CEOs don't call on middle managers. Presidents don't rush to the aid of state congressmen. But if you ask any sixth grader who's at the top of the food chain, he'll explain to you that when the great lions die, they get eaten by bugs.
Yesterday, I had the great privilege of sitting at the feet of three God-fearing women with big Texas hair at the Deeper Still conference in Denver. Three generations of women (Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Schirer) and 5,000 women from 41 states and Canada were there with me and Priscilla's talk about 2 Kings 13 seemed meant for me. King Jehoash was ruling over Israel during the time Elisha the prophet was on his deathbed. Jehoash went to Elisha's bedside (unheard of) and addressed him as "my father, my father!" (a spiritual title conveying extraordinary respect). Elisha told the king to pick up his bow and arrows, shoot them out the window and into the ground. When the king had the bow in hand, Elisha put his hands over the king's and watched as the king fired off three arrows.
Elisha was angry. He told the king he could have fully defeated Syria if he had emptied his quiver, but instead he would be granted three small victories in battle instead of full defeat (which would take another 15 years). Priscilla went on to ask us some spiritual questions that seemed as relevant in corporate life as they did in Bible study.
What arrows are in your quiver right now?
The Bible is full of examples of God using provision when we offer it to Him fully. He fed 5,000 people with a little boy's lunch. He used Moses' walking stick to part the Red Sea. He continuously offers us the opportunity to partner with Him, but only if we're all the way in. How does this apply in corporations? Employees feel disconnected and undervalued. They don't have the forum to be all the way in. Our God is the God of work as much as He's the God of home. He wants us to work as though we're working for Him, so why don't corporations understand, reward and unleash the full talent pool of their employees?
Why are you holding back today?
The king was doing something that probably looked foolish. Firing arrows out a window into the ground expecting this to cause the defeat of a mighty army is a bad idea, but our God is mighty. Costco pays their employees almost double that of Wal-Mart and has been equally and occasionally more profitable because of increased employee satisfaction and retention. Google gives its engineers paid time to do whatever they're passionate about and such off-book time resulted in some of Google's top sites including Google Maps and Google Finance. Employees want to give business their all and do a great job. The culture of the organization will help them thrive or wilt. If employees are willing to look foolish on the brink of trying something big, breakthroughs can happen.
Elisha, representing God, waited for the king to put his hands on the bow and arrow first. Elisha told him to, but didn't do it for him. So often this is where employees get stuck. Have employees in your organization been slapped down or ignored with initiatives they've taken in the past? What rewards are waiting? Do they know and trust their leadership? Elisha's word to the king was not "Do what I'm telling you to win this battle, then the war, then defeat Syria which will save countless lives and undue heartache." it was "Do what I'm telling you." God takes the same approach with us. Because He's already worthy of our trust, He doesn't have to reprove anything. Sometimes, He is gracious and will connect the dots for us in advance but He never has to. How do your employees view you? Have you consistently earned their trust over and over?
What are you holding back?
Corporations are not God. They're run by people and people will fail us sooner or later. So how do we reconcile working as though we're working for God, when we have bosses and rules and deadlines to meet? Her point seemed to be to rest in God's plan, to allow Him to drive and wake up every day without our own agenda. I make checklists to keep track of my other checklists. The idea of not having a plan makes me twitch. But I also know the difference between my boss and the Boss of all Bosses. My boss is a nice guy and I work for a good company. I spend considerably more time recruiting people in than I ever would looking outside. But the odds of anyone fulfilling God's promises falsely were 157 trillion to 1. So how could I not trust Him to know the right answers? He knows the numbers of hairs on my head, so I assume He also knows my sales goals. With that confidence, I can move forward to achieve what I know He's put in front of me.
Who else is on the team?
