Another Great Lesson From Pritchett

In another chapter in his booklet Business As Unusual Pritchett speaks of the need to encourage risk-taking and initiative. He says, "Get the message across to everyone that you will be tolerant of mistakes, but intolerant of inertia." In other words, we want our Esperanza people to be independent-thinking, decisive, and action-oriented. This is especially important because we are building "a ship" that has never been built before so there is a strong need for everyone to be willing to enter unchartered waters...and thus make many mistakes.

Effective Strategic Planning

The posting yesterday was from the booklet Business As Unusual. Today's will also be a "gem" from this booklet. Pritchett says that "one way of maximizing effectiveness is to operate with clearly defined goals and objectives." He says that it is beneficial to concentrate on quarterly, monthly, and even weekly performance targets that will help us reach long-term goals. Pritchett adds that wee need to keep our spotlight on the short-term goals and give a generous amount of feedback regarding progress toward the achievement of these goals.

I don't believe this is new information except for the fact it is critical that we have short-term goals (quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily)--and give constant feedback-- if we are to achieve our long-term goals.

We have invited Tyler Norton who did an excellent presentation at the charter school confernece to come to our next Board meeting to teach us about strategic planning that fits beautifully with Pritchett's insights.

Shaping Versus Grading

Periodically I receive a free book (more like a booklet) from Price Pritchett. Yesterday I received one called Business As Unusual. I love these booklets because so much wisdom is packed into short one page chapters. One of the chapters I particularly liked in this booklet was titled "Creating a supportive work environment." Pritchett mentioned something I had never considered. He said, "So concentrate on shaping employees' behavior, instead of grading people's behavior. Be a coach, not a judge or umpire."

He goes onto say that doing this "creates an atmosphere where people flourish, and where change can take root." I would add that this also fits right into our commitment to create an inviting environment.