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Banach, Banach & Cassidy’s
Or How to Do Five
Things at Once*
*At least five things! BB&C’s Planning Primer was developed to help principals, accreditation and school improvement chairs, and others at the school building or department level develop and implement plans. The Planning Primer begins with BB&C’s planning process. You’ll see that this process is little more than common sense. But, when your plan is finished, you’ll find that this common sense approach has become your planning process. The Planning Primer also guides you through two important steps in the planning process – analysis and the development of strategy. You’ll learn how one follows the other, and positions you to develop a plan that will be on target and effective. Here’s what you’ll find on the following pages:
The
First and Most Important Step
The first step in the common sense process is to analyze. Interestingly, analysis is also the first step in the strategic planning, school improvement, accreditation, and marketing processes (to name just a few processes that begin with analysis). To process anything, you have to analyze the current situation to determine what was, what is, and what might be. Then you can do something that makes sense … given your situation This should tell you a couple of things: First, analysis is very important. Second, every process – from strategic planning to marketing – should begin with a liberal application of common sense. Third, if you learn how to process things you can do more than one thing at a time. In fact, you can often “knock off” four or five things at the same time. For example, your school should have a mission statement – a statement of your purpose or reason for being. But, why should you have a mission statement? Here’s the easy answer: It’s the right thing to do. Every school should be able to say why it exists … what it stands for. Perhaps this is why mission statements are an up-front part of many planning processes, including strategic planning, school improvement, accreditation, and marketing. Do you need a different mission statement for each process? Of course not. Can you use the same mission statement for each process? Probably. One might say that you should develop a mission statement because it’s the right thing to do … and because you can use it in your strategic planning, school improvement, accreditation, and marketing planning. Now you’re getting it: Develop it once and use it again and again! The
five-step planning process
You may have said something like this to a spouse, to a friend,
or even to yourself (during one of those moments when you admit to
yourself that things are a little out of control):
I have more things to do
than time to do them. Many
people – including me
– wonder how I keep up. And
there will be more demands on my time in the future.
Things will really get out of control unless I do something.
I need a strategy! To help you stay in control, BB&C’s Planning Primer begins with a description of the five-step planning process. Next it addresses The ABCs of Strategic Processing. And, finally, you’ll find a framework and some content to help you analyze your situation. Before you’re done, you’ll have a jump start on your environmental scan, your school-community profile, and your mission, vision, and priorities. The process described below is a common sense approach to planning. It is easy to implement. It’s effective. And, it doesn’t take forever. (What more could you want from a planning process?) The process begins with analysis. We believe this is the first and most important step in the process. Step two is to develop a strategy. This step in the process dictates that you do some thinking about what you will do about your current situation. Third, you need a plan – a written plan. (If your plan is not written, you may have good intentions, but you don’t have a plan.) Fourth, you need to execute the plan; that is, you need to do what your plan indicates you are going to do. And, fifth, you have to evaluate. This means identifying what was accomplished and assessing what elements of your plan worked … and what elements didn’t. If you think about it, you’re doing some analysis right now. Odds are you need to plan something and you’re looking for a way to do that. You are analyzing your planning options. When you find a process you like, you’ll have a strategy. Next, you’ll engage people and develop a plan. Then, you’ll do what you said you were going to do – you’ll execute the plan. And, finally, you’ll reflect on what worked and what didn’t as you evaluate the results of your planning process. Sit back for a moment and reflect on the five steps below: 1. Analyze 2. Develop strategy 3. Plan 4. Execute 5. Evaluate This five-step process is the process for everything! You can – to repeat ourselves – use the process for strategic, school improvement, accreditation, and marketing planning. You can use the process to think about a challenge you’re facing. You can use it to write a grant, develop a pilot program, make a curriculum change, rewrite a policy …you can use it for everything. The ABCs of
