5304 Collaborative Discussions

Discussion #1: The Head Won't Go Where the Heart Hasn't Been

After 19 years in education, not one year passed where Bloom’s taxonomy wasn’t referenced in a training, or a faculty meeting, or a PLC. However, after all these years I never once heard that Bloom also addressed the affective and psychomotor domains (Harapnuik 2015). That fact alone is confirmation that logic towers over all else in our educational system and society at large. I almost can’t even imagine the discussion about the need for higher order learning being coupled with the need to reach kid’s hearts. Of course, in education we would discuss the need to develop relationships and make learning interesting. We even had a program called Capturing Kid’s Hearts for a few years where the tagline is: “If you have a child’s heart, you have their mind.” Yet these discussions were compartmentalized. Capturing kids hearts was about behavior and classroom management. We didn’t talk about how to reach hearts in the midst of an academic lesson nor while writing a lesson plan.

I found Tom Asacker’s argument that the human brain is not like a computer very compelling (2014). This is how I’ve often heard the brain described. The analogy of memory, storage, and processing speed comes to mind. Our society tends to value the mechanistic and rationalistic perspective of humanity above all. Maybe it’s the impact of Western modernist philosophical thought coupled with the industrial revolution that produced this view of humanity as rational machines, but even as Simon Sinek (2009) points out, that view doesn’t align with biology. He explains that our brain’s neocortex might be the rational engine, but the two inner portions of the brain form the limbic system which is emotion driven. In fact this part of our brain can’t even formulate words, yet it’s the part of us that drives most of our decision making.

With this in mind, it makes sense that the best way to initiate change in an organization is to have a clear and compelling “why” (Sinek, 2009). People are much more likely to respond and buy into your “why” than they are to be compelled by all of the best facts and reasons. Especially if the “why” resonates with them and appeals to their own sense of identity (Asacker, 2014). Yet, in an organization it’s also important to muster up a sense of urgency when initiating change (Kotter, 2013). If people don’t sense the urgency they’re likely to not take the initiative seriously and just demote it to the bottom of their priority list. Either way, the communication of urgency and a clear compelling “why” both appeal to people’s hearts, not just their minds. Indeed it appears that this transaction has to take place to initiate any real change.

This is precisely where people and organizations tend to fall short in their attempts for change. Even thinking of a classroom environment, the best teachers are able to compel their students towards successful outcomes because they know how to appeal to the kids’ hearts. They have a relationship and they know what makes their kids tick, which also means they know how to motivate them. However, many teachers don’t value this at all. They think that the kids should just learn to do as they’re told. The class videos and readings along with Pink’s Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. have really made me wonder why this kind of stuff isn’t more explicitly taught to teachers (Pink, 2009)? We have all kinds of training on behavior management, but in many ways the behavior in classrooms probably won’t change if the teacher’s belief system about what motivates and compels people doesn’t change. But when you finally see it. When you finally realize that you’re not as rational as you had imagined. That as adults we, too, are moved and compelled mostly by issues of the heart; that’s when we might change our approach towards kids and teaching.

References

Crucial Learning. (2015, January 14). How to change people who don't want to change | The behavioral science guys [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

Dr. John Kotter. (2013, August 15). Leading change: Establish a sense of urgency [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yfrj2Y9IlI

Harapnuik, D. (2015, January 9). The head won't go where the heart hasn't been. It's About Learning. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=5461

Google. (2026). NotebookLM [Large language model]. https://notebooklm.google/

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Riverhead Books.

TEDx Talks. (2009, September 29). Start with why—How great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

TEDx Talks. (2014, June 30). Why TED talks don't change people's behaviors: Tom Asacker at TEDxCambridge 2014 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0jTZ-GP0N4

Discussion #2: Change Behavior

The four key strategies to identify behaviors that need to be changed really stood out to me. I’ve seriously underestimated how important the preparation phase of my innovation project really is. Reading these key strategies made me realize how much thought and preparation I need to put into this. At the same time, I have more hope that I could successfully implement the plan knowing the things I need to look for. With key number one, “noticing the obvious,” I can think of so many things that I notice with the teachers, but the challenge is to narrow it down to something very specific and obvious. I can’t just think generally about this. The same goes for looking for crucial moments. Looking for the failure modes will take some real diligence and research. This is going to take some time and patience to “find the times and circumstances when the particular failures happen” (Patterson et al., 2013, p.53). I can already think of some positive deviants, and it seems a bit easier to spot the culture busters. I think the real challenge will be with the first two strategies.