Elisha was on his deathbed, and the bow and arrow would have been too heavy for the king to manage and also open the window. So there must have been at least one other person (either an attendant of the king's or of Elisha's) in the room. Elisha was going to pass away shortly thereafter and that just left the king and the attendant to know what happened. Perhaps the king didn't want the attendant to speak of this foolish act. Or perhaps he would have been more brave if the attendant weren't watching. For me, I think about the many, many people in my life who've been there to "open the window" over the years. My mom. My best friend Fayoke. My prayer partners. My Toastmasters club. My boss. My teammates. My neighbors. My workout buddy. My pastor. On and on. I love feeding their souls too. For employees, so much focus is put on teams, teams, teams. Often this is frustrating when one person isn't carrying his weight or is stealing all the credit. But what happens when teams work? When people who aren't on board get their energies redirected? When people stop focusing on what they do poorly and start focusing on what they do well? When they're empowered to say "I can't hold the bow and open the window at the same time- I need you!"
I loved the teaching at Deeper Still. It wasn't a perfect correlation from Bible study to work but I left feeling empowered. For those of us not called into ministry as a full time job, I wanted to give God permission to move. He is gracious and powerful in ways I can't understand. He allows me to tell Him no when I think the cost may be too high even when my yes would bless me in ways I can't even imagine. I'm heading back to work tomorrow with my quiver full and ready to pour out everything I have for my company so that my King may be glorified.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Does religion belong on your CV?
I think we both know the answer to this question. The answer's yes or no.
I was on a chat board the other day and somebody asked this question. 99:1, people said no. Some of them even called me names for thinking otherwise. I may be naive, but I'm actually pretty glad I'm in the other 1%.
My professional career is 9 years long. I've had several entry going up to mid-senior level positions. I have my education, leadership training, specialized skills. I also have a section on community service, volunteer work, and other paid and unpaid positions that show I can recruit, train, lead, motivate, deploy and be accountable. One of the areas I find particularly easy to do that is church, partially because I love it there and partially because I've had the profound good fortune to be part of congregations led by visionary ministers who empower laypeople.
I said yes, it belongs, because I feel what I bring to my church is pretty applicable to my skill set at work, or at the very least reveals some interesting and appropriate references to my character. The part of me that would say leave it off is the same part of me that would say leave anything off that doesn't directly benefit your employer. I'd even take that a step farther and add, if your religion is important to you in a way that it will probably come up in conversations with coworkers, you should put it on intentionally to see your future employer's reaction. People will tell you that the most important part of a job interview is getting the offer, but I disagree. I think it's only fair that you interview the company back. You're going to be spending 40 hours a week, maybe more, and maybe much more with these people. You may travel for them. You may commit to late nights working on projects or give up time with your friends and family for this job. Don't you owe it to yourself to make sure they're a good fit for you?
I actually like interviewing, both sides of it. I like meeting new people, I enjoy the conversations around what makes people tick. And overwhelmingly, I like to figure out if the person who's going to hire me shares my values, has their own big dreams, and is someone I would consider a mentor.
If you're just a pew-filler, of course leave it off your resume. If any activity doesn't directly add value, it doesn't fit. But my challenge to you is why would you be part of anything and not connect to their vision? Not everyone can (or should, or wants to) lead everything they're a part of, but get off the sidelines of life. It's a big world out there and you'll enjoy everything about it more if you can say what you're doing and why. You're more likely to find success and better still, find the connections who know why what's on your resume is just a sliver of everything you have to offer.
I was on a chat board the other day and somebody asked this question. 99:1, people said no. Some of them even called me names for thinking otherwise. I may be naive, but I'm actually pretty glad I'm in the other 1%.
My professional career is 9 years long. I've had several entry going up to mid-senior level positions. I have my education, leadership training, specialized skills. I also have a section on community service, volunteer work, and other paid and unpaid positions that show I can recruit, train, lead, motivate, deploy and be accountable. One of the areas I find particularly easy to do that is church, partially because I love it there and partially because I've had the profound good fortune to be part of congregations led by visionary ministers who empower laypeople.
