Pillars of Urgency - Pillar #2:

Pillar #2: Overtly State Why You Believe the Problem is Worth Solving.

How to Build Urgency and Jumpstart Change

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Have you discussed countless graphs and data sheets that clearly show a problem, yet your teachers seem paralyzed when it comes to changing their instructional practices?

Have multiple and repeated calls for change left your staff de-energized and with little confidence things will really get better?

Last week we learned to attack the problem directly by succinctly stating the problem.  But without a powerfully associated belief statement, your Urgency Message won't motivate a change.  Instead, it will be heard as a statement of blame.   
  
Welcome to the second of this series titled, Four Pillars of Urgency.

2. Overtly state why you believe the problem is worth solving.

  • How will changing our current practice yield a positive result?

  • If no one can convincingly articulate the value of solving the problem, few will contribute to the effort.

  • If the organization’s leaders take a passive role in helping people to see the value, you’re sunk.

Let’s look at this pillar in action through two very different approaches by a principal.

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Notice the shift in urgency regarding the content that is going to be covered. In the first statement, the principal passively notes that new ideas are possible. In the second introduction, the belief that better academic questioning techniques are needed to address students’ needs is crystal clear.

Give this a try at your next meeting and watch your teachers’ ears perk up and their focus sharpen instantly. Then come back next week as we address the third tip in our series, The Four Pillars of Urgency.