Toward the end of Damon Centola’s book Change: How To Make Big Things Happen, he shares the following anecdote about former president Barack Obama. Then-president Obama, facing a particularly difficult policy decision, wanted to make sure all voices were heard, not just his inner circle of like-minded advisors.
“’One trick I had was that I would make a habit of calling on these people in the outer rim,’ Obama said, referring to the staffers hidden around the edges of the room, ‘because I knew that they were doing all of the work.’
“Mr. Obama added, ‘If you want a broad set of voices, you will get them.’ They are there in the periphery – in the ‘outer rim.’ But he emphasized that leaders have to be intentional about bringing those voices into the conversation. Mr. Obama concluded, ‘In today’s culture, if you are not deliberately doing that, then you are going to fall behind.’”
If you’ve ever worked in education, you can relate.
At the State level, politicians without any experience in education (and, oftentimes, without ever having set foot in a public school in their life) drive school legislation.
At the District level, central office employees heap initiatives and responsibilities onto schools without the input of those at the Building level.
And at the Building level, teachers are asked to implement programs and curriculum without having a voice in the decision.
In the classroom, students are told what to learn and how to learn it, in spite of their strengths and interests.
In Daniel Coyle’s book The Culture Code, he spends a solid third of the book on the idea of safety as it pertains to building a healthy work environment. “We tend to think group performance depends on measurable abilities like intelligence, skill and experience,” Coyle writes before explaining that safety is the primary driver of success. “Safety is not mere emotional weather but rather the foundation on which strong culture is built.”
A huge part of establishing that safety is to involve all stakeholders and engage, not with authority, but with curiosity.
Yet this isn’t what we commonly see in large, public institutions.
Instead, we have leaders who have finally made their way up the ladder. And the mindset is simple: “Because I’m up here, I know better.”
You know better because you now have the experience, skills and education to make those tough decisions without the input of those who are merely “on the outer rim.”
Yet we’d all do well to heed the advice of Mr. Obama.
Ask for input from those in the trenches.
Listen with curiosity.
Be slow to add value.
Seek clarity.
Engage the outer rim.