I said yes, it belongs, because I feel what I bring to my church is pretty applicable to my skill set at work, or at the very least reveals some interesting and appropriate references to my character. The part of me that would say leave it off is the same part of me that would say leave anything off that doesn't directly benefit your employer. I'd even take that a step farther and add, if your religion is important to you in a way that it will probably come up in conversations with coworkers, you should put it on intentionally to see your future employer's reaction. People will tell you that the most important part of a job interview is getting the offer, but I disagree. I think it's only fair that you interview the company back. You're going to be spending 40 hours a week, maybe more, and maybe much more with these people. You may travel for them. You may commit to late nights working on projects or give up time with your friends and family for this job. Don't you owe it to yourself to make sure they're a good fit for you?
I actually like interviewing, both sides of it. I like meeting new people, I enjoy the conversations around what makes people tick. And overwhelmingly, I like to figure out if the person who's going to hire me shares my values, has their own big dreams, and is someone I would consider a mentor.
If you're just a pew-filler, of course leave it off your resume. If any activity doesn't directly add value, it doesn't fit. But my challenge to you is why would you be part of anything and not connect to their vision? Not everyone can (or should, or wants to) lead everything they're a part of, but get off the sidelines of life. It's a big world out there and you'll enjoy everything about it more if you can say what you're doing and why. You're more likely to find success and better still, find the connections who know why what's on your resume is just a sliver of everything you have to offer.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Cheerleader
It's been a long time since I was in high school. I've tried to remember whether it was the same then as it is now, whether the 12th graders I just finished teaching Junior Achievement to understand how timeless some institutions are and how much others change.
A lot of the same stereotypes still apply - there were jocks and nerds and shy types, Goth girls and artists, kids trying to get attention and acting like they didn't want it at the same time. Junior Achievement's goal is to raise a financially literate generation. My goal as a volunteer is for these kids to understand what actually happens in business.
We talked about networking and hard skills and cult personalities. We talked about different ways to win. I asked them about the connections they have now, and two girls who were sitting next to each other and played on the same soccer team acted like it was odd to think they might have a connection post-high school. Too many of the students I've had over the years think the opposite, that their connections will last a lifetime. There must be balance.
Which brings us to cheerleaders. I never thought much about them when I was in high school, I was friendly with the ones in my classes and never gave much thought to knowing whether captains of industry need to be able to do roundoffs. They were better athletes than people gave them credit for, and the ones who wiped the floor with me in organic chemistry shattered any myth circulating about their stupidity. My high school yearbooks have been gathering dust in my parents' basement ever since they rolled off the presses, and I think sometimes about all the late nights and long hours I spent selling ads, planning pages and thinking about that book. The cheerleaders were in there, and so was the math club and the Latin society and the soccer team. It was our story - together.
Cheerleaders are still important. I told my Junior Achievement kids a story about a coworker of mine who should have been a competitor. We have the same job, we're on the same team. He's won awards I haven't and even though by other measures I think I may be better, he's more promotable. He came to me confidentially and asked for my help to get a promotion. Not just a promotion to a job that already existed, but a job he wanted me to help create. So I did. We met for coffee a few hours before work. I poked every hole I could in his business plan and gave him my best idea to fix them. We talked strategy. Every opportunity to buy in was good for me.
The best cheerleaders are people who want their people to win. The cheerleaders didn't want to be on the field, just like I didn't want this particular job. But I wonder if it would have made a difference - I wanted this guy to win because that's what he wanted for himself.
Winners in business (and in life) are the people who have enough vision to go around. They have vision for themselves and vision for their friends. They dream big and offer everything they have to give without reservation. Some people are lucky to learn that in a lifetime. The ones who learn how to cheer in high school will find themselves surrounded by winners for the rest of their lives - people who buy into them back. No amount of money can buy sincere vision. And that's a piece of advice that should never gather dust.
A lot of the same stereotypes still apply - there were jocks and nerds and shy types, Goth girls and artists, kids trying to get attention and acting like they didn't want it at the same time. Junior Achievement's goal is to raise a financially literate generation. My goal as a volunteer is for these kids to understand what actually happens in business.
