:16,919 --> 00:06:20,460 the communication plans that it takes to 159 00:06:20,460 --> 00:06:23,520 do those things but we're all rooted in 160 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,139 that same experience that we're trying 161 00:06:25,139 --> 00:06:26,220 to create 162 00:06:26,220 --> 00:06:28,800 wow and and you know there's it's true 163 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:30,900 that those experiences may be common to 164 00:06:30,900 --> 00:06:32,520 some degree across the districts but 165 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,440 there are going to be to your point some 166 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,539 uniquenesses and that review process 167 00:06:36,539 --> 00:06:38,160 will pull that out I'm assuming right 168 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:39,960 it'll just kind of reveal those things 169 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:41,780 that are really important 170 00:06:41,780 --> 00:06:45,000 I'm sorry David yes we talk about that 171 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,639 in terms of the experiences that you 172 00:06:47,639 --> 00:06:50,460 bring the example I use is I love coffee 173 00:06:50,460 --> 00:06:52,740 and I love coffee shops and coffee shops 174 00:06:52,740 --> 00:06:54,900 all do the same thing right but they 175 00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:56,400 don't all create the same experience 176 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:58,860 when they do it and most of 177 00:06:58,860 --> 00:07:01,080 organizational design and Effectiveness 178 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,539 training that I'm aware of focuses too 179 00:07:03,539 --> 00:07:05,940 much on what we do rather than the 180 00:07:05,940 --> 00:07:08,460 experience we cause while we do it so 181 00:07:08,460 --> 00:07:10,139 for instance in branding that's how you 182 00:07:10,139 --> 00:07:11,940 brand you brand based on the experience 183 00:07:11,940 --> 00:07:14,400 not on what you do in a school district 184 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:16,560 you're doing a form of branding with 185 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,419 your community you're positioning 186 00:07:18,419 --> 00:07:20,460 yourself in their minds 187 00:07:20,460 --> 00:07:22,800 as to what is the experience that we're 188 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,620 going to bring for your children 189 00:07:25,620 --> 00:07:28,139 and that's very important that we not 190 00:07:28,139 --> 00:07:29,880 explain that in terms of what we do 191 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,460 because what we do is a is a means to an 192 00:07:32,460 --> 00:07:35,099 end the end is the experience that we 193 00:07:35,099 --> 00:07:37,620 want the end state that we want for our 194 00:07:37,620 --> 00:07:40,620 Learners once we've done what we've done 195 00:07:40,620 --> 00:07:43,259 wow I I just find that fascinating and I 196 00:07:43,259 --> 00:07:44,759 think districts would find that 197 00:07:44,759 --> 00:07:46,620 fascinating as well now if a district 198 00:07:46,620 --> 00:07:49,139 wanted to engage in this work what are 199 00:07:49,139 --> 00:07:50,580 some of those kind of opportunities what 200 00:07:50,580 --> 00:07:52,020 I like to call predictable positive 201 00:07:52,020 --> 00:07:53,819 outcomes that they would want to make 202 00:07:53,819 --> 00:07:55,319 certain they communicated to their 203 00:07:55,319 --> 00:07:57,000 boards to their internal and external 204 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,000 communities before they even got started 205 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,300 um I think it's important that first of 206 00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:05,699 all you communicate everybody says this 207 00:08:05,699 --> 00:08:07,560 of course but you communicate very 208 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,960 robustly throughout your process what's 209 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:11,699 different about the approach that we 210 00:08:11,699 --> 00:08:13,860 take is at the beginning that's a very 211 00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:16,740 internal process it's the stewards of 212 00:08:16,740 --> 00:08:18,419 that school district the people who are 213 00:08:18,419 --> 00:08:19,740 in leadership 214 00:08:19,740 --> 00:08:23,580 are going to sit and represent the 215 00:08:23,580 --> 00:08:25,860 outcomes that they understand that these 216 00:08:25,860 --> 00:08:28,139 students need but to do that with an 217 00:08:28,139 --> 00:08:30,620 outside constituency takes a lot of 218 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:33,659 participation and communication so often 219 00:08:33,659 --> 00:08:36,300 in our early workshops that we do to 220 00:08:36,300 --> 00:08:38,279 bring out this experience to elicit it 221 00:08:38,279 --> 00:08:41,039 from our clients we invite them to bring 222 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:42,839 customers and we would invite school 223 00:08:42,839 --> 00:08:44,339 districts to bring people from the 224 00:08:44,339 --> 00:08:46,440 community all kinds of constituencies 225 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,779 