Most typically, when I refer to a system in Win-Win I am referring to an organization (e.g., United Schools Network). Thus, a useful definition of a system is “an organization characterized by a set of interactions among the people who work there, the tools and materials they have at their disposal, and the processes through which these people and resources join together to accomplish its work.” The aim of a system is a qualitative statement with methods attached that detail its long-term constancy of purpose.
Read MorePrinciple 14: Clearly define top management's commitment to continual improvement of quality and its obligation to implement the 14 Principles. Plan and take action to put everyone in the organization to work to accomplish the transformation; the transformation is everyone's job. Start with education for all in positions of leadership.
Read MorePrinciple 13: Institute a vigorous program of education and encourage self-improvement for everyone. A school system needs not just good people, but people that are improving with education. Advances in teaching and learning processes will have their roots in knowledge.
Read MoreAdopt and institute leadership aimed at helping people to do a better job. Management's responsibility must shift from focusing solely on outcomes to focusing on the quality of learning experiences and services produced by the educational system.
Read MoreCommon management myths (see here and here) must be replaced by sound guiding principles. In this post, I’ll describe the fifth such principle, Work Continually on the System. It is worth noting that the 14 Principles for Educational Systems Transformation are mutually supporting, so it is important to understand all of them rather than studying them in isolation. An in-depth discussion of the full set of Principles for Transformation can be found in Chapter 3 of my recently released book Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, the System of Profound Knowledge, and the Science of Improving Schools.
Read MoreIn January and February, I outlined six common management myths. The point of those two posts was to help education systems leaders see what not to do. I’m now turning to a set of principles that can be used by these same leaders to guide their transformation work. Last month, I introduced the 14 Principles for Educational Systems Transformation. In this post I’ll describe the third principle, Cease Dependence on Inspection to Achieve Quality. It is worth noting that the 14 Principles are mutually supporting, so it is important to understand all of them rather than studying them in isolation. An in-depth discussion of the Principles for Transformation can be found in Chapter 3 of my recently released book Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, the System of Profound Knowledge, and the Science of Improving Schools.
Read MoreIn January and February, I outlined six common management myths. The point of those two posts was to help education systems leaders see what not to do. I’m now turning to a set of principles that can be used by these same leaders to guide their transformation work. Last month, I introduced the 14 Principles for Educational Systems Transformation. In this post I’ll describe the second principle, Adopt the New Philosophy.
Read MoreFor the past three months, I’ve been writing about organizational goal-setting. In Part I of the series, I proposed four conditions that organizations should understand prior to setting a goal. In Part II, I introduced the idea of “arbitrary and capricious” education goals and key data analysis lessons 1-5 . In this installment, I’ll outline key lessons 6-10 and then tie up the series in Part IV with an applied example from United Schools Network.
Read MoreNow that I’ve outlined the basic idea of the PDSA cycle, it will be helpful to turn to a real PDSA that I used in my work at United Schools Network. This in fact was the first PDSA I ever designed, so it by no means is being held up as an exemplar. However, I think it is useful as an introductory point to the concept because this particular example is so simple. I’m also happy to report that for a first attempt, this PDSA cycle was fairly successful.
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