Chapter Four ‘Aligning for Success’
My immediate thought after reading chapter three was that A.B. Combs could not have possibly been an overnight success. Systemic change is a term I hear a lot in nonprofit community development circles and the resounding cry is always that this kind of change takes time. That was the case for Combs and Covey illuminates the challenges of bringing forth systemic change at Combs in this chapter.
There were four areas the Combs team needed to focus on.
but hear the buzz and they too came on board. Business leaders went a step further and showed their support by investing dollars in the program.
Because this reform needed to be woven into the very fabric of the school, roles had to change. In effect, everyone on campus had to take on a leadership role and be held accountable for their specific area of responsibility. Teachers and students alike were engaged wholesale in “unleashing the potential in each child.” Students got the experience of applying and interviewing for school wide positions and many were even included in interviewing new staff.
Modeling was the great outcome of the staff training. Combs staff learned to practice what they preached and became living, breathing ambassadors for both 7 Habits and the Baldrige principles. “As a staff, they became committed to utilizing the tools in running the school and each classroom, and in holding themselves accountable.”
The final challenge was aligning reward systems with the new way of life at Combs. Staff decided that creativity and hard work should be emphasized and that exceeding expectations in these categories should get the high marks. Over time the Combs staff was united in insuring that students knew that people at Combs were rooting for their success and were available to help.
Covey did not fail to include a note about the other side of rewards and indicated that consequences for bad behavior also was also included in Combs’ recipe for success.
Even the naysayers and skeptics could not deny the empirical and anecdotal evidence resulting from reforms at Combs. Clearly its mission to draw out the best in all who are involved qualifies it to be rightly called a magnet school.
My immediate thought after reading chapter three was that A.B. Combs could not have possibly been an overnight success. Systemic change is a term I hear a lot in nonprofit community development circles and the resounding cry is always that this kind of change takes time. That was the case for Combs and Covey illuminates the challenges of bringing forth systemic change at Combs in this chapter.
There were four areas the Combs team needed to focus on.
- Bringing people “on board” with the new theme
- Aligning the school’s structure to match the strategy
- Training the staff in the 7 Habits and quality principles
- Aligning the reward systems so that the right outcomes would be reinforced and sustained.”
but hear the buzz and they too came on board. Business leaders went a step further and showed their support by investing dollars in the program.
Because this reform needed to be woven into the very fabric of the school, roles had to change. In effect, everyone on campus had to take on a leadership role and be held accountable for their specific area of responsibility. Teachers and students alike were engaged wholesale in “unleashing the potential in each child.” Students got the experience of applying and interviewing for school wide positions and many were even included in interviewing new staff.
Modeling was the great outcome of the staff training. Combs staff learned to practice what they preached and became living, breathing ambassadors for both 7 Habits and the Baldrige principles. “As a staff, they became committed to utilizing the tools in running the school and each classroom, and in holding themselves accountable.”
The final challenge was aligning reward systems with the new way of life at Combs. Staff decided that creativity and hard work should be emphasized and that exceeding expectations in these categories should get the high marks. Over time the Combs staff was united in insuring that students knew that people at Combs were rooting for their success and were available to help.
Covey did not fail to include a note about the other side of rewards and indicated that consequences for bad behavior also was also included in Combs’ recipe for success.
Even the naysayers and skeptics could not deny the empirical and anecdotal evidence resulting from reforms at Combs. Clearly its mission to draw out the best in all who are involved qualifies it to be rightly called a magnet school.