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Have a conversation, transform a culture

By Learning Forward
August 2014
Atul Gawande, writing in The New Yorker, explored why some medical innovations take hold quickly while others take much longer to spread. A medical doctor who writes about innovation and change, Gawande identified several elements key to understanding why great ideas don’t lead to immediate action. For one, big ideas often address problems that are important but invisible, and implementing them can require sacrifice or specialized knowledge and skills. Also, sometimes the reward for changing behavior isn’t immediately evident. Ultimately, Gawande writes, getting people to change means transforming a culture — understanding the norms underlying a system and helping to create new norms. While offering instruction and support is essential, it isn’t enough. Gawande quotes Everett Rogers, who wrote decades ago about the diffusion of

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Immediate Follow-up

What’s the first thing you do when you get back from a valuable conference? How do you build on what you heard? While implementing new ideas requires careful planning and sufficient resources, here are some quick tips to continue the momentum as soon as you unpack your bag.

  • Blog about it.
  • Tweet about it.
  • Buy a book by one of the speakers — and then read it ASAP!
  • Email one of the session facilitators to explore a lingering question.
  • Identify one small change you can try tomorrow.
  • Send a resource you found to one of your peers to start a conversation.
  • Email the attendees you most connected with to build your learning network.
  • Invite someone you met to come share ideas at your next professional learning community meeting.
  • Find the research base behind something you want to implement long term and share it with your administrators.
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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

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