We talked about networking and hard skills and cult personalities. We talked about different ways to win. I asked them about the connections they have now, and two girls who were sitting next to each other and played on the same soccer team acted like it was odd to think they might have a connection post-high school. Too many of the students I've had over the years think the opposite, that their connections will last a lifetime. There must be balance.
Which brings us to cheerleaders. I never thought much about them when I was in high school, I was friendly with the ones in my classes and never gave much thought to knowing whether captains of industry need to be able to do roundoffs. They were better athletes than people gave them credit for, and the ones who wiped the floor with me in organic chemistry shattered any myth circulating about their stupidity. My high school yearbooks have been gathering dust in my parents' basement ever since they rolled off the presses, and I think sometimes about all the late nights and long hours I spent selling ads, planning pages and thinking about that book. The cheerleaders were in there, and so was the math club and the Latin society and the soccer team. It was our story - together.
Cheerleaders are still important. I told my Junior Achievement kids a story about a coworker of mine who should have been a competitor. We have the same job, we're on the same team. He's won awards I haven't and even though by other measures I think I may be better, he's more promotable. He came to me confidentially and asked for my help to get a promotion. Not just a promotion to a job that already existed, but a job he wanted me to help create. So I did. We met for coffee a few hours before work. I poked every hole I could in his business plan and gave him my best idea to fix them. We talked strategy. Every opportunity to buy in was good for me.
The best cheerleaders are people who want their people to win. The cheerleaders didn't want to be on the field, just like I didn't want this particular job. But I wonder if it would have made a difference - I wanted this guy to win because that's what he wanted for himself.
Winners in business (and in life) are the people who have enough vision to go around. They have vision for themselves and vision for their friends. They dream big and offer everything they have to give without reservation. Some people are lucky to learn that in a lifetime. The ones who learn how to cheer in high school will find themselves surrounded by winners for the rest of their lives - people who buy into them back. No amount of money can buy sincere vision. And that's a piece of advice that should never gather dust.
Friday, September 18, 2009
How to Get an Entry Level Job
Social networking has made recruiting immeasurably easier and harder for employers. It's easier because the whole world of active and passive candidates are on the table. It's harder because the whole world of active and passive candidates are on the table.
I've placed a lot of executives over the years. They pose their own set of challenges. But that's for another post. For now, I'm interested in helping entry level candidates get the job.
Five Rules For Entry-Level Candidates
1) Present your character, not your skill set.
At age 22, you don't have a ton of useful skills. Speaking Chinese or programming in C# is great. And unusual. The huge majority of candidates have traveled abroad, have decent grades, and were the treasurer of the marketing club at Central Michigan University. What employers are looking for is your ability to step up to challenges and solve problems.
2) Be friendly, polite and professional.
Three recent college grads answered a job ad I put up requesting entry level help. The first intro got my gender wrong, even though I had a picture on the ad. The second intro was somewhat rude and presumptive, asking for my contact info so she could send me a resume and schedule an interview without asking anything about the job or telling me anything about herself. The third candidate was polite. She actually sent me a resume with a misspelling on it (which I pointed out) and she apologized, explained it and fixed it. I asked her for an interview. That's character.
3) Tell the truth.
A candidate I was looking at claimed to have an MBA from the University of Ohio at Cincinnati, which was particularly interesting since there is no University of Ohio anywhere, particularly not in Cincinnati, which happens to be my hometown. Another candidate told me his biggest weakness was perfectionism, which I found interesting since his writing sample had two misspellings and three grammar mistakes.
4) Do as much research as you can, then ask interesting questions.
Job descriptions are often vague and very likely won't give you all the information you need. Find out what the company does, as much history as you can, and as many details about the position as you can. Do your homework. Find someone who works there and ask for a brief informational interview.
5) Understand that the answer to "Could you do me a favor?" is usually yes.
