I’m recognizing that there’s an opportunity to provide more support for implementing the Revolution. So I’ve been thinking through what sort of process might be a way to go about making progress. Given that the core focus in on aligning with how we think, work, and learn (elements we’re largely missing), I thought I’d see whether that could provide a framework. Here’s my first stab, for your consideration:
Assess: here we determine our situation. I’m working on an evaluation instrument that covers the areas and serves as a guide to any gaps between current status and possible futures, but the key element is to ascertain where we are.
Learn: this step is about reviewing the conceptual frameworks available, e.g. our understandings of how we think, work and learn. The goal is to identify possible directions to move in detail and to prioritize them. The ultimate outcome is our next step to take, though we may well have a sequence queued up.
Initiate: after choosing a step, here’s where we launch it. This may not be a major initiative. The principle of ‘trojan mice‘ suggests small focused steps, and there are reasons to think small steps make sense. We’ll need to follow the elements of successful change, with planning, communicating, supporting, rewarding, etc.
Guide: then we need to assess how we’re doing and look for interventions needed. This involves knowing what the change should accomplish, evaluating to see if it’s occurring, and implementing refinements as we go. We shouldn’t assume it will go well, but instead check and support.
Nurture: once we’ve achieved a stable state, we want to nurture it on an ongoing basis. This may be documenting and celebrating the outcome, replicating elsewhere, ensuring persistence and continuity, and returning to see where we are now and where we should go next.
Obviously, I’m pushing the ALIGN acronym (as one does), as it helps reinforce the message. Now to put in place tools to support each step. Feedback solicited!