Patrick Larkin's Quick Posts

Bankruptcy

Godin reminded me daily of education. I would just add to the end of this post that we also need to give up things that may have worked in the past, but no longer make sense. Just because something was effective 50 years ago or 10 years ago does not mean we should use it forever. Gosh, what would our world look like if that were the case?

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 2/20/11

"Declaring Chapter 11"

What a poetic phrase, starting with 'declaring'. Not sighing or announcing or admitting, but Declaring!

Chapter 11 refers to part of the bankruptcy code that covers reorganizations. In Chapter 11, you don't shut down your business. Instead, faced with failure, you suspend certain agreements and debts and negotiate in a way that permits you to continue.

Chapter 7 is very different. It means "I give up." You shut down, it's over.

Metaphorically, we have the chance to declare either kind of bankruptcy whenever we work on a project or consider a habit, a social media addiction or even a job.Teetering on the edge of bankruptcy is painful. Declaring is often a relief.

Acknowledging that you're stuck is the very first step in getting unstuck...

Perhaps it's time to stop fighting a losing fight and start creating value doing something else instead. Bankruptcy is never fun, but when you give up something that wasn't getting you where you needed to go, sometimes you discover a future better than you ever expected.

Lifelong Learners

One of the best things about being in a PLN and being able to participate in PLP is connecting with other educators who are passionate about being continuous learners. Of course, in all of our schools we have colleagues that do not share these feelings. How do we handle this issue with people who look at learning the same way they look at cooking a Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster? They feel that the little gadget popped up so they must be done.

 

In regards to students, I always thought we were trying to develop LIFELONG LEARNERS, or at least that's what our Mission Statements usually say. Surely, we cannot develop inquisitive, proactive, curious, collaborative, creative...students if we accept stagnancy.  

 

OK so we agree on all of that rah, rah stuff. Now what? What do we do to set the expectations, to raise the bar from the spot on the floor that it has been sitting?  Where would you start in your classroom or school being the model for the change that is necessary?

 

Pleasing Everyone

I am going to make the assumption that this goes for implementing change in our schools as well. If we wait until we have everyone on board then we will never make any changes. Let's "delight" as many as we can and for the rest...

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 2/4/11

A motto for those doing work that matters:

"We can't please everyone, in fact, we're not even going to try."

Or perhaps:

"Pleasing everyone with our work is impossible. It wastes the time of our best customers and annoys our staff. Forgive us for focusing on those we're trying to delight."

The math here is simple. As soon as you work hard to please everyone, you have no choice but to sand off the edges, pleasing some people less in order to please others a bit more. And it drives you crazy at the same time.

The space matters

The line that jumps out at me is the one that says - "Pay attention to the noise and the smell and the crowd in the place where you're trying to overcome being stuck."

Our schools and classrooms cannot be these places for student. I can't help wondering what outcomes students associate with my school and individual classrooms? Maybe we should ask?

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 2/3/11

It might be a garage or a sunlit atrium, but the place you choose to do what you do has an impact on you.

More people get engaged in Paris in the springtime than on the 7 train in Queens. They just do. Something in the air, I guess.

Pay attention to where you have your brainstorming meetings. Don't have them in the same conference room where you chew people out over missed quarterly earnings.

Pay attention to the noise and the smell and the crowd in the place where you're trying to overcome being stuck. And as Paco Underhill has written, make the aisles of your store wide enough that shoppers can browse without getting their butts brushed by other shoppers.

Most of all, I think we can train ourselves to associate certain places with certain outcomes. There's a reason they built those cathedrals. Pick your place, on purpose.

 

A culture of testing

Sometimes you just know that the model that you will change to is better than the one that is already i place without a test!

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 1/14/11

Netflix tests everything. They're very proud that they A/B test interactions, offerings, pricing, everything. It's almost enough to get you to believe that rigorous testing is the key to success.

Except they didn't test the model of renting DVDs by mail for a monthly fee.

And they didn't test the model of having an innovative corporate culture.

And they didn't test the idea of betting the company on a switch to online delivery.

The three biggest assets of the company weren't tested, because they couldn't be.

Sure, go ahead and test what's testable. But the real victories come when you have the guts to launch the untestable.

Insurgents and incumbents

Here's to hoping that more educators take on the role of insurgent in 2011!

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 1/1/11

Incumbents compromise to please the committee and bend over backwards to defend the status quo.

