What most of you might not know is Franklin Leadership, or Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, who at 26, thought he was a failure. If you read some of his accomplishments at that age, you wouldn't think he is a failure. But that's what he thought about himself. (Did you know that he invented the flippers?)
So, he took some time off and thought about what he's going to do about it. And he listed 12 virtues (we would have called it values) that he wanted to live by. So he showed it to a friend and the friend suggested that he should include a 13th; humility.
Hence he took those 13 virtues and written down statements that clarify what they meant. Following that, he decided to work on them but not all at once. He decided to work on one each week. Word has it that he worked only on the initial 12. Reason why he didn't work on the 13th was it wasn't his. It was suggested to him by that friend. Joke has it that with what he had accomplished, he couldn't be humble about it!
This idea has been adapted some what by Schools in Singapore; where they will work on one value for a month or a week. What they seek to do is to infuse it into the lessons, take about it during the assembly programs, or even have themes around these values. One school we know, actually created a number of action characters that embodied these values that children can identify with. They even have a story book on the characters so that the parents can read those stories to their child at home; hence reinforcing those values inculcation programs.
One main challenges that many face is the issue of "how do you know when you get there" and also "how do you know if the programs are effective". In actual fact, the key thing to do is to have clear descriptors; like how Franklin did it, so that we all know and can visualize how each value, when it is being manifested, looks like.
As the manifestation fo these values are behaviors; we can then append a certain way of spotting those behaviors. For instance, if learning and growth is one of our values; then we must be able to describe what kind of behaviors would we expect to see. For instance, we could say that; staff are engaged in different forms of trainings, they are seen to be sharing these learnings at various platforms, and they demonstrate mastery of those learnings through the development of teaching packages.
Now, behaviors; especially new behaviors will not happen automatically as people are used their old ways of doing things, they are not sure if these new ways might work, or they could be so caught up in day-to-day activities that it just doesn't happen.
If in doubt, let's say you would like to start an exercise regime, where you would exercise at least three times a week and each time for at least 30 minutes. Now, unless you schedule time for the exercise; or if you sign up for an exercise class, chances are you are going to find it hard to comply, let alone meet. Or perhaps, you could engage in the exercises but when there seems to be other pressing needs (like reports to do) we often time would forgo the run.
Likewise, if we expect people to engage in a new set of behaviors, we ought to provide the platforms and structures to facilitate those new behaviors. It could be setting aside one-day a week for trainings, or it could be a learning fest, or it could be a white-space for staff. Toyota, for instance, gave their employees one hour a day to just reflect and think of ways to improve current processes. Imagine if you don't provide the platforms, how on earth would they find time within their working hours to do this?
Having said that, there must be a way to know if that platform is effective. Short of being there to measure or gauge its success, we ought to identify clear objectives of these platforms. For instance, if white-space is a platform, and to measure effectiveness; we got to ask ourselves what was the reason we provided that in the first instance?
Once we are able to answer that questions, these then become our objectives. Such as, to discuss or share curriculum matters during white space; then we have to measure some form of activities or outcomes that can lead us to say that the platforms were effective. Otherwise, we could all be doing it diligently but unless we know whether it was effective, we can't make improvements or even scrap the platforms to make way for something else.
Hence, my own review of my weekly planning process based on Franklin's methodology is; start each week by committing to live by a value each week. Look at what are the ways that can reinforce living by that value. Also, look for the opportunities during the week that can allow me to put that commitment to the test and push my limits. After each week, to review my activities and behaviors based on that value. Then move on.
Respectfully yours,
Melvyn Tan
(Sent from my Blackberry Bold)
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