into the conversation 226 00:08:48,779 --> 00:08:52,740 so that when someday these ideas become 227 00:08:52,740 --> 00:08:55,140 implementation plans you have people 228 00:08:55,140 --> 00:08:57,180 from every point of view every major 229 00:08:57,180 --> 00:08:59,519 point of view of that implementation 230 00:08:59,519 --> 00:09:01,080 who've been involved from the beginning 231 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,300 they weren't brought in at 232 00:09:03,300 --> 00:09:05,160 implementation to implement something 233 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,320 they don't robustly understand 234 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,959 so bringing people down into the root 235 00:09:09,959 --> 00:09:12,300 thinking gives them a level of ownership 236 00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:14,100 of the ideas and the ability to 237 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:15,480 communicate that back to certain 238 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,820 constituencies so I think it's very 239 00:09:17,820 --> 00:09:20,279 important that you not rush that first 240 00:09:20,279 --> 00:09:22,440 step which is everybody wants a vision 241 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,720 statement everybody you know wants 242 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,839 values listed all these things and it's 243 00:09:27,839 --> 00:09:29,220 all those things are highly meaningful 244 00:09:29,220 --> 00:09:30,839 to the people who created them but 245 00:09:30,839 --> 00:09:33,420 they're not not as meaningful to the 246 00:09:33,420 --> 00:09:36,120 people who receive them later 247 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,459 so that's the first thing is involve 248 00:09:38,459 --> 00:09:41,580 people and communicate and bring what we 249 00:09:41,580 --> 00:09:43,500 call Clarity it's one of our five c 250 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:45,420 words it's Clarity and one of the things 251 00:09:45,420 --> 00:09:47,519 we say about Clarity is that it takes 252 00:09:47,519 --> 00:09:51,180 dialogue I'm not clear unless I've been 253 00:09:51,180 --> 00:09:53,760 fed back what I thought I said to you 254 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,820 and when the more expanse of that 255 00:09:56,820 --> 00:09:58,620 conversation becomes the more 256 00:09:58,620 --> 00:10:00,959 challenging that becomes so it's very 257 00:10:00,959 --> 00:10:04,140 important that at the beginning of this 258 00:10:04,140 --> 00:10:06,360 process when you're thinking through the 259 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,480 desired outcomes that you have good 260 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,240 strong Clarity with your core team 261 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,399 because they're going to translate that 262 00:10:14,399 --> 00:10:16,740 Clarity back to their constituencies 263 00:10:16,740 --> 00:10:18,540 it's almost like dialects of a language 264 00:10:18,540 --> 00:10:20,339 we're going to say this a little 265 00:10:20,339 --> 00:10:22,440 different in each context but we want to 266 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,760 communicate that same thing back and so 267 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,560 we talk about the investment that you 268 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:31,140 make up front pays off multiple times 269 00:10:31,140 --> 00:10:33,720 when you get into implementation 270 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,120 yeah it strikes me just listening to you 271 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,580 that obviously you're building a a high 272 00:10:38,580 --> 00:10:40,680 level of transparency in the process but 273 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:41,820 through that you're building really 274 00:10:41,820 --> 00:10:43,320 strong relationships with your community 275 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,300 and then down the road as you said 276 00:10:45,300 --> 00:10:47,279 you're creating a sense of ownership so 277 00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:50,339 it's not just a District's kind of view 278 00:10:50,339 --> 00:10:51,899 of what the experience of the child the 279 00:10:51,899 --> 00:10:53,220 teacher should be but it's also the 280 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,260 community's view of what that experience 281 00:10:55,260 --> 00:10:57,120 should be and I can't help but leave but 282 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,500 that would have great value to any 283 00:10:58,500 --> 00:10:59,820 organization 284 00:10:59,820 --> 00:11:03,360 now if that being said and you kind of 285 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,100 gave a little bit of a cautionary tale 286 00:11:05,100 --> 00:11:06,360 but I'm going to ask you to expand a 287 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,100 little bit what are those kind of 288 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:09,720 implementation barriers that all 289 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:10,980 districts should be aware of if they're 290 00:11:10,980 --> 00:11:12,660 to go down this pathway 291 00:11:12,660 --> 00:11:15,480 well uh there's a quote maybe we talked 292 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:17,399 about in one of our conversations that I 293 00:11:17,399 --> 00:11:19,500 use a lot with clients and it's from 294 00:11:19,500 --> 00:11:21,660 Machiavelli and it says change has no 295 00:11:21,660 --> 00:11:23,640 constituency 296 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,100 now that we can map the brain and see it 297 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:27,959 we actually see that that's true when my 298 00:11:27,959 --> 00:11:29,880 brain receives a pattern that it's not 299 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,279 familiar with the first thing I wanted 300 00:11:32,279 --> 00:11:36,000 to do is reject that pattern 301 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,100 purely because my brain is not used to 302 00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:41,160 that and so when you bring change to an 303 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,019 organization when you bring change to 304 00:11:43,019 --> 00:11:44,880 education when you bring change to a 305 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:46,200 community 306 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,899 expect resistance and don't see that as 307 00:11:48,899 --> 00:11:52,140 a bad sign because resistance is exactly 308 00:11:52,140 --> 00:11:54,060 what will happen because it's the way 309 00:11:54,060 --> 00:11:56,279 our brains work and it's much more about 310 00:11:56,279 --> 00:11:58,980 how we work through resistance with 311 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:02,220 folks and bring Clarity to them so they 312 00:12:02,220 --> 00:12:04,620 then can create new patterns in their 313 00:12:04,620 --> 00:12:07,920 brains to accept changes uh 314 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,339 and so many times when we were in life 315 00:12:11,339 --> 00:12:13,680 when we see resistance we get 316 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:15,420 discouraged and so if you're 317 00:12:15,420 --> 00:12:17,820 implementing change we tell our clients 318 00:12:17,820 --> 00:12:20,700 expect resistance plan for it and plan 319 00:12:20,700 --> 00:12:23,640 for how you will overcome it but it's 320 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,279 not a sign that things aren't going well 321 00:12:26,279 --> 00:12:29,760 and often when we when clients are about 322 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:31,320 to turn the corner 323 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,420 on a change they're making is when they 324 00:12:33,420 --> 00:12:35,160 feel most discouraged because that's 325 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,019 when the resistance can sometimes get 326 00:12:37,019 --> 00:12:39,600 the most intense but resistance is not 327 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,380 good or bad it's just there and we deal 328 00:12:43,380 --> 00:12:46,019 with it but we expect it 329 00:12:46,019 --> 00:12:47,760 so it's interesting Mark that research 330 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:49,800 out there about patterns in the brain 331 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,560 and how that becomes somewhat fixed and 332 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,480 change obviously disrupts that and 333 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,399 creates a little bit of resistance so 334 00:12:56,399 --> 00:12:57,540 I'm guessing what you do as an 335 00:12:57,540 --> 00:12:59,040 organization is really help people 336 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,440 understand how they can create new 337 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,480 patterns for people that they become 338 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,579 comfortable with and and that's that 339 00:13:05,579 --> 00:13:07,620 would be amazingly helpful for districts 340 00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:08,880 especially in this environment where 341 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,820 changes in inevitable reality I like to 342 00:13:11,820 --> 00:13:13,980 say changes like death and taxes it's 343 00:13:13,980 --> 00:13:16,740 just a certain and um and and so I think 344 00:13:16,740 --> 00:13:18,779 it's it's something that could be really 345 00:13:18,779 --> 00:13:20,880 really powerful now is there an 346 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:22,380 organization or a district you would 347 00:13:22,380 --> 00:13:25,139 highlight that has done this work well 348 00:13:25,139 --> 00:13:29,459 well most of our clients uh recently 349 00:13:29,459 --> 00:13:31,860 have been Tech clients and without I I 350 00:13:31,860 --> 00:13:34,680 can't really name names but what I'll 351 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:38,399 say is the clients who do this well 352 00:13:38,399 --> 00:13:40,680 um they 353 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,440 they understand that it's not a straight 354 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,139 line change is not a straight line the 355 00:13:46,139 --> 00:13:49,680 change involves emotional catharsis 356 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,660 