Leading like a child

I had the opportunity recently to attend a three day class in facilitative leadership, and it has re-shaped the way I think about almost everything I do. And really what it was...was...kind of a review of kindergarden, but with grown up examples from work. Very cool.

The basic idea was that we get things done--our work--through other people, and so it's probably a good idea if we all have some shared understanding of our work, even better if we all feel like we got to say how we think we should do it, and we would all like to hear that we did a great job.

In my daughter Zoe's pre-kindergarden class, the curriculum is the same. But Zoe comes home with art, and rocks in her pockets.

In the past few weeks, I have re-approached my responsibilities in at work with my new AP-kindergarden skills. In clinic, we created a vision--together--of what makes a good day. A really good list of about twenty things. Share, help each other, smile...a lot of these things are very basic, but in the chaos of a primary care clinic, they can get lost.

We also have identified things that get in the way of having a good day every day, and I've made it my job to guide us through ways to overcome those obstacles.

For every problem, we look at everyone who is affected (the stakeholders) and might want a say in creating a solution. We consider what a good solution would look like for them (a win). And we create the simplest possible plan we can all agree on.

So far, so good. I've been going for the easy "wins" first. There are bigger obstacles to having a good day every day, but we'll find our way. Together. Kindergarden-style.