Strategic Processing
The goal of planning is not to develop a plan. Rather, it’s to make something happen. Those who believe that the purpose of planning is to develop a plan are easy to spot. Their plan is usually in a binder which is usually on a shelf. If you ask people what has happened as a result of the plan, they tend to say, “Not much.” If you probe, they might tell you something like this: “We spent a lot of time talking about things and creating the plan. But we never did anything with it. We never processed the plan. Basically, it was a waste of time.” This tends to happen because we have made a good thing – planning – too complicated. We get all bogged down in logistics and details, defining roles, and dealing with resisters. To avoid these traps, think about The ABCs of Strategic Processing when you think about planning:
Note that you can’t answer questions A and B without doing some
– guess what? – analysis. In
fact, analysis is central to The
ABCs of Strategic Processing After you’ve completed your analysis look at all three questions again and reflect on your strategy. Is it clear? Does it make sense given your situation? If you can answer affirmatively, you’re ready to plan, execute, and evaluate. In case you missed it, we have used the five-step process to address The ABCs of Strategic Processing. Does it matter if the focus of our efforts is strategic, school improvement, accreditation, or marketing planning? Nope. This is, after all, the process for everything. Getting
started with your analysis
To help you develop a framework for your planning, our primer begins with a macro view. It presents a framework for environmental scanning, and some key elements of a big picture environmental scan. Next we’ll zoom in to discuss the elements of a school-community profile. We’ll provide a template designed to help you “get a grip” on your school and the community it serves. And, finally, we’ll speak to your mission, vision, and priorities in the context of your analysis, and we’ll provide a framework that makes sense for the future of your school or your program. A
big picture environmental scan
People who watch change are sometimes called futurists. Futurists think about things that are over the horizon and ask “what if?” and “why not?” questions. Other change observers are called forecasters. These are people who analyze data and information to make projections. Just like futurists, they work to determine what might be. You’ll also find issue managers thinking ahead. These people tend to be part futurist and part forecaster. They work to identify trends which have potential for impacting an organization. They speak about the implications of change and seek to determine how change-related issues can be resolved. While we won’t speak to the resolution of issues here, we will use the approach of issue manager because it provides the perspectives of futurists, forecasters, and others who think about the forces driving change. To conduct environmental scans, BB&C has developed nine Future Scan categories. In each of these categories (listed below) we look for related change forces. And, then, we speak to some of the implications. Be aware that this is a skeletal environmental scan (after all, this is a planning primer!). Nonetheless, it will give you some broader perspectives on what is happening “out there.” It will help you understand that “out there” is not something from which we’ve been removed and have immunity. It is, in fact, what is … and we are a part of it just as it is a part of us. Below you’ll find an example change force in each of the nine Future Scan categories. We encourage you to think about the change forces presented below, and to engage in dialog about these and other change forces with your staff colleagues and community members. Our purpose here is to jump start your thinking about a “big picture.” When you add your thinking, when you describe other change forces and their implications, when you talk about the forces of change in your state and community, you’ll have a grip on what is … and what might be. Then you can reflect on The ABCs of Strategic Processing in the context of your environmental scan. The nine Future
Scan categories
An Economics Change Force: Knowledge
Work
What’s
happening? The nature of work is changing … again. People now have the information they need to create knowledge. Those who do will shape work and the workforce, and reap the psychological and financial rewards. Background and implications
Data and information come before knowledge. Finally, there is wisdom. In this hierarchy – data, information, knowledge, wisdom – we are now transitioning through information into knowledge. We’ve all heard of the “information age.” In fact, if you’re alive today, you’ve been a part of it. As the information age evolved, manufacturing era workers voiced skepticism about the value of those who dealt with information – the “pencil pushers.” But the pencil pushers used information to design new work processes, and the new processes they designed altered both the workplace and the workforce. With relative suddenness, workers had to learn new processes and different techniques. As a result, employee training became big business because employers recognized that strategic advantage resulted from an educated workforce. Today, information is leading to the understandings that generate knowledge, the next level of the hierarchy. Today, more workers have to use information to make work-related decisions. And that’s why thinking has become an important part of everyone’s job. It’s interesting, however, that we don’t teach people how to think. Most schools and colleges don’t provide courses in thinking – it’s just regarded as something that you should learn as a result of taking courses. (“Before you graduate, you’ll learn how to think,” said somebody at college. Rarely did anyone say, “We going to teach you how to think so that you can capitalize on the opportunities that change will certainly present.”) It’s also interesting that most workplaces don’t have forums for thinking. When, for example, is the last time someone in your workplace invited you to think about change and its implications? In fact, many workplaces discourage thinking. “Quit day dreaming and get back to work!” is a directive that’s too common in both the workplace and the classroom. Sometimes we even say it to ourselves! And here’s the dark side: given the invitation to think, some people decline the invitation. Others attend, but exhibit resistive behaviors. Why is this? Some experts believe that when people deny that things are changing, they don’t think about the implications. Others say that thinking requires learning, and that learning often dictates change. Because some people don’t want to change, they resist learning. (“I don’t want anything to do with computers!”) And, some psychologists believe that people resist change because all change involves loss, and people resist things that cause them to lose. But learning and thinking are the engines of creation. Ironically, it’s those who decline the invitation to professional development that will lose. They will find themselves increasingly irrelevant because in a knowledge based society, you are either continuously learning or in a continuing state of decline.
So, what are some implications of our transition into a
“knowledge age”?
o
Formal and advanced learning – not apprenticeships –
will determine an individual’s place in the knowledge age.
Those who have and nurture their intellectual capacity will
determine organizational direction and priorities. o
Those who have education will seek more education.
Degreed people will seek advanced degrees, attend seminars, and
strive to accumulate more information which enhances their knowledge.
Those who think about what they have learned will push us toward
the wisdom level of the hierarchy. o
Many who pursue knowledge will seek nontraditional
information delivery systems. While
some may spend seat time in a classroom, more will pursue educational
programming that is not regulated by the clock and the calendar. o
Employers will seek quality relationships with employees,
but there will be few marriages. In
the knowledge based society people will learn that they are paid for the
skills that they bring to the party.
But eventually, the party will end. o
As knowledge work expands, employers will place a premium
on people who have the knowledge they need.
These employers will treat their employees well, but when the
work that needs to be done is done, the relationship will end.
This is why more workers will change jobs and careers more
frequently. In fact,
virtually all knowledge workers will outlive the work that needs to be
done. o Maybe we’ll redefine loyalty. Maybe we’ll look at loyalty as something that’s temporary, not permanent. Could you be loyal to a prospective employer who says: “We have a job to be done and we’d like your help doing it”? We expect that it will take five years to complete the job. We are going to pay you well and treat you well and provide a comfortable work environment. But after five years our relationship will end. Can you be as loyal to us as we will be to you for the five years that it will take to get the job done?” Implications
for you [This is what you
have to think about. After
you think about each change force, take time to analyze what it means to
you, your school, and your community.
Develop a list of pluses and minuses.
