Provision #681: Entertainment
Matters
by Bob Tschannen-Moran
Laser Provision
What does entertainment have to do with leadership? By the end of this
Provision you may be surprised to find out the connection. Entertainment opens
up people to new ideas, to hard truths, to learning frameworks, and to
productive engagement. What more could a leader or organization want? If you
wonder what it means to work smarter, rather than harder, then read on. It may
just mean having a little more fun.
LifeTrek Provision
I wrote
last week's Provision,
Education
Matters, while sitting in the passenger seat of our car, en route to the
Chautauqua Institution in western New York
State. The theme of my Provision was a natural, given the importance of
education to both leadership and Chautauqua. That was especially true last week,
since the program included many leaders in education who were speaking on the
subject of "excellence in public education."
The week turned out to be rich beyond compare. Not only did we learn a lot about
many creative, leading edges in education today, including several international
perspectives, but we gave our new book,
Evocative
Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time, to many
leaders in the field of education who may not have otherwise discovered the
book.
We came away with a clear sense that our book was both timely and on track.
There is more recognition than ever before that teachers need to be responsible
for both the performance of their students and also for their own performance
improvement. There is no way to "teacher-proof" the curriculum and there are no
one-size-fits-all solutions to the challenges that face educators today.
"Every teacher an innovator" may well be the message of the week, and it is a
message that dovetails nicely with
Evocative
Coaching. We, too, encourage coaches and teachers to generate and adopt
tailor-made teaching strategies that work for them, in their settings and
classrooms, processing in the present for optimum effectiveness. Practices
become "best practices" only when they are fitted to the needs of individual
teachers and students.
Coaches know all about the power of such adaptive learning strategies. You might
say it is our stock and trade. But it is still wonderful to have that message
confirmed, one speaker after another, on the august platforms of Chautauqua. I
came away thinking, "Evocative
Coaching stands a chance of catching on and making a difference." Time
will tell.
Now I am sitting in the passenger seat again, writing my next Provision in our
series on leadership. If you read last week's Provision, then you know that I
set up this Provision to focus on enjoyment. Education without enjoyment is no
education at all. It's indoctrination or even punishment. And that's not good
for anyone at any age.
I made an almost last-minute decision, however, to change the title of this
Provision to "Entertainment Matters." That's because the last speaker of the
week, Mark Roosevelt, Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, was
clearly the best received even though his message was not that different from other
speakers of the week. Why? The entertainment factor.
Roosevelt started his speech by observing that after hearing all the other
speakers he decided to throw away most of his speech. Why? Because what he
planned on saying had already been said. Faced with that situation, Roosevelt
quipped that "I feel a little bit like the seventh husband of Elizabeth Taylor. I
know exactly what to do, I just don't know how to make it interesting."
That one brought down the house. As did his later comment about the challenge
many students, and many adults, experience trying to learn fractions. "I'd
like to get my hands on one of the best T-shirts I ever saw," he said. "It read, 'Five out of
every four adults don't understand
fractions.'" Sweet.
Roosevelt distinguished himself as the best speaker of the week because he had a
great message combined with humility and a great sense of humor. He made
learning fun, even when his topic was sobering and even distressing as to the
state of education in America today. It may be working well for the top 5% (the
haves) but it is not working well enough for the other 95% (the have-nots).
Great leaders put together that same combination: competence, humility, and
humor. Enjoyment is not just another word for engagement, although enjoyable
learning is always engaging. Enjoyment means that we are laughing, crying,
smiling, and having fun in the process of doing whatever it is we are doing. In
other words, we are both engaged and entertained.
Entertainment has always been part of the Chautauqua experience. We listen to
lectures and participate in workshops, but we also play board games and go to
concerts. We kayak on the lake and work jigsaw puzzles. No one is required to
have fun, but everyone manages to have their share. It is an essential part of
the learning experience.
The root meanings of entertainment are fascinating: "to hold the attention of
pleasantly or agreeably; to show hospitality; to admit into the mind; to
support." The opposite of entertainment? Boredom and rejection.
No wonder entertainment is such a fundamental part of great leadership. All
leaders are change agents. Managers may be content with running things as they
are; leaders want to make things better than they are. And better implies
change.
