Blueprint Connections
Upstream Thinking . . . How to get early warning of the problem?
“To anticipate problems, we need eyes and ears in the environment. But we need to be cautious about what we learn: Sometimes we may detect things that are not as they seem.” ~Dan Heath The above quote makes connections to the last two Blueprint Bulletin editions where uniting the right people and being “proximate” is …
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Upstream Thinking . . . Where to find a point of leverage?
“Upstream change often means fumbling our way forward, figuring out what works and what doesn’t and under what conditions.” ~ Dan Heath W. Edward Deming, the father of the quality improvement process, is often quoted as saying, “Each system is perfectly designed to get the result it gets.” In the case of schools, many of …
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Upstream Thinking . . . How to Change the System
“Part of every social-sector organization’s mission should be to push upstream. To prevent wounds as well as bandage them; to eliminate injustice as well as assisting those who suffered them.” ~ Dan Heath This past spring was a bandage situation for most districts. Many have taken lessons that they learned from the shutdown to make …
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Upstream Thinking . . . Uniting the Right People
“If we want to fix a big problem, we need to overhaul the system” ~Dan Heath When thinking about surrounding the problem with the right people and using data for learning as opposed to using data for inspection, what Blueprint connections come to mind? Early Blueprint adopters might think about the district and building networks …
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Upstream & Blueprint Connections
“Systems Thinkers shape a worldview based on the realization of interconnectedness.” ~ Pearl Zhu Dan Heath uses Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) improved graduation rates as an example in his book. CPS’ graduation rate was 52% in 1997. By shifting to upstream thinking, eliminating problem blindness, taking ownership for the problem, and putting systems in place, …
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