Tag Archives: experience

Cultural perspective

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I shared a few stories with a colleague yesterday about my time living in China. I spoke about the T.I.C. moments we had there… an acronym that we foreigners created for the term, ‘This is China!’

TIC moments had one of two distinct qualities. Either it was something that we experienced which would have been simple to do back home, but seemed impossible to get done in China, or vice versa, an experience that would never happen back home but was surprisingly simple to do in China.

Some of these things led to being flabbergasted and frustrated, others led to delight, laughter, or joy. I’m not going to share any specifics now. I have shared some in the past and I’ll share more later. Why I’m bring this up is to reflect on how valuable that experience was. To move to another country and to experience these unexpected moments of delight and frustration provided a perspective of how different cultures are.

It allowed us put some perspective on our own culture in a way that made us less judgmental and more open. It helped us realize that differences are to be celebrated, and that common sense is not always common, but kindness is. TIC moments were eye-opening experiences. Sometimes they made us feel like we entered a whole new world, other times they reminded us that deep down we are all the same.

Travel in general does that to you. It opens your eyes to how others live, why they believe what they believe, and yet helps us see the commonalities we all have. Cultural perspective requires experiencing the world from constructs outside your own culture. Travel allows you to recognize your biases, your norms, and even your privilege. And in the end your perspective on the world and all its inhabitants gets richer, along with your appreciation for others who come from different cultures.

Office referrals

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I’ve repeatedly said what a privilege it was to start my teaching career where I did. I was surrounded by new and truly great teachers whom I got to grow up with. Some of them are still my closest friends today, and many of them are principals. Even the ones who didn’t go the route of administration, are still great teacher leaders today.

One benefit of entering the profession in this incredible environment is that we had a culture of sharing and cooperation, and it was common to see another teacher or the principal or vice principal visit classrooms. If the VP walked into your room, you didn’t stop teaching, you kept going until a good stopping point. In fact, the VP might even contribute to the lesson.

Another aspect of this is that we barely ever sent anyone to the office. In 9 years at a middle school I can only remember sending 2 students to the office, there might have been more, but like I mentioned in my post, “The 4 ‘D’s leading to office discipline”, I could count my office referrals on one hand. But the point I want to make here was also mentioned in that post but not explicitly discussed.

When you get into administration of a school, one of the most shocking things you’ll encounter is that some teachers use the administration as part of their classroom management strategy. Coming from the environment I did, teachers managed their classroom and something ‘really serious’ had to happen before a student was sent to the office. Other than that, we figured things out.

My first assignment as VP was filled with office referrals that shocked me. I can’t tell you how many times I thought to myself, ‘That’s it? That’s all this kid did? And that’s why he’s in my office?’ This was my biggest adjustment, a huge realization of how amazing my first 9 years were at Como Lake Middle School. We had a culture of learning and caring that was significantly above the norm, and so ‘normal’ felt insufficient.

I currently work at schools where I find that not only are office referrals appropriate, but I’ll often get a ‘heads-up’ of a potential issue, and then that issue could still get handled without me. But my first VP job was a shocker. The adjustment I had to make was to not make unhealthy comparisons to my previous experience. Yes, this issue would have been handled differently at Como Lake, but things are different here.

It was a hard transition, to be supportive and not judgmental. Like I said before, “In my eyes, sending a kid to the office was essentially telling the kid, “I cant manage you,” which takes away any leverage I may have the next time this student has any challenging behaviour.”

Now, the complaints I deal with for my online school are often ones where parents are already involved, making the situation a bit more complicated before they get to me. Or at Inquiry Hub, kids are sent to me to solve good problems… they want to do a project that needs special permission or considerations. I love solving problems where my biggest challenge is, how do I get to ‘Yes’? How do I solve this problem so that our students can benefit? These are by far my favourite office referrals… rather than doling out consequences for inappropriate behaviour.

Time under tension

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One of the principles of exercising to develop muscle is time under tension. How much time are you working the muscle for?

Learning is similar. For how long are we challenging ourselves before giving up?

Resilience is similar. We cannot strengthen our resilience unless we face things that are challenging us for longer than we could previously tolerate.

I think sometimes we focus too much on making experiences easier, when what we really need is to create greater time under tension.

Show me don’t tell me

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I can’t imagine that resumes and cover letters are going to look the same in the next few years. Basically, with everyone using AI to enhance or even completely write these documents, they aren’t going to stand out all that easily. And furthermore, the jobs people will be applying for will not be the same either. And so I think two things are going to become far more used to hire, both of which go far beyond a resume and cover letter.

Both of these hiring approaches involve ‘Showing me’ what you can do. First, show me that you have credentials pertaining to the skills we want to see in our employee. Secondly, show us what this looks like on a temporary contract, so that we know hiring you is going to work out.

What credentials do you have? What specific training can you show us in a job interview test? And now let’s have you try the job out for a few months and then do a hiring assessment. So no more resumes and cover letters, just fill out this smart form with hierarchy tree’d questions that dig deeper when you show credentials that we are looking for, and skips those questions when you don’t have evidence of certifications or experience. Some questions require skills in a particular field that need to be answered, and the questions get progressively harder.

Bye-bye resumes and cover letters, hello to showing me what you can do in an interview. The resume is replaced by a form. Credentials get you an interview. The cover letter changes to uncovering your skills in an interview. If you don’t have experience, you better have credentials or micro credentials. While a university degree will still be an asset, it’s just one of many credentials that will matter. And even with all this, you will still need to show, to demonstrate, that you are right for the job before a long term agreement to hire will be made.

