2017.8.18
The Orange Frog Workshop
“Outtakes”. A snippet of thoughts to kick off this blog post:
Mindset does matter.
How you approach a situation does impact the outcome. (E + R = O - Events + Response = Outcome)
What I am looking forward to putting into practice, or continuing:
Home: every evening before bed, I ask my kids to share one thing they are grateful for and one thing that made them happy that day. This is building their positive neural networks in their brain.
Work: recognize, acknowledge, celebrate instances of positivity. Embrace the change and be a catalyst.
A couple of quotes that resonated with me this week:
“Fear of failure is the enemy of innovation.”
“You are only as happy as you make your mind up to be” ~ Lincoln
For two days this week, administrators for the New Canaan (CT) Public Schools attended an administrative retreat. I have attended many administrative professional development events over the years. This practice may be typical for school districts across the country, but this was not your typical PD. This was a Happiness Advantage, Orange Frog Workshop. The tagline was “Leading Positive Results!”. I liked it already.
To begin the workshop, our trainer JJ got us up with a little activity to get a boost of dopamine and get everyone feeling good and in the mood to actively participate. Next, we were instructed to pull out our cell phones and send a quick message to someone who would not be expecting it as a practice in “random acts of kindness”. This was followed by a little lesson on the brain chemicals dopamine, serotonin, endorphins (& oxytocin) and how they make us feel and perform. Neuroscience. I love it. The cool part about the texting activity was that positive responses to the texts kept coming in throughout the morning and JJ made sure to have people share.
Once we were hooked, we dove into the workbook and had some rich conversations with our tablemates. I was seated with five other assistant principals and coordinators from across the district. Although we spanned all grade levels K-12, we were all able to relate to how this positive psychology could benefit us, our schools, our staff, and most importantly, our students. A theme that was present throughout the workshop was to always consider ways to include the “human element” in everything that we do. Remember, we teach students, not just content. These are physiological and psychological needs that we are discussing and it matters how we package what we do. “It’s not always what you say, it’s how you say it…” comes to mind for me.
As we discussed values and principles that worked in the business sector and in education, we were exposed to quotes, anecdotes and video clips that supported the philosophy and research. Some of these will be included at the end. One value that stood out to me was, “Creative Construction”. This value represented a strategy to help avoid the negativity that impedes brainstorming or progress. You know, the “what if…” strategy so many people employ. Creative Construction is when an idea is shared, you must build upon it and you can not shoot it down. This turns the “why we can’t” conversation into “ways that we can”. My translation: Find. A. Way.
Another strