“We think we need to change the results, but the results are not the problem.When you solve problems at the results level, you only solve them temporarily. In order to improve for good you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves.
You do not rise to the level of your goals, your fall to the levels of your systems.”
~ James Clear, Atomic Habits
I’m re-listening to Atomic Habits, and this time I’m bookmarking sections and taking notes.
Relating this idea of, “Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves,” to students and schools, I think we often focus on the outputs. A simple example is homework incompletion: A student doesn’t do the homework, what do you do? Make them do the homework they missed.
On the surface this is a good idea. The best consequence for not doing the work is doing the work. But when this issue is chronic, and the teacher is constantly making the same student do the work after the fact, then that teacher is dealing with the output constantly, when the issue is the input. Why isn’t the homework getting done in the first place?
Maybe the student is overloaded with activities or a work schedule that doesn’t allow much time for homework.
Maybe the homework isn’t seen as helpful to the student.
Maybe the student doesn’t see the value in the homework, and thinks it’s not helpful.
Maybe the student prefers to do the homework after it’s due because they know they can sit with the teacher and get help, which they don’t get at home.
Maybe the student lacks the habits that makes homework achievable. Especially when they get unlimited time to play video games at home. Maybe the structure of being forced to do it later is the only structure they have in place to get the work done.
Maybe the teacher is giving that student too much homework and it takes too long to do.
Maybe there is a totally different reason. But here is the thing, if the homework is chronically late, chasing the student to do the work later isn’t solving the problem, it’s just trying to fix a problem with the results that you are getting.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, your fall to the levels of your systems.”
On a personal note, I’m working on systems at work to stay focused on a single task rather than being distracted by trying to do too many things at once. This is challenging in an environment with constant distractions and a multitude of priorities – both my own and from others. I’ll share more on this later, but for now, the thing that I’m realizing is that it’s the inputs I need to work on. The systems I put in place set me up for good results or leave me chasing results when I don’t have those systems working for me.