really especially if it's a large change 357 00:13:51,660 --> 00:13:55,380 and so what they do is they focus on 358 00:13:55,380 --> 00:13:59,339 facts they focus on their goals they 359 00:13:59,339 --> 00:14:01,620 stay attuned to their goals those 360 00:14:01,620 --> 00:14:03,779 ultimate in games that they've defined 361 00:14:03,779 --> 00:14:07,019 for themselves and then they begin to 362 00:14:07,019 --> 00:14:10,260 clarify things for people in order to 363 00:14:10,260 --> 00:14:13,459 overcome resistance so involvement 364 00:14:13,459 --> 00:14:15,200 clarification 365 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,120 uh toward the end goal pointing people 366 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:19,980 to that North Star saying this is 367 00:14:19,980 --> 00:14:21,540 exactly why we're doing what we're doing 368 00:14:21,540 --> 00:14:25,019 we're mining people over and over uh I'd 369 00:14:25,019 --> 00:14:26,639 say the people who are most successful 370 00:14:26,639 --> 00:14:29,399 are the ones who don't get tired of 371 00:14:29,399 --> 00:14:31,920 communicating that in multiple ways to 372 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,560 multiple constituencies all the time 373 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,959 communication is a very exhausting 374 00:14:36,959 --> 00:14:40,380 process sometimes as a leader because we 375 00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:42,420 tend to being a better in a different 376 00:14:42,420 --> 00:14:44,339 place with change than some of the folks 377 00:14:44,339 --> 00:14:47,040 that were leading but the willingness to 378 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,800 engage people in their resistance not as 379 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,899 a negative but as a part of their 380 00:14:51,899 --> 00:14:54,540 processing and continually doing that 381 00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:56,339 and continually bringing people along 382 00:14:56,339 --> 00:14:59,279 and continually involving them those are 383 00:14:59,279 --> 00:15:01,620 it's perseverance in the end it's 384 00:15:01,620 --> 00:15:04,019 perseverance through the change that 385 00:15:04,019 --> 00:15:06,180 makes some organizations successful in 386 00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:09,180 some organizations less successful 387 00:15:09,180 --> 00:15:11,760 interesting now if a district or partner 388 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,579 wanted to uh explore this work more 389 00:15:14,579 --> 00:15:15,959 deeply how would they go about 390 00:15:15,959 --> 00:15:18,060 contacting you and arranging for deeper 391 00:15:18,060 --> 00:15:20,220 conversations well in the very near 392 00:15:20,220 --> 00:15:21,839 future we're very excited we're about to 393 00:15:21,839 --> 00:15:23,519 partner with an organization and create 394 00:15:23,519 --> 00:15:25,920 an entity for this just specifically for 395 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,040 K-12 and it's and very specifically for 396 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,980 creating learning environments uh uh for 397 00:15:31,980 --> 00:15:34,560 districts in the meantime the best way 398 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,660 is to reach me it's Mark at rad and 399 00:15:38,660 --> 00:15:41,100 r-a-d-a-n-d.com and I'd be happy to sit 400 00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:43,740 down and talk with someone about how we 401 00:15:43,740 --> 00:15:45,899 can do this for schools I spent 402 00:15:45,899 --> 00:15:48,959 15 years doing architectural and other 403 00:15:48,959 --> 00:15:50,880 kinds of design and have worked with 404 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,399 schools all over the world and so we're 405 00:15:53,399 --> 00:15:55,740 excited to be back in this space we are 406 00:15:55,740 --> 00:15:58,500 it's a meaningful space to be it's a 407 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:00,540 challenging space and we're excited to 408 00:16:00,540 --> 00:16:01,380 help 409 00:16:01,380 --> 00:16:03,720 I'm excited for districts to get this 410 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,579 experience it's it's a unique experience 411 00:16:05,579 --> 00:16:07,920 in our world having LED districts for a 412 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,680 number of years I've not had this kind 413 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,079 of opportunity and I think it uh will 414 00:16:13,079 --> 00:16:15,240 reveal some positive opportunities for 415 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,579 districts to to manage the change that 416 00:16:17,579 --> 00:16:20,399 is inevitable in in our world these days 417 00:16:20,399 --> 00:16:23,220 and so I want to thank you Mark uh for 418 00:16:23,220 --> 00:16:24,540 being a part of this important work of 419 00:16:24,540 --> 00:16:26,820 supporting our students in schools and I 420 00:16:26,820 --> 00:16:28,139 want to thank you for your participation 421 00:16:28,139 --> 00:16:30,660 in a learned podcast well thanks for the 422 00:16:30,660 --> 00:16:33,320 invitation Dave 423 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,779

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