I'm currently reading The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Businessby Charles Duhigg. I couldn't put it down. These ideas are immediately relevant in trying to help myself and others (teachers and students) build capacity to do more and be more. One profound takeaway for me is how small changes can lead to bigger changes and superior results. Habits are powerful, even ones that may not seem directly related to a particular outcome. Alcoa When Paul O'Neil was named CEO of metals producer Alcoa, the company had been underperforming for years. Many questioned his selection for the top position, but after he spoke to shareholders the first time, he was especially under the microscope. You see, he didn't talk about raising profits. He spoke of creating the safest company possible. He created an intense focus on worker safety, something he felt everyone in the company could get behind. The company had problems with quality and efficiency, but he didn't focus on on that. He made worker safety the driving concern. But as his safety measures were implemented, quality and efficiency improved across the board, and soon Alcoa was turning profits that were extraordinary. Even though the company's energy wasn't focused squarely on profit-driving levers, those levers were subsequently effected by the focus on safety. Impact of Exercise Researchers have found over the decades that people who introduce consistent exercise routines into their lifestyle, also seem to improve other patterns in their life, often unknowingly. They also improve their eating habits, smoke less, show more patience with others, and even use their credit cards less. It's almost like the consistent, positive change spills over into other parts of life. As exercise improved, so did other aspects of life, and it even happened unknowingly for participants. They weren't aware of the improvements they were making. These types of habits, that tend to have the spill over effect, are referred to as keystone habits. They are the key to improving in a whole variety of ways. Weight Loss The conventional advice for weight loss was to join a gym, exercise more, follow restrictive low-calorie diets, and take the stairs instead of the elevator. Of course, those actions are helpful if you stick with them but most weight loss patients would not. They would follow them for a few weeks but slip back into old patters. But when researchers asked 1600 obesity patients to make one simple change and keep a journal of what they ate for an entire day at least one day a week, the results were extraordinary. The people who kept the journal lost twice as much weight as those that did not and other behaviors changed, like exercise and diet, even though the researchers didn't make any suggestions to the patients about exercise or diet. They simply asked them to log what they were eating. It seems the journal was a keystone habit. Other Keystone Habits Families who eat together on average have children who make better grades, have more emotional stability, and demonstrate more confidence. Making your bed every morning has been shown to correlate to increased productivity, sticking to a budget, and better overall sense of well-being. These keystone habits establish small wins in a person's (or organization's) life that can translate to bigger wins.
"Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage," one Cornell professor wrote in 1984. "Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win." Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.
Implications for Educators Are we taking advantage of small wins? Are we leveraging keystone habits in schools? Often when thinking about improving student achievement, we simply double down on math or reading. We implement more interventions. We increase the rigor, give more homework, or take away electives in favor of core instruction. And maybe we do increase performance just a little. But at what cost? Is it worth it if we are sacrificing the joy of learning? And, are we overlooking other levers that might yield better results and produce stronger learners? What if we looked at other factors that might produce small wins and set some goals around these areas? I was part of a conversation with some local school leaders who were discussing goals for the year. One of the schools was focusing on getting more kids involved in school activities. Involvement in sports, clubs, fine arts, etc. has shown correlation to student achievement in studies. If we can get a small win in this area, it's good for kids regardless, and perhaps it will spill over to classroom learning. What if you worked on having extraordinary greetings and made that an important habit in your school? What if everyone made it a point to call students by name, make eye contact, and smile more? What if you focused on proximity in the classroom? Moving from the front of the room, sitting by students, being with students instead of in front of them. I'm going to continue to reflect on how we can leverage the power of small wins in our school. What do you think about your classroom or school? Have you seen examples of the power of small wins? What do you see as possible keystone habits educators could develop in students? Leave a comment or respond on Facebook or Twitter. I'm curious what's on your mind.
Tis the season of gratitude and thanksgiving, and the video below had me thinking about what it means to be grateful. Have you ever heard the saying, "You started at third base but you thought you hit a home run?" The idea is that sure you are successful, you hit a home run, but it was due to the advantages you had as much as it was due to the way you hit the ball. After all, you started at third base. The video below illustrates the idea of social and economic advantage and how these advantages can impact chances for future success. It's undeniable that certain starting points in life can create greater opportunities for success. I think this video could be a great launching point for discussions with students. There is plenty to think about and even to critique. It's powerful, but there are plenty of opportunities for critical thinking.