Keep them in mind at you develop your strategy.] A Demographic Change Force: The Aging of AmericaWhat’s
happening? In every developed country, people are living longer. This alters the nature of communities. For example, a generation ago 75 percent of the people in a typical community were parents of school-age children. Now the typical community is composed of 75 percent “nonparents,” those without school-age children. Background and implicationsEveryone is getting older. Why is that? Because people are living longer! And, as life expectancies continue to rise, we can expect that society will have to make adjustments. It’s a fact that people need more medical attention as they age. An aging population, then, would mean that we can expect medical expenditures to increase. When the increase in the older population is rather dramatic, we can expect that the increase in medical expenditures will also be rather dramatic. And this is exactly why Medicare, prescription medicine costs, social security, HMOs, etc. are in the news and on the political agenda today. Look also for social and infrastructure expenditures related to aging to increase. Providing elder care costs money. Installing assistive devices cost money. Clearly, our thinking has to change as people age. (Here’s an example of changed thinking: The reaction time of older citizens tends to be slower. Hence, in areas populated by large numbers of elderly, the caution lights on stop signs are illuminated longer to accommodate delayed reaction times.) People will continue their search for the proverbial “Fountain of Youth.” They will pursue and pay handsomely for anything that makes them look younger (or makes them think that they look younger). Look for growth in vitamin sales, anti-wrinkle creams, and cosmetic surgery, to name a few growth areas. As people live longer, healthier lives, they’ll delay retirement to remain in the workforce. Or, they’ll alter the concept of retirement. They could, for example, exercise early retirement options and pursue a second career. Or, they could semi-retire and work fewer hours. Or, they could exercise both of these options and go back to school … and then back to work. One thing is certain: The heavy lifting of the knowledge age will be mental, and our healthy elders have the capacity and experience to do it well. Implications for you Social Values & Lifestyles Change Force: Families & HouseholdsWhat’s
happening? Families and households are becoming more diverse. This diversity places more demands on people and institutions. Background and implicationsAmerica is a mosaic society, a cultural quilt made of parts that maintain their unique characteristics. The component cultures have a variety of beliefs and values. This results, for example, in a variety of parental expectations (ranging from no expectations to differing definitions of a basic education to those who anticipate a comprehensive and challenging learning experience for their children). To complicate matters, the children of these different cultures arrive at school with different beliefs, values, behaviors, and capacities. Schools will have to do more of what they have historically done; i.e., to help young people become part of a society. (Author and scholar Neil Postman says that the purpose of public school is “… to create a public.”) This will not be easy given that there are varying definitions and, hence, expectations of what our society (or public) should be. While schools have defined some common values (honesty, respect for elders, etc.), students continue to write essays which attempt to describe “What It Means to Be an American.” Churches and social agencies also will be challenged by these diverse beliefs and values. In fact, some new churches and social agencies will be created to address needs that traditional churches and social agencies cannot. Whatever form they take, they’ll assist with or assume many parenting and social development responsibilities. Unfortunately, the needs of children will continue to receive impassioned lip service from elected officials. Implications for you An Advances & Discoveries Change Force: MachinesWhat’s
happening? Machines are becoming smarter … and smaller. Background and implicationsScientists are producing smarter machines. In a typical household one can find a host of smart appliances. From the toaster to the microwave, everything, it seems, is “smarter” because of imbedded technology. In fact, many household technologies have capacities beyond our ability to use them. For example, most homeowners don’t come close to using all the capacity that’s built into their microwave ovens. And then there are “consumer electronics.” Many family rooms now have video and audio systems, and a half-dozen remote control devices. Unbelievable as it may be, these technologies have capacities that are even beyond today’s teenagers, let alone those of us who still try to understand things by reading the instruction manual. In the garage you’ll now find cars with more computing power than yesterday’s space craft. And, in both the office and the factory, technology is a part of every move that we make. Now, machines are getting smaller. Advances in the field of nanotechnology promise a revolution in fields ranging from medicine to manufacturing. (The term nanotechnology is generally used to refer to molecular-size machines, some built atom by atom, molecule by molecule. Most of these machines are too small to see without a microscope!) The raw material of nanotechnology – atoms – is abundant and available to everyone. When everyone acquires the knowledge to develop and use nanotechnology, what will the implications be for the environment … for world trade … for the wealth of nations? Look for nanotechnology to revolutionize medical diagnosis and treatment. Some people are already talking about the possibility of building pharmacies at the cellular level – drug stores in every human cell that dispense the proper amount of the proper medicine at the proper time when there is illness or injury. Learning will also take on new dimensions. What are the implications when all the world’s books fit on a nanocube? Where will we store these nanocubes? How big should a nanocube library be? Will nanocubes be imbedded in humans? Will you be able to use your nanocube when you take tests? Now think about the synergistic effect of this change force and one we’ve just discussed – knowledge work. How will smaller and smaller, smarter and smarter machines alter knowledge work? Implications for you Organizational Contexts Change Force:
