Being at the right place for the wrong reason

I have had numerous professional experiences where I have been at the right place – right time, and wrong place - wrong time – but never quite the right place for the wrong reason.  I recently attended the North Carolina Science Summit (www.hunt-institute.org/.../2009-north-carolina-science-summit/) hosted by James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy along with the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center (http://www.ncsmt.org/).  The program was delivered by leaders from The International Center for Leadership in Education (http://www.leadered.com), specifically Bill Daggett.  Whew – a lot of links but I think its important for you to know who and what these organizations are. 

What made it right?  And, what made it wrong?  What made it right? There was plenty of  “what’s wrong with the system and what should change”, but there was also statistics beyond testing performance about the competency, skill and investment in science fields in other countries vs. the U.S.  Videos about the prevalence of online technology in life, but not at school - Frontline’s excellent piece Growing Up Online (see Frontline); testimonials and case studies by Micorsoft’s Schools of the Future and live demos by teachers and students about how they are using technology to learn content, and make a living Be the Game. 

The core themes that were repeated over and over –because they make sense and their is data to back them up;

Relationships – know the people you are working with, for – develop relationships with them

Relevance – make it relevant.  The content, the purpose, the outcome – it has to matter to kids, to you and connect to their world

Rigor - Only then (with the first two) can we get to rigor – and go for it.  Make it hard and fun – once people understand their role and purpose, they will devour what they need to grow.

Sounds very cool – right? And, it was – well, you ask “What was wrong?”  ME!  I had so many assumptions and expectations that this would be the same old thing – Stand and deliver, leave inspired with nothing to use, loose sight – go back to the same old thing.  Wow!  Was I in for a shock.  I think of myself as being fairly progressive when it comes to people, risk, change and systems.  This professional learning experience was just that – it shocked me, scared me, inspired me and I was not ready for that.  How locked in do we get to ways of thinking and the types of thinking we do?

Rubric with Meaning

Everything I experienced, the conversations I had and the thinking I have done since the conference is all transferable to my other work, my other clients and other systems.  I have incorporated this into my own client rubric –

Relationships – I cannot “get the right work done” for companies if I don’t know them, and they don’t know me/us. 

The actual work has to matter and be relevant to them – not necessarily me – that’s why they hire consultants.  It has to be measurable, make a difference and move the company from here to there. 

And finally rigor – it has to be good, hard, fun, quality, make a difference and meaningful, disciplined work.  It is a platform that takes them to the next level.

What are you doing to build relationships within your town team, customer base or division?  What is really relevant to them and their work – not you!  Can you go the extra mile with some rigor that could produce and innovation?  inspiration?  Here is to being at the right place – at the wrong time!