Don’t Get So Busy You Forget to Reflect

Look–I get it–May is certifiably insane when it comes to attempting to be productive when in a K-12 school. If we’re not careful, May will become simply a “let’s get through it so we can get to June” kind of month, when in fact it could be the single most valuable month when it comes to the entrepreneurial mindset.

The entire premise of entrepreneurship is built on feedback and reflection; it is through feedback and reflection that we can identify key areas for improvement so that we can act with a spirit of “kaizen” or “continuous improvement” in all areas. This is why the emphasis is on prototyping or fast fail as we work toward solutions with our minimum viable products (MVPs).

This is certainly true in the classroom.

When we take time to reflect in a meaningful way, we are leaning into a core principle of wisdom. As my friend Alex Judd from Path for Growth is fond of saying: wisdom does not come from experience; wisdom comes from evaluated experience. The true value is in the evaluation or reflection.

The following is an exercise that I love to walk through at the end of the year with all the schools I’m working with on entrepreneurship programming. It is a great tool to use with your students, no matter the grade level or discipline, or with your leadership team as you review your strategic plan. And its benefit is derived from its simplicity–four steps.

Step one - reflect on the bright spots. Borrowing from Dan Heath’s wording, “bright spots” are those moments or times when things worked perfectly. Sometimes we focus so much on the dark spots or the times when things aren’t going well, that we miss the great analysis that comes from the bright spots. I have an entire two-hour workshop I do with school leaders that involves identifying bright spots and then analyzing them with a root cause analysis tool to get to the replicable actions at the heart of the bright spots.

Step two - areas for improvement. If we isolate and target a few key areas for improvement, we can create clear action plans designed to move those leverage points and create momentum toward strong improvement. Brainstorm all areas for improvement, then narrow down to two or three that you can act on.

Step three - what to operationalize. This is a topic that warrants its own newsletter (or even its own book) but when we consider what we could operationalize (or create a system around for continued success), then we move toward greater progress. In the end, systems matter more than goals, dreams, or visions.

Step four - identify key areas of your own personal growth. Just like our students, we sometimes need to be reminded of our own growth just to see how far we’ve come since the start of the year. Tangible reminders of our growth can become a catalyst toward future growth, so always be reminding yourself just how far you’ve come.

 Reach out if you want a user-friendly pdf handout of these steps to use with your team/students.

FOUR STEPS TO LAUNCHING AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM

1. Select the teacher - I have a tool to help with selection

2. Identify between eight and twelve students for the pilot class

3. Train and certify the teacher - I have a program for this with curriculum included

4. Start the year-long class - Follow the plan and an on-campus business will be launched mid-year

After the launch, student interest will drive the future growth of the program. For more on the process, visit our website at https://www.seedtreegroup.com/

The future of education is bright indeed!