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Get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal! Why?
(1) Because clarity and creating value helps you and others flourish.
(2) Because getting clear increases the likelihood that value will actually be created in terms of deep change (in terms of institutional effectiveness) and in terms of people flourishing (by experiencing 1 or more of the 5 elements of flourishing: passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources).
(3) Because not getting clear increases the likelihood that value won’t be created, that no change or nominal change will happen, and that people will get frustrated and irritated with school improvement. Not good.
(4) Because getting clear and creating value are best practices.
Think of it this way: It’s much easier to actually create value when you know what you want to create. Or to put it another way, “Without a clear and shared picture of the value you’re trying to create, the project is doomed” (Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, loc 561). Ouch!
So, how can you get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? What comes to mind for me is (1) purpose, (2) parameters, and (3) the practice of collaboratively generating a vision script. Let me explain:
(1) Purpose: Establish a galvanizing purpose for all your school improvement efforts. Here’s mine: To get students, staff, and leaders holistically flourishing in Jesus.
(2) Parameters: Define the parameters for creating value, for example: The value created must…
- Be aligned with the overall purpose for school improvement.
- Be based on an improvement plan that is completed on time and within budget (not on a plan that is not completed, or is late, or is over budget).
- Be deep change (not nominal change). Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement goal (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education). And deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms of practices that increase institutional effectiveness.
- Get people flourishing during and after the implementation of the plan, further cultivating a flourishing culture. Flourishing means (A) that people consistently experience 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and (B) that people consistently help others do the same.
(3) Practice: Collaboratively identify the value you want a given improvement goal to create, documenting it in a vision script format: 1-2 paragraphs that use present tense verbs and that describe 5-15 specifics of the value you want to create in terms of deep change and getting people flourishing.
Before starting, review sample vision scripts. Here’s a sample vision script for an improvement goal to increase compensation and benefits:
| We experience increased compensation and an enhanced benefits package that includes a wellness program, a pension/401k, and more funds for professional development. The new compensation and benefits package is… (1) Based on accessible, transparent, and equitable policies and practices (and these policies and practices are reviewed annually). (2) Monitored by additional qualified staff who enable us to stay current with best practices regarding compensation and benefits. (3) Clearly and repeatedly communicated, resulting in shared understanding regarding compensation and benefits. We have increased retention, and we are better able to attract more qualified candidates. We are flourishing (for example, in terms of professional growth), able to stay in Christian education for our careers, and able to retire well. Feeling more valued, we experience increased passionate purpose in terms of commitment to the mission and to helping each other holistically flourish in Jesus. We experience increased morale and unity. |
And before starting, consider using these 3 ChatGPT prompts:
- ChatGPT Prompt 1 applies the above parameters to an improvement goal. It will help you see what happens when value is and isn’t created. Exhilarating and scary!
- ChatGPT Prompt 2 will help you see what deep change could look like for a given improvement goal.
- ChatGPT Prompt 3 will help you see what both deep change and getting people flourishing could look like for a given improvement goal.
*Note: When using a given ChatGPT prompt, you will need to insert the improvement goal you are working on toward the bottom of each prompt—see purple print.
| ChatGPT Prompt 1: Act as an international Christian school consultant who specializes in school improvement. You believe that school improvement should create value, and you have developed a 4-level model to assess the value created. Here’s the 4-level model: Level 1: The improvement plan is completed (but it’s late and/or over budget). Level 2: The improvement plan is completed within parameters for time and cost (but does not result in deep change or in people flourishing). Level 3: The improvement plan is completed within parameters and results in deep change. Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement plan (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education), and deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms practices that increase institutional effectiveness. Level 4: The improvement plan is completed within parameters, results in deep change, and results in people flourishing during and after the implementation of the plan, further cultivating a flourishing culture. Flourishing means that people consistently experience 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and means that people consistently help others do the same. Remember, (A) only include 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing and (B) specify what this looks like both during and after plan implementation. Now, please apply the model to an improvement goal on _____. For each of the 4 levels, write 4 or more sentences describing the results. Use present tense verbs and give 5-15 specific descriptions for each level. |
| ChatGPT Prompt 2: Act as an international Christian school consultant who specializes in school improvement. You believe that for school improvement to result in deep, lasting change (for example, practices that increase institutional effectiveness), school improvement must address 1 or more root causes of a given improvement goal such as the following 6: (1) Unhelpful mindsets: fixed mindset, closed mindset, survive mindset (2) Insufficient staffing (3) Inadequate policies and processes, at the board and/or administrative levels (4) Faulty assumptions and misunderstandings regarding the improvement goal (5) A lack of training/expertise (6) Insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education related to the improvement goal. Apply your belief regarding root causes to a school improvement goal on _____. Identify 5 specific examples for each of the 6 root causes listed above. Next, 5 ways to address each of the 6 root causes listed above. This means you will provide a total of 30 examples of root causes and a total of 30 ways to address root causes, OK? |
| ChatGPT Prompt 3: Act as a consultant for international Christian schools. We have an improvement goal, and as a result of working our improvement goal, we want to see 2 things: (1) We want to see deep change. Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement goal (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education), and deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms practices that increase institutional effectiveness. (2) We want to see people flourishing. Flourishing means that people consistently experience the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and means that people consistently help others do the same. Now for our improvement goal on _____, identify 20 specific examples of deep change. Next, identify 5 examples of each of the 5 elements of flourishing during the implementation, and then 5 examples each of the 5 elements of flourishing after the implementation. |
Here are some related resources:
- How galvanizing is your purpose for improvement?
- Leaders, what 3 things can you do to be even more successful at school improvement?
- Your accreditation visit is done—so your next step is to update your improvement plan, right? Nope!
- International Christian school leaders, 70% of change initiatives are unsuccessful! How can you avoid your change initiative being part of that 70%?
- What steps have you taken in the past 12 months that actually helped you and your international Christian school colleagues do school improvement better?
- At your international Christian school, what does and doesn’t help you and your colleagues improve?
And here’s what else I’m learning about creating value from Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager:
- “You’ve got to make sure that everybody sees the same picture of your project’s outcome. Its value must be clear and unquestionable to the people involved” (loc 567).
- “It’s a strange world, but often projects are called successful if they end on time and stay on budget. Oddly enough, achieving an important, worthwhile, or useful outcome is rarely mentioned! It’s as if you were to make dinner on time and on budget but serve up lousy food nobody wants to eat. But you could still claim, ‘My project succeeded!’” (loc 279)
- “Here’s how to lead your project: First, we SCOPE the project to define its value to the people who will benefit from it. Then we PLAN how to achieve it. We ENGAGE people to give their best to the work, revisiting the plan as necessary. And we TRACK & ADAPT throughout to ensure we’re always heading for value. Finally, we CLOSE the project and celebrate success and lessons learned” (loc 497).
- “…the main measure of success is the value delivered to stakeholders—people” (loc 2251).
How about you? How do you feel about getting clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? How can you get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal? What will you do?
Bottom line: Get clear on the value you want to create through a given improvement goal!
Get flourishing!
Michael
Get Flourishing 