People, if they know what you need and are in a position to help you, usually will. The key here is to follow through. I made that mistake early in my career when a number of people offered introductions and other help and I didn't follow through, or later didn't know what to ask or how to ask for it. Everybody was entry level once and asking for help shouldn't be seen as overly aggressive and annoying. (Note to candidates: Don't be overly aggressive and annoying!)
Follow these steps and you'll be on your way!
I've placed a lot of executives over the years. They pose their own set of challenges. But that's for another post. For now, I'm interested in helping entry level candidates get the job.
Five Rules For Entry-Level Candidates
1) Present your character, not your skill set.
At age 22, you don't have a ton of useful skills. Speaking Chinese or programming in C# is great. And unusual. The huge majority of candidates have traveled abroad, have decent grades, and were the treasurer of the marketing club at Central Michigan University. What employers are looking for is your ability to step up to challenges and solve problems.
2) Be friendly, polite and professional.
Three recent college grads answered a job ad I put up requesting entry level help. The first intro got my gender wrong, even though I had a picture on the ad. The second intro was somewhat rude and presumptive, asking for my contact info so she could send me a resume and schedule an interview without asking anything about the job or telling me anything about herself. The third candidate was polite. She actually sent me a resume with a misspelling on it (which I pointed out) and she apologized, explained it and fixed it. I asked her for an interview. That's character.
3) Tell the truth.
A candidate I was looking at claimed to have an MBA from the University of Ohio at Cincinnati, which was particularly interesting since there is no University of Ohio anywhere, particularly not in Cincinnati, which happens to be my hometown. Another candidate told me his biggest weakness was perfectionism, which I found interesting since his writing sample had two misspellings and three grammar mistakes.
4) Do as much research as you can, then ask interesting questions.
Job descriptions are often vague and very likely won't give you all the information you need. Find out what the company does, as much history as you can, and as many details about the position as you can. Do your homework. Find someone who works there and ask for a brief informational interview.
5) Understand that the answer to "Could you do me a favor?" is usually yes.
People, if they know what you need and are in a position to help you, usually will. The key here is to follow through. I made that mistake early in my career when a number of people offered introductions and other help and I didn't follow through, or later didn't know what to ask or how to ask for it. Everybody was entry level once and asking for help shouldn't be seen as overly aggressive and annoying. (Note to candidates: Don't be overly aggressive and annoying!)
Follow these steps and you'll be on your way!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Where MLMs Went Right
My first experience with a multi-level marketing (MLM) operation was an invitation to an "interview" for a marketing job when I was 20. On arrival, I was promptly carted into a room with 50 other people, spoken to by a guy with brilliant white teeth whose hair probably wouldn't have moved under any circumstances. He could have written the book on presenting, making eye contact, using names, asking the appropriate number of questions. The whole thing seemed about as sincere as a game show host's desire to see an overweight housewife win a new car. I didn't want to be rude and walk out in the middle of it, but there was no way I was going to sign up to be in somebody else's down line. The gentleman who invited me to the religious cult gathering, er, intro session sat me down in an overstuffed leather chair and shoved a clipboard at me. "I've already filled in part of it for you." I stood up, thanked him for his time, and let him know I wasn't interested. He put his hand on my shoulder, pushed me back into the chair, and said "That's great. We'll go ahead and get you signed up. What I need from you today is $200."
I was mad. He wasn't listening. It felt manipulative. And there was one thing about it I've never been able to shake for all these years. I've never seen any organization with members who bought in as completely as the stakeholders of an MLM. They were mobilized, committed. They had their pitches down. They had their materials. They learned how to market. They were fearless!
I've been part of some really great churches, political groups and social clubs. The membership is often largely attracted by a handful of members, or in some cases a single person. I've learned how to be the connector. I recruit for my company, not in any official capacity, but because it's a great place to be and I want other people to have the opportunity.