Insurgents have the ability to work without a committee and to destroy the status quo.

The game is stacked in favor of the insurgents, except--

They're under pressure from boards, investors and neighbors to act like incumbents.

It takes guts to be an insurgent, and even though the asymmetrical nature of challenging the status quo is in their favor, often we find we're short on guts. ... and then the incumbents prevail.

Another Reminder of Educators Who Fail To Embrace Modern Tools

How long can you ignore tools that will engage students?

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 12/22/10

The problem with browsers is that they rarely buy anything.

The prospect who walks up to the salesperson and says, "I'm looking for a pinstripe suit in size 38" is a lot more likely to walk out with a suit than the one who mutters, "No thanks, just looking."

Which is relevant to your quest for a new product or business or job or mate or project worth working on...

If you're still looking around, making sure you understand all your options, getting your bearings or making sure you're well informed, you're most probably browsing.

You missed the first, second and third waves of the internet. You missed a hundred great jobs and forty great husbands. You missed the deadline for that course and the window for this program.

Quit looking and go buy something already.

Once again Godin has me thinking about school - Is the answer this simple?

This post reminds me of the whole selling job that we are doing with so many of our stakeholders regarding embracing technology integration in order to access all of the new tools for engaging students that are available to us. In my school specifically, we are going to be a 1:1 environment next year and we sometimes get caught up in important but complicated discussions about how we are going to do certain things.

Maybe I am wrong, but I feel as long as people begin to understand why we need to make this change and they begin to believe the why then we will have the momentum we need to answer all of the hows that will pop up along the way. The why is the easy part and the how is the complicated part.

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 12/11/10

...is always more effective a response than, "well, it's complicated."

One challenge analysts face is that their answers are often a lot more complicated than the simplistic (and wrong) fables that are peddled by those that would mislead and deceive. Same thing is true for many non-profits doing important work.

We're not going to have a lot of luck persuading masses of semi-interested people to seek out and embrace complicated answers, but we can take two steps to lead to better information exchange:

1. Take complicated overall answers and make them simple steps instead. Teach complexity over time, simply.

2. Teach a few people, the committed, to embrace the idea of complexity. That's what a great college education does, for example. That's what makes someone a statesman instead of a demagogue. Embracing complexity is a scarce trait, worth acquiring. But until your customers/voters/employees do, I think the first strategy is essential.

You can't sell complicated to someone who came to you to buy simple.

On Godin Today: We Need Schools That Encourage This

My favorite line in this post is where Godin talks about a blogger who "takes her readers somewhere they will be glad to go..."
I think this also needs to be the primary objective in our schools. We need to have environments that take learners where they will be glad to go!

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 12/8/10

That needs to be the goal when you seek out a job.

Bob Dylan earned the right to make records, and instead of using it to create ever more commercial versions of his old stuff, he used it as a platform to do art.

A brilliant programmer finds a job in a small company and instead of seeing it as a grind, churning out what's asked, he uses it as a platform to hone his skills and to ship code that changes everything.

A waiter uses his job serving patrons as a platform for engagement, for building a reputation and for learning how to delight.

A blogger starts measuring pageviews and ends up racing the bottom with nothing but scintillating gossip and pandering. Or, perhaps, she decides to use the blog as a platform to take herself and her readers somewhere they will be glad to go...

There's no rigid line between a job and art. Instead, there's an opportunity. Both you and your boss get to decide if your job is a platform or just a set of tasks.

The Open Road - Do You See A Connection To Your PLN?

While, I am not emphasizing the competition that Godin does in this post. I do feel that this post reminded me about the power of my PLN. My PLN, through all of the amazing things that these incredible educators are doing, keeps me motivated and inspired to do more.

via Seth's Blog by Seth Godin on 12/7/10

I was driving on a very dangerous two-lane highway in India. More than eight hours of death-defying horror...

Our driver aggressively tailgated whatever car, truck or horse was in front of us, and then passed as soon as he was able (and sometimes when he wasn't).

What amazed me, though, was what he did during those rare times when there wasn't a car in front of us, just open road.

He didn't speed up. In fact, it seemed as though he slowed down.

He was comfortable with the competitive nature of passing (I may not be fast, but I'm faster than you), and he was petrified of the open road and the act of choosing his own speed.

Of course, we do the same thing with our career or our businesses. Most of us need competition to tell us how fast to go.