Boundary Breaking
What’s
happening? Digitized information has made boundaries increasingly meaningless. Information can be transferred at the speed of light without regard to geographic, political, or jurisdictional boundaries. Background and implicationsInformation zips past us every moment of every day. Traveling in digitized form, this information is not impeded by typical boundaries. Most transactions between banks, for example, have more to do with the transfer of digits than the transfer of money. Just before the turn of the millennium, legislation has caught up with the notion that boundaries such as lines on a map or a river or a mountain are meaningless, and it became legal for banks to do business across state lines. (You may have noticed local banks disappearing and the emergence of a few “mega banks.”) Think of the implications of boundary breaking for knowledge workers. It won’t really matter where many of them work. While some will work in traditional offices, many will work at home … or in their car … or in airplanes. Where will we hold the staff meeting? Does everyone have to assume more responsibility? Who will lead organizations that have people scattered across the landscape? Will we redefine organization? As more people recognize that boundaries are increasingly meaningless, should we anticipate that more workers will be linked in both real and virtual partnerships? What effect would boundary breaking have on schools? It would promote the sharing of good ideas. It would help schools leverage their scarce resources. It would improve communication between educators. It would expand professional development opportunities. The possibilities are bound(ary)-less! Implications for you Political Climate Change Force: Populous PoliticsWhat’s
happening? Political decision-making is being pushed closer to the people. Background and implicationsThis change force became highly visible with the advent of block grants. Block grants were given to the states by the federal government. States then decided where and when to disburse revenues. Some states, in turn, awarded block grants to counties … and some counties awarded block grants to townships. In the end, people in local communities were making decisions heretofore made by the state and federal agencies. While this sounded like the right thing to do – get decision-making close to the people – there were some draw-backs. Chief among them was that local competence and local resources didn’t always support localized decision-making, and some local leaders found themselves “in over their heads.” Further, local leaders began to learn that their increasingly complex constituencies had multiple visions. What pleased one vexed another. (See Public Opinion Paradox below.) In many cases, the appearance of vocal constituencies led to quick-fix solutions designed not only to address complex issues, but to quiet things down. Unfortunately the mix of quick-fix simplicity, a complex constituency, and complicated issues increased the number of unintended consequences. Quite frequently, the result was – as they say – a mess. Implications for you
Public Opinion Change Force: Public
Opinion Paradox
What’s
happening? More solutions to problems are finding simultaneous favor and disfavor. Background and implicationsAs America becomes more diverse in areas ranging from ethnicity to values to political persuasion, public opinion becomes more difficult to galvanize. For a long time, business people and politicians have believed that “You can’t please all the people all the time.” Today it seems as if most decisions displease more people than they please. This has changed the process we use to make decisions. Most notable among the changes is the increased sensitivity of decision-makers to public opinion. In the past leaders tried to get everyone “on board.” As that became impossible, they aimed at getting 75 or 80 percent on board. Then a simple 50-percent-plus-one majority became good enough. Today, leaders seek to define a suitable critical mass and form coalitions. This is the case in world politics, just as it is in our organizations and communities. We now work harder “to bring people along.” We provide them with information that will help them perceive our decisions more favorably. Sometimes this works. Other times it reminds us that it is impossible to please everyone! Abraham Lincoln said that nothing succeeds unless it’s judged favorably in the court of public opinion. But even when things are perceived favorably, information from the silliest of sources can shift opinions quickly. Perhaps that’s why good will and eternal gratitude have become temporary possessions. Implications
for you World Affairs Change Force: Globalization
What’s