Looking at the six sources for influence and Jeni Cross’s TEDx talk, Three Myths of Behavior Change, there are several ways these connect. Influencer gives an example of “personal motivation” where KIPP schools focus on helping students experience success so that learning itself becomes rewarding, and students begin associating effort with positive outcomes (Patterson et al., 2013). Cross makes a similar argument when she discusses “loss aversion” and “making information tangible” (TEDx, 2013) ). She argues that people are motivated when an issue feels personally meaningful rather than abstract. The “basketball-sized hole” example and the water-loss example both show how motivation increases when people are given examples that they can relate to. Another Influencer source is “social motivation.” At KIPP, students are surrounded by peers who expect to attend college, work hard, and succeed. New social norms are intentionally created. In the same way, Cross repeatedly emphasizes that social norms are among the most powerful influences on behavior. She argues that people are heavily influenced by what they perceive others around them are doing. Both Cross and Influencer argue that changing the norm is often more powerful than changing minds. Another way the two connect is that both recognize that behavior is shaped by consequences and incentives built into the environment.

For my innovation project, I can use the six sources of influence to “overdetermine success” (Patterson et al., 2013, p.28). Of course, I will need to first determine the behaviors that need to be changed using the four key strategies mentioned earlier. It will take a lot of effort to design and execute a plan for the six sources of influence, but it will be well worth it.

References

Patterson, K., & Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. (Read 1st)

TEDx Talks. (2013, March 20). Three myths of behavior change: What you think you know that you don't | Jeni Cross | TEDxCSU [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0

Discussion #3: Influencer Strategy

It makes sense that we often give up on initiatives because “we often underwhelm overwhelming problems” (Crucial Learning, 2023, 5:58). It might feel like we’re doing all we can to make a difference but the reality is that our efforts might be too small and ineffective. It’s much easier to see the problem from the outside looking in. I think of the years that I spent as an instructional coach dealing with teachers who had major classroom management problems. If they had already reached the point of feeling defeated, then when I gave them a suggestion they would say “I already tried that.” Or maybe they would try the suggestion the next day and then claim it didn’t work. But often times the effort was as ineffective as the first scene in Washed Up where the hand sanitizer was only briefly mentioned and then placed behind the students never to be seen or thought of again. I think if I had been able to show this particular video to some teachers they would have been more likely to see the logic, and they might have been more responsive to implementing strategies in combination rather than predetermining defeat as though the kids are so “bad” they’ll never get it anyways. “Influencers succeed in creating change where others fail because they overdetermine success. They marshall a critical mass of not one or two, but six different sources of influence that shape human action” (Patterson & Grenny, 2013, p. 28)⁠

The All Washed Up video really demonstrates the importance of trying all six sources of influence. It’s just like a classroom with kids; you have to figure out what behaviors actually need to change and which influences will actually work. “Most of us are in such a rush to influence others that we fail to stop and thoughtfully decide what behaviors we want to change” (Patterson & Grenny, 2013, p. 43). Some sources will appear absolutely ineffective whereas some sources such as peer influence in the video will turn out to yield a high return. Clearly the other sources of influence mattered as evidenced by the kids' testimonies afterwards, but it’s as though peer influence was the active ingredient that turned the tide. It really makes me think about my innovation project and how important it will be to leverage every source of influence I can, but most importantly to think of ways to use peer influence. This falls in line with the Three Myths of Behavior Change where Jeni Cross posits that the most powerful and yet most underestimated motivating factor is social norms (TedX, 2013). In other words peer influence is one of the most influential sources of influence.

References

Crucial Learning. (2023, October 4). All washed up [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW0qZl6IrkI

Patterson, K., & Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. (Read 1st)

TEDx Talks. (2013, March 20). Three myths of behavior change: What you think you know that you don't | Jeni Cross | TEDxCSU [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0

Discussion #4: 4 Disciplines of Execution

Reading The 4 Disciplines of Execution for Educators (Covey et al., 2026) I was struck by how will it dovetails with Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change (Patterson & Grenny, 2013). The emphasis in 4DX on choosing only one or two goals to work on is very similar to Influencer’s recommendation to work on only one or two high leverage behaviors. “Typically one or two vital behaviors, well executed, will yield a big difference” (Patterson & Grenny, 2013, p.35). The temptation is to try to do too many good things at once. In the world of public education this is the common modus operandi. There are usually so many goals coming from so many different directions and so many initiatives going on that the thought of choosing one wildly important goal to focus on is almost foreign. Initially, it might sound impractical to many school leaders without the understanding the WIG would need to be set at the district level so that all other wigs could be aligned to it all the way down to the classroom level. Without this kind of vision and alignment the district would continue to be pulled in every direction the whirlwind goes.