So how do we avoid stirring up resistance when it comes to change?
Entertainment! It is impossible to be having fun and to be stressed out at the
same time. Fun and stress are on opposite ends of the spectrum. When people are
having fun the limbic system calms down, assuming there must not be any imminent
dangers or threats to worry about.
Entertainment plays that function whenever it comes to innovation. The two go
hand in hand. My son works at a leading research and development company. He
loves his job. Why? It's a fun place to work. The challenges are engaging, yes,
but there is also a culture of play that nurtures their natural creativity and
curiosity.
Recently, my son turned Wednesdays into
board game days . He didn't have to get permission from anyone; he just
announced that anyone who was so inclined could bring board games to work and go
into an open meeting room to play, around 4:30 in the afternoon. Now that that
has become established, Tuesdays have become Frisbee golf days. From 4:30-7:00,
a group knocks off from the tasks at hand to have fun together.
Now some companies might view that as dereliction of duty. In fact, I have
provided consulting and coaching services to companies that expected everyone to
work until 7 PM or later. Why? There was so much to do! How can anyone play when
there were so many deadlines, pressures, and competitors?
My son's company turns that question around. How can anyone not play when
there are so many deadlines, pressures, and competitors? Play – entertainment
-- is what keeps not only the creative but also the productive juices
flowing.
Who wants to slave away all day at a job we hate in order to go home to a life we love?
It's far better to love your whole life, and just your home life, because sooner
or later the one you hate will contaminate the one you love. You may be able to
do that for a while, but there's no way to do that forever. That's simply one of
those unwritten but natural laws.
Understanding that law, great leaders make sure they keep entertainment on their
radar screens. First, they carry themselves lightly. Second, they introduce
humor without insulting people. And third, they encourage people like my son to
make the workplace as entertaining as possible.
That's what makes Chautauqua such a wonderful place to go on vacation. It's both
educational and entertaining. Throw in productive, and you've got the secret of
dynamic workplaces and leadership everywhere.
Coaching Inquiries: How entertaining is your workplace? How entertaining are
you? What would assist you to lighten up and have more fun? What challenges and
puzzles would you enjoy playing with? How could you become more curious and
creative? Who makes you laugh? How could you spend more time with that person?
To reply to this Provision, use our
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talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization,
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
and materials sent in each week by the readers of LifeTrek Provisions. They do
not necessarily reflect the perspective of LifeTrek Coaching International. To
submit your comment, use our Feedback Form or
Email Bob.
Thanks for the reminder that vacations are so valuable. My latest one was a week in Gettysburg,
learning about the Civil War, with 300 others. Will be back next year for the
same conference. Wonderful people, superb program and speakers, good food, who
could ask for more?
I received your book
today and it is as beautiful "in person" as on the website. You must be so
proud. It really is rich and (seemingly) all encompassing. You guys are going to
rock the education world. Congratulations, once again! I look forward to diving
into it.
Discovering your book through the Center for School
Transformation was a joy. I was teaching on Friday .. a day of casual relief
teaching at a local school where I myself used to teach many years ago. So long
ago in fact, that some of the students there are the sons and daughters of
students who also attended the school and whom I once taught. :) It is a
small, community school of only 130 or so students from Prep to Year 12 (5 years
old to 18).
Some of the practices and structures have changed there over the years, as state
curriculum requirements have been changed etc. But it remains a school where it
is (for me) a joy to spend some time, if they need a relief teacher for the day.
The school is run along truly democratic lines, with students, parents and
teachers as equal partners. There is a whole school meeting every morning that
is chaired and minuted by the students – even the littlies take their turn,
though usually with an older 'buddy' to write the minutes. :) And there is none
of the 'us versus them' nonsense that takes place in other mainstream high
schools.
Anyway, suffice to say it is the one high school environment in which I am happy
spending time. I have done relief teaching from time to time in other schools,
but find it too stressful to see that in many cases nothing much has changed in
classroom practice in the 30 years since I began my own teaching career! Your
book could not be coming along at a better time. Thanks.
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May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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