happening? As economics and communication technologies “shrink the globe,” people are discovering new rules and relationships. Background and implicationsTrade barriers have been liberalized. Manufacturing has moved “offshore.” Companies have formed partnerships without regard to the country of their partner’s residence. And, communication technologies have increased human interaction geometrically. This globalization has brought benefits to many around the world. It has, for example, increased the access people have to products and services. It has opened communication, and it has raised questions about everything from export quotas to morals to political ideology. Today we are struggling to define the shared values necessary for a civilized world. We are, in America, trying to figure out why some people like us and some don’t. We are trying to reconcile what we believe and value with what our detractors believe and value. The same thing is happening across the globe, from Europe to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia. Many of our tested theories of economics and politics seem not to hold. Yet, we push on because we know that globalization will define the power of nations, and determine the nature of work and the quality of life everywhere. Implications for you Education Change Force: Legislated StandardsWhat’s
happening? More educational change – perhaps most educational change – is being driven by legislation. Background and implicationsMany educators read the morning newspaper to discover their agenda for the day. The reason: More educational initiatives are resulting from state and federal legislation. Many of these legislative initiatives tend not to be systemic; hence, they are very difficult to sustain. For example, a decision to lengthen the school year by five days seems simple enough. But what will happen during those five days? Will they be instructional days? If so, school districts will need to run their school buses. That means that there will be financial implications, that employee contract extensions will have to be negotiated, and that more money will have to be expended for fuel and maintenance. Further, lengthening the year means that the curriculum will have to be altered to provide five more days of instruction. There will be professional development considerations … and more employee contract changes and more financial implications and more custodial needs. And on it goes. System theorists tell us that you can’t change a part of the system without affecting the entire system. Yet, legislators continually suggest that changing parts of the educational system will make the entire system work better. Student testing provides another example of non-systemic change. In a rush to account for everything, most students now face legislated assessments of their achievement. The idea is to identify poorly performing schools (aka students) and put heat on them to improve. Now think about complying with this legislation. While some folks are consuming themselves arguing about the merits of testing, politicians have already acted to approve legislation which ties school funding to student performance. Because the legislation threatens to penalize those who don’t perform well on the tests, schools focus on complying with the legislation (doing well on the tests). As a result, what gets tested is what gets taught. A systemic approach would consider that there are a host of reasons why schools (aka students) perform as they do. But the systemic approach to improving schools is complicated and much too difficult for politicians to explain to voters. And, so, we can anticipate that non-systemic, quick-fix initiatives will be part of education’s future for a long time to come. Implications for you Your
school-community profile
We always tell our clients to err on the side of telling us too much. That might be a good rule of thumb for developing a school-community profile. While there are some basic things that it’s desirable to know, anything that enhances your profile provides additional insight and can affect the strategy you employ to address your vision. So, let’s go back to the five-step process and begin analyzing your school … and then your community. We can do this by posing a series of questions, first about your school: 1. What are the internal and external issues that have potential for impacting your school this year? 2. What educational successes did you have last year? 3. What educational enhancements will you introduce this year? 4. What educational successes can you anticipate this year? 5. What are the marketable assets of your school; i.e., what do you have that people need or want? 6. What indicators do you have of staff qualifications and competence? 7. How will you enhance your staff capacity this year? 8. How good are your test scores? 9. How effectively do you communicate with staff? 10. How effectively do you communicate with students? 11. How effectively do you communicate with members of our community? 12. What’s does your school look like, demographically, socioeconomically, and programmatically? Next, you can answer these questions to develop a profile of your community: 1.
What is the demographic profile of your community (including
educational level, income level, age 2. What are the political affiliations in your community? 3. What are the religious affiliations in your community? 4. Is the quality of life good for residents of your community? 5. What are the indicators that your community supports quality education? Your
mission, vision, and priorities
Think back to The ABCs of Strategic Processing. In the context of your analysis and your school-community profile, now you need to develop a mission statement. Before you write it, however, think about your mission statement. It’s a statement of why you exist. A school mission statement has two basic components: the who and the what. While some schools don’t have mission statement and others have convoluted mission statements that drone on for pages, your who choices are really quite limited. For example, most schools exist … 1. to serve students in grades X-Y 2. to serve students from preschool age to grade Y 3. to serve learners of all ages |