Experience is something you get right after you need it.

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Ever notice how many jobs say, “Experience required”? Who are all these experienced workers looking for new jobs?

How many jobs want you to have a degree first? I understand a doctor, nurse, lawyer, architect, or engineer needing a degree, but how many corporate jobs really need a prospective employee to have a degree?

I love the quote, “Experience is something you get right after you need it.”

At some point in your life you are going to learn something on the job. You are going to figure it out either just when you need to… or just after you’ve messed up the first attempt.

Hiring is going to change. You aren’t going to see companies focusing on degrees and academic accolades. Instead, you’ll see people with micro credentials or niche skills being hired because they have learned skills that directly relate to the job expectations. Or you’ll see jobs being offered on a trial basis and companies willing to hire based on characteristics like flexibility, ingenuity, and creativity. ‘Come try this out for a 3 month contract, and we’ll see if you’ve a) Got a good head on your shoulders, and b) Fit with our community and values.’

Don’t worry about experience, you’ll get on the job. Just come with the right attitude and an affinity for the job. The first time you try something, that’s when you’ll get the experience. Before that, it’s not schooling or past experience, it’s evidence that you are a learner and you are willing to put in an honest effort. That’s what will get you hired.

What happens in between

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Well, today is my first day going back to work after the summer break. While the first day of school isn’t here yet, I will restart my regular morning routines and get myself ready for the craziness of September. This time of year always comes with excitement and a touch of nervousness. What will the new year bring? What’s in store for the next year?

Preparation starts in the mind, it begins as a seed of promise waiting to blossom. It will be a great year.

Then the actual planning begins. But the reality is that preparation only takes you so far, then it’s up to you and your team to execute; to hit the ground running; to make the students feel welcome… and to help your students see the potential for the great year ahead that you see.

And it all starts today.

It’s also time for something else. Tonight my youngest daughter returns from a 100 day trip to Europe. This is the longest she has been away from home, and after a fabulous adventure she is on her first of two flights back to us. It has been amazing to follow along on her Instagram travel account, and also get occasional early morning video calls of her sharing her location and what she’s doing. Seeing tiny snippets of her day.

As my new school year begins, my daughter’s European adventure comes to an end. It’s a reminder of the cycles we go through, the starts and finishes. We often focus on the beginnings and endings, the big calendar events….

What’s important to remember is that the adventure is what happens in between.

Going beyond ‘Reconnect, Reminisce, and Repeat’.

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I got away with a buddy to go fishing for a couple hours on Wednesday. It was part of a bigger day together, and we didn’t fish for long, or catch anything. But we connected and had an adventurous day. Good food, good company, and good scouting for a future fishing trip.

It’s one of the things he and I talk about, which is the idea of connecting for experiences. When you don’t see a good friend regularly, it might be easy to ‘pick back up where you left off’ and feel connected. But it can also feel like that’s all you do… Reconnect, reminisce, and repeat.

We didn’t plan a whole day of fishing, we took advantage of the resources and time available to us and made the most of it with a new experience. We didn’t just talk about the things we’ve done or hope to do, we had an excursion. Too often we think planing and organizing needs to be a drawn out part of connecting, with an event planned on some distant future date.

Last night another buddy texted to see what I was up to and just over an hour later I was sitting on his balcony. Then we walked to a delicious dinner. This was so refreshing compared to, “What are you doing next week Friday?”

Plans don’t need to be big, and novelty and newness make for great experiences. Also, last minute plans can be so much more fun than the bigger, much more planned events can be. Novelty keeps the experiences new enough that they become the things we talk about years from now.

Planning an adventure

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A friend was talking about an upcoming trip and the enthusiasm and excitement he shared was contagious. It got me thinking about how differently I think of trip planning. For him it is literally part of the adventure. For me, it often feels like work.

This was insightful. I’ve got it all backwards. For me the excitement comes when I arrive at the destination. For him the adventure begins long before that. I’m missing out, a simple shift in perspective would give me far more joy. The journey begins with planning.

We don’t need more inputs

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I heard a quote on a podcast today and I really felt it: The podcast is Jimmy Carr on Chris Willamson’s Modern Wisdom:

“The answers you’re looking for is in the silence you’re avoiding. You need fewer inputs, not more.”

How often do we seek answers externally when what we should be doing is looking inward?

Mind-body connection

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Sometimes I spend too much time in my head. To anyone that knows me, this is not a surprise. It started young. I could spend hours with my imagination and not get bored. In some ways it’s a superpower and in others my Kryptonite.

One of the positive byproducts is that in high stress situations I can keep my calm. I can sit ‘in my head’ and assess things without really raising my anxiety. This has been something that has proven quite useful.

One of the negative byproducts is that sometimes I miss things, I lack awareness or even emotion. I can be distant and unaware. Sometimes that unawareness extends to my own body. I don’t feel a mind-body connection. This can be challenging in a couple ways. Emotionally it can mean that I feel my emotions in my head, more like a thought than a feeling. Physically it can mean that I don’t know how to focus my strength in a workout, and I don’t necessarily feel the muscle I’m trying to work on.

I think these are things I can improve, and I do, but change is slow, and I don’t always want to put the effort in. I more often than not just prefer to live in my head. This can make it challenging for me in new social environments. It’s also what helps me not worry about what others think and allows me to be myself.

Still, if there are a couple places that I could definitely improve, they would be a better connection to my body, and to others… basically better engagement beyond my head.