There's an unmatchable excitement around recruiting. I love talking about intangibles with people. I want them to buy into the idea of what I'm doing. I want to learn what they're excited about. I love sharing ideas, vetting my own, seeing how we can all get better. I think every employee should get in the habit of recruiting, every club member, every congregant. If you don't love what you're part of enough to tell other people, why are you doing it?
I scan my company's website for open positions on a regular basis. I can rattle off a dozen reasons why people should want to work for us. I love my church, and one of the highlights of last week was having my best friend with me. I'm part of a political women's group that I started inviting friends to after the first meeting.
If you're not part of an incredible church, a vibrant company or a dynamic club, join one. There's no day like today!
I was mad. He wasn't listening. It felt manipulative. And there was one thing about it I've never been able to shake for all these years. I've never seen any organization with members who bought in as completely as the stakeholders of an MLM. They were mobilized, committed. They had their pitches down. They had their materials. They learned how to market. They were fearless!
I've been part of some really great churches, political groups and social clubs. The membership is often largely attracted by a handful of members, or in some cases a single person. I've learned how to be the connector. I recruit for my company, not in any official capacity, but because it's a great place to be and I want other people to have the opportunity.
There's an unmatchable excitement around recruiting. I love talking about intangibles with people. I want them to buy into the idea of what I'm doing. I want to learn what they're excited about. I love sharing ideas, vetting my own, seeing how we can all get better. I think every employee should get in the habit of recruiting, every club member, every congregant. If you don't love what you're part of enough to tell other people, why are you doing it?
I scan my company's website for open positions on a regular basis. I can rattle off a dozen reasons why people should want to work for us. I love my church, and one of the highlights of last week was having my best friend with me. I'm part of a political women's group that I started inviting friends to after the first meeting.
If you're not part of an incredible church, a vibrant company or a dynamic club, join one. There's no day like today!
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Foot
A rose is a rose is a rose. A foot in Portland, OR is a foot in Portland, ME. This common set of measurement standards is useful in everything from recipes to building construction. So, when and why is uniform standardization a good idea?
When start up companies start, the president may also be in charge of everything from building the website to mailing packages to collecting accounts receivable. Companies rely on their institutional memory - we do things the way we've always done them, and if you have a question about that process, feel free to ask your neighbor. As companies evolve, employees need to standardize and document exactly as much information as will be used again, no more, no less.
Documentation can run out of control. If a process is likely to only be repeated once by the same user, or not at all, documentation is unnecessary. A speech written by its deliverer doesn't need stage notes. Companies trying to track down every process and generate report after report after report can find their production grinding to a halt.
How is your end user going to interact with your information? Do you have a strong sense of who your end user actually is? If not, or if you want to check, ask another department in the company who you interact with how they need the information presented. I like standardized abbreviations in marketing material I'm trying to find. When the word international is sometimes written out in full, sometimes written int, sometimes written intl and sometimes written int'l, it can be easy to think a piece is missing or was never created. When your company is 25 people with low turnover, it's easier to learn any system and stick to it. When your company is 25,000 people with high turnover, a non-intuitive system can create a significant source of mistakes and frustration.
How far does this go? Teachers rebelling against the No Child Left Behind Act claimed it neutered their ability to teach the material and forced them to "teach to the test." Children's education has huge variability depending on the wealth of the district, the involvement of the parents, the quality of the teachers the district is able to attract. Standards are good, so how do you account for variability when you can't control the input? Companies can hire the people they want and fire the ones they don't. To a large degree, schools don't have that option.
A solution: require all Master's of Education candidates to meet KIPP standards for teaching, and integrate the program into America's schools over a 5 year period. KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools with a track record of preparing students in under served communities for success in college and in life. There are currently 82 KIPP schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia serving around 20,000 students (from their website, July 2009). Their program is rigorous, requiring attendance from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, with hours of homework afterward and significantly shorter breaks and days off. Their mandatory curriculum includes music and foreign languages. And their results are impressive: teachers and administrators are lined up to teach and start new schools, and although they serve primarily at risk communities, they proudly boast 25 to 100% better results in math and reading. In many cases, their graduates are the first member of their family to go to college.
Back to standardization. Where does the funding come from? KIPP, while an important movement and one I fully expect to continue to grow in the following years, serves only 20,000 students. If that number grew to 2,000,000 students, funding options for the independent schools would be vastly lacking and space for students would be even more of a premium.
The only solution is to make KIPP, which already seems to have figured out the answer, the new standard and for government to get out of the way. If we removed teacher tenure and the vacation schedule and raised the pay to the demands of the job we now require them to do, every school could be a KIPP school and America could take her place as the world's foremost intellectual leader.
Standardization is good, but only by standardizing at the highest level and not the lowest.
When start up companies start, the president may also be in charge of everything from building the website to mailing packages to collecting accounts receivable. Companies rely on their institutional memory - we do things the way we've always done them, and if you have a question about that process, feel free to ask your neighbor. As companies evolve, employees need to standardize and document exactly as much information as will be used again, no more, no less.
Documentation can run out of control. If a process is likely to only be repeated once by the same user, or not at all, documentation is unnecessary. A speech written by its deliverer doesn't need stage notes. Companies trying to track down every process and generate report after report after report can find their production grinding to a halt.
How is your end user going to interact with your information? Do you have a strong sense of who your end user actually is? If not, or if you want to check, ask another department in the company who you interact with how they need the information presented. I like standardized abbreviations in marketing material I'm trying to find. When the word international is sometimes written out in full, sometimes written int, sometimes written intl and sometimes written int'l, it can be easy to think a piece is missing or was never created. When your company is 25 people with low turnover, it's easier to learn any system and stick to it. When your company is 25,000 people with high turnover, a non-intuitive system can create a significant source of mistakes and frustration.
How far does this go? Teachers rebelling against the No Child Left Behind Act claimed it neutered their ability to teach the material and forced them to "teach to the test." Children's education has huge variability depending on the wealth of the district, the involvement of the parents, the quality of the teachers the district is able to attract. Standards are good, so how do you account for variability when you can't control the input? Companies can hire the people they want and fire the ones they don't. To a large degree, schools don't have that option.
A solution: require all Master's of Education candidates to meet KIPP standards for teaching, and integrate the program into America's schools over a 5 year period. KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools with a track record of preparing students in under served communities for success in college and in life. There are currently 82 KIPP schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia serving around 20,000 students (from their website, July 2009). Their program is rigorous, requiring attendance from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, with hours of homework afterward and significantly shorter breaks and days off. Their mandatory curriculum includes music and foreign languages. And their results are impressive: teachers and administrators are lined up to teach and start new schools, and although they serve primarily at risk communities, they proudly boast 25 to 100% better results in math and reading. In many cases, their graduates are the first member of their family to go to college.
Back to standardization. Where does the funding come from? KIPP, while an important movement and one I fully expect to continue to grow in the following years, serves only 20,000 students. If that number grew to 2,000,000 students, funding options for the independent schools would be vastly lacking and space for students would be even more of a premium.
The only solution is to make KIPP, which already seems to have figured out the answer, the new standard and for government to get out of the way. If we removed teacher tenure and the vacation schedule and raised the pay to the demands of the job we now require them to do, every school could be a KIPP school and America could take her place as the world's foremost intellectual leader.
Standardization is good, but only by standardizing at the highest level and not the lowest.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Will
Sitting in my apartment in sunny Denver, CO, I'm thinking of Bangladesh, a country with the population density equivalent to half the US population in an area the size of Wisconsin without clean water or clean toilets. Disease, infant mortality and despair run rampant across the countryside.
My question to America is "Do you care?" or, more importantly, "Would you be more likely to care if you knew you would be able to make a difference that you could see and measure?"
