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International Christian school leaders, clarify and overcommunicate big ideas! Why?
- Because doing so helps staff flourish.
- Because doing so increases the likelihood that staff develop shared understanding and are inspired, aligned, and moving forward with achieving the mission.
- Because not doing so increases the likelihood that staff will be muddled, frustrated, misaligned, and underperforming.
- Because clarity, big ideas, and overcommunication are best practices.
You might be thinking, “What do you mean by big ideas?” As a leader, I think of myself as a teacher and the staff as my students. So when I think of big ideas, I think of enduring understandings. Here’s an example of a big idea: Christian education is about holistically flourishing in Jesus.
You might also be wondering, “Does using big ideas actually work?” For me, I’d say, “Yes!” Just like using big ideas (enduring understandings) helps students flourish, so big ideas help staff flourish.
When I use documented big ideas, discuss them with staff, refer to them in daily conversation, and use them to guide decision-making, I find that staff are more together, cohesive, effective. I also find that overcommunicating the big ideas keeps them in the forefront of everyone’s minds.
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But let me ask you, “What helps you clarify your big ideas?” What helps me includes writing them down, sharing them with others to get input, revising them, and field testing them.
And let me also ask you, “What are your big ideas (enduring understandings)?” Mine include:
(1) Get Flourishing Framework: Holistically flourishing means consistently experiencing passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources; and helping others do the same.
(2) Christ-Centered Purpose Statements Plan: Christian education is about holistically flourishing in Jesus, and Christ-centered purpose statements focus us on Christ and on holistically flourishing in Him.
(3) Christ-Centered Purpose Statements Plan: Good Christ-centered purpose statements are user-friendly—meaningful (aka inspiring), measurable, memorable, memorizable, easy to say, and easy to use.
(4) Curriculum Plan: Our curriculum is our plan for helping students holistically flourish in Jesus.
(5) Expected Student Outcomes Assessment Plan: Good ESOs describe what it looks like for our students to flourish and are academic and non-academic (see ACSI Inspire 1.4), measurable, memorable, memorizable, and countable on 1 hand; and good ESOs are mission-aligned.
(6) Financial Health Plan: Financial health is being able to consistently and sustainably meet our financial obligations and help our students, staff, and leaders holistically flourish—both current and future generations.
(7) Governance Plan: The governing body’s purpose is to ensure our students, staff, and leaders holistically flourish in Jesus—both current and future generations.
(8) Helping Students Grow Strong in the Lord: A caring, inquiry-based, inspiring, open, relational, respectful, and safe environment helps students increase their knowledge of, positive attitude towards, and faith in Jesus.
(9) Organizational Culture Map: Organizational culture can help us holistically flourish (think effective communication and healthy relationships) or can hinder us from holistically flourishing (think toxic culture).
(10) Personalized Flourishing Plan: Stop using a professional development plan, and start using a personalized flourishing plan that is designed to help you consistently experience each of the 5 elements of flourishing: passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources.
(11) Student Assessment Data Usage Plan: We use student assessment data to increase our students’ transformative learning—which helps our students flourish!
(12) Well-Being Culture Plan: Christian education is all about holistically flourishing in Jesus. Part of holistically flourishing for students, staff, and leaders is consistently experiencing resilient well-being.
So, how can you overcommunicate your big ideas? How can you keep the big ideas in the forefront of everyone’s minds? Things I’ve found helpful are documenting the big ideas, starting team meetings by reviewing relevant big ideas, and using big ideas as the focus of staff training.
What about you? How do you feel about clarifying and overcommunicating big ideas? What are your big ideas? How can you overcommunicate you big ideas?
Get flourishing!
Michael
P.S. If you’d like help in developing big ideas, feel free to contact me.
Get Flourishing 