Furthermore, I found the discussion about lag and lead measures to correspond very well with the Influencer once again. The idea that effective lead measures can act as a lever to effect otherwise difficult change is once again reminiscent of the idea in Influencer that “the right behaviors well executed can make a big difference” (Patterson & Grenny, 2013, p.35). The lag measures are important but they’re not helpful in effecting any sort of change because they are too late. Once you get the results of the lag measure it’s already too late to make any changes. For educational purposes, the lead measures are critical for effective feedback that can guide instruction to help students make the adjustments necessary for success.

These insights are helping me to think about my innovation plan. The idea of the lead measures as a lever that can move big obstacles or bring about change where other efforts have failed is very compelling. I know I’m going to have some real hurdles to overcome. I don’t want to underestimate how hard change really can be in an organization. Just like Chris McChesney pointed out, people are caught up in the urgency of operations and “when urgency and importance clash, urgency wins” (FranklinCovey Middle East, 2020). He says that leaders often blame people for not adopting change but this is because many leaders fail to recognize that change is the single most difficult thing to successfully pull off in an organization. The tyranny of the moment and the whirlwind is so tangible for most people that a new shiny initiative generally does not inspire them to change their behavior. This is why it’s so critical to have a clear WIG endorsed from the top of the organization and a plan of action with high leverage behaviors as the focus. But it’s not enough to push the vision, there needs to be a way to measure progress effectively and develop a compelling scoreboard. This is where I am in my process. I now need to think about how that would look in my organization for my innovation plan.

References

Covey, S., Kosinski, L., Wierda, B., & Fleming, M. B. (2026). The 4 disciplines of execution for educators: Helping schools and districts achieve their wildly important goals. Simon & Schuster.

FranklinCovey Middle East. (2020, February 11). Move your middle – Chris McChesney [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbQfozH2KxM

Patterson, K., & Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Discussion #5: Differentiated Leadership

In my change strategy I think I will need to focus more on crucial conversations. A well differentiated leader is “someone who has clarity about his or her own life goals and, therefore, someone who is less likely to become lost in the anxious emotional processes swirling about… someone who can be separate while still remaining connected and, therefore, can maintain a modifying, non-anxious, and sometimes challenging presence… someone who can manage his or her own reactivity in response to the automatic reactivity of others and, therefore, be able to take stands at the risk of displeasing” (Friedman, 2007, p.15-16). I think I have a lot of room for growth as a differentiated leader, but I really resonated with things that Friedman explained about leadership. The idea that a leader is able to resist being consumed by the emotional state of the organization (Friedman, 2007, p.22) and even in the midst of the emotional swirl make decisions based on one’s internal compass is something that I feel that I can relate to. It’s essentially knowing one’s identity that helps to navigate the storms of leadership. I really feel that this is one of my strengths. There are so many times where I can feel the emotional swirl of those around me and I choose to lead from a place of peace and vision.

However, I wasn’t always like that. In retrospect, one of the things that has helped get me to me to where I am now is what Friedman talks about: a willingness “to take responsibility for his or her own emotional being and destiny” (Friedman, 2007, p.21). I believe Friedman is correct about this because I took this route about thirteen years ago and it was a real turning point in my life. And then about four years ago for the first time in my life I really took on the mentality that I wanted to be on a lifelong journey of growth (Friedman, 2007, p.22). This decision kicked my life into another gear. I had never read Friedman but upon reflection I believe he’s right about his theories because today I feel like I am able to stay calm in the storm and lead from a place of self-differentiated leadership.

With that said, I believe that I need a lot of work on crucial conversations. As a matter of fact, I think you could argue that to truly be a strong well-differentiated leader one needs to be intentional and consistent with the art of crucial conversations. As I’ve started reading the book I have been confronted with how often I avoid conversations. Sure, I have plenty of them, but I still pick and choose. But this book challenges me to take a sense of radical responsibility and a mentality that perceives each conversation as a potential gold mine. This book lays out so many benefits of taking the initiative in crucial conversations as well as so many drawbacks and consequences for not doing so that I feel compelled and motivated to make this a discipline in my life. Another thing that gives me hope is that there are apparently practical strategies, like the STATE formula (Callibrain, 2015), which don’t require me to be a genius or to be talented for that matter. When I read the last paragraph on page 15 (Grenny et al., 2022) that’s when I knew that I need to work on practicing crucial conversations.

References

Callibrain. (2015, August 20). Video review for Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFaXx3pgaxM

Friedman, E. H. (2007). A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the age of the quick fix. Church Publishing, Inc.

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., McMillan, R., Switzler, A., & Gregory, E. (2022). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high (3rd ed.). McGraw Hill.

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