So who should be grateful in this video? Some might say the kids with the most advantages. They have more to start with than the others after all. It's statistically true that people with those advantages tend to be more successful on average than those who do not. But here's the thing about gratitude, it should not be dependent only on havingmore or even having enough. Gratitude is a state of mind that is available to all of us all of the time. After all, if you aren't grateful for what you have now, what makes you think you would be grateful if you had more? Unless you make a choice to be grateful in all things, how will it ever be enough? It's very difficult to adopt this mindset in our consumer driven culture. Even in the video, the end goal is a $100 bill. We are constantly reminded of what we don't have. But life is not about racing past someone else to win. It's not about having the most money or toys. Life has far more to offer than economic success. Some of the poorest people in the world live the most meaningful, happiest lives. They are finding joy in life in spite of having very little material wealth. Every day presents its blessings or burdens. We choose our focus. Everyone has challenges in life and everyone has opportunities. Sure, some have more challenges and some have less, but everyone has the opportunity to choose two things: thoughts and actions. Will you choose to focus on your blessings or your burdens? Will you choose actions that lead to blessings or ones that lead to burdens? Stephen Covey wrote, "I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." Ultimately, I believe this is true. We can rise above circumstances, eventually. It may not happen as fast as we'd like. There are many stories of people who have risen above, people who are overcomers. There are people who have overcome terrible hardships and horrific circumstances, even abuse and neglect. If it is true for some, why can't it be true for all? For all the problems we have in this country, there are still incredible opportunities, even if the deck is stacked against some more than others. Are there inequities? Absolutely. Should we be satisfied with a system that works against some? Absolutely not. But there are also tremendous opportunities for those who choose to rise above. We need to help all students learn to be grateful even in the midst of challenges. Why? The research is clear (Harvard Health):
Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
Gratitude is an empowering state of mind. It helps us realize that we have blessings in our life. It also helps us offer blessings into the lives of others. There may be difficulties and disparities in our world. There always have been injustices and as long a human being are running this planet, that will probably continue to be true. I would summarize my response to the video I shared with two questions: 1. Who will you lift up? 2. What will you rise above? Who will you lift up? You have gifts to give. You can be hope and help to someone else. You can lift up someone who might need a helping hand. What will you rise above? There will be challenges. There will be obstacles. But you have everything you need to be great. Just keep moving in the direction of your dreams. What's on your mind? I'd like to hear from you. Leave a comment below or share on Facebook or Twitter.
I bet you are a fantastic problem solver. Most educators have developed this ability because problems come at you all day long. And you make hundreds of decisions from dawn till dusk. Our time is a precious resource that can be extremely scarce because of all the demands we face. If we're not careful, the tyranny of the urgent will consume us and may crowd out time for what's most important. Can we agree that the things that are most urgent are often not the most important? Reflect on your day. There were things you felt had to be done. But at what cost? When you spend all your time dealing with urgent matters, not considering what things would have the highest leverage for success, you are simply spinning your wheels. Lots of activity not going anywhere. Benjamin Franklin dedicated 5 hours of his week to learning. His personal growth and learning was a priority. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey also share this personal commitment to learn at least one hour a day and probably more. You will never reach your growth potential if you are captive to the urgent. We did a strengths finder with our staff about a year ago. It was a survey instrument that gave us feedback on our strength areas. We shared these out in a meeting and enjoyed reflecting on how our differences make us collectively strong. But we all got a chuckle when I asked for teachers to raise their hands if love of learning (one of the characteristics) made their top five strengths. Surprisingly, in this sizable group of educators, only 2-3 teachers had it in their top five. Of course, I think our teachers love learning. But I also wonder how much of a priority we are giving to our own growth and learning. I challenge you to spend at least 5 hours a week learning and see how it impacts your effectiveness. For me, my learning each week involves reading, blogging, connecting with other educators on Twitter, and thinking and reflecting. Make time to support your own growth and learning and watch how it influences the learning and growth of your students. The most successful people in the world are extremely busy and they are still finding time to read and learn consistently. Don't let the urgent things rule over you. Take back what's important and invest in your own growth. How are you growing and making time for the 5-hour rule? What are you reading? Leave a comment below or share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.