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the father of micro-lending, may have already given us the answer to the latter. In his two NY Times bestselling books Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty, he outlines what it looks like to have a system where capital is A) recycled, and B) put directly in the hands of the people who can use it to generate business. His argument (with 30 years of success to back it up) is that the poorest of the poor have some skill that they've used to survive, and their need isn't for training, it's for capital and a market.
People have with in them the will to survive. But more than that, they have the will to dream big, to the will to change their circumstances and the will to change their family trees, one branch at a time.
So how does this work?
A micro-loan, at least in this context, is a loan of as little as $25 that is given to a person who belongs to a community of borrowers, without collateral, that they agree to repay on a fixed schedule with interest. It's different from charity in several significant ways.
1) These are loans, not gifts. They're on a fixed schedule, including interest. Once the borrower has repaid, both borrower and lender may enter other deals with each other or other borrowers/lenders.
2) These are loans to generate income producing businesses. Whatever the borrower's skill, whether making baskets to sell or anything else, must produce income. The goal is for every borrower to become financially self-sustaining, and possibly even a lender some day. There are no loans for simple consumption.
3) The target borrower for these loans are women, to empower them and eventually their children/families.
For thirty years, he's taken the concept of micro-lending across the countryside of his native land. He's helped his fellow countrymen help themselves, and lowered the poverty rate from a mind-numbing 62% to under 25%. While their current state is still roughly the same as the Great Depression, the progress is phenomenal.
His argument seems to eliminate the obstacle all charitable organizations face - how do you finish the mission before you run out of money? By making the structure a loan that gets repaid, people can willingly invest significantly larger sums and, with the promise of their money back (Yunus boasts a 98% repayment rate among the poor), the capital can be redeployed again and again. Further, it instills in the organization the need to function with business efficiency to become self-sustaining and to eliminate the need for continuous fundraising.
By reaching out through a person-to-person network, establishing local accountability and a systematic way to empower people, we have the ability to end poverty in this lifetime.
Are you in, America?
My question to America is "Do you care?" or, more importantly, "Would you be more likely to care if you knew you would be able to make a difference that you could see and measure?"
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the father of micro-lending, may have already given us the answer to the latter. In his two NY Times bestselling books Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty, he outlines what it looks like to have a system where capital is A) recycled, and B) put directly in the hands of the people who can use it to generate business. His argument (with 30 years of success to back it up) is that the poorest of the poor have some skill that they've used to survive, and their need isn't for training, it's for capital and a market.
People have with in them the will to survive. But more than that, they have the will to dream big, to the will to change their circumstances and the will to change their family trees, one branch at a time.
So how does this work?
A micro-loan, at least in this context, is a loan of as little as $25 that is given to a person who belongs to a community of borrowers, without collateral, that they agree to repay on a fixed schedule with interest. It's different from charity in several significant ways.
1) These are loans, not gifts. They're on a fixed schedule, including interest. Once the borrower has repaid, both borrower and lender may enter other deals with each other or other borrowers/lenders.
2) These are loans to generate income producing businesses. Whatever the borrower's skill, whether making baskets to sell or anything else, must produce income. The goal is for every borrower to become financially self-sustaining, and possibly even a lender some day. There are no loans for simple consumption.
3) The target borrower for these loans are women, to empower them and eventually their children/families.
For thirty years, he's taken the concept of micro-lending across the countryside of his native land. He's helped his fellow countrymen help themselves, and lowered the poverty rate from a mind-numbing 62% to under 25%. While their current state is still roughly the same as the Great Depression, the progress is phenomenal.
His argument seems to eliminate the obstacle all charitable organizations face - how do you finish the mission before you run out of money? By making the structure a loan that gets repaid, people can willingly invest significantly larger sums and, with the promise of their money back (Yunus boasts a 98% repayment rate among the poor), the capital can be redeployed again and again. Further, it instills in the organization the need to function with business efficiency to become self-sustaining and to eliminate the need for continuous fundraising.
By reaching out through a person-to-person network, establishing local accountability and a systematic way to empower people, we have the ability to end poverty in this lifetime.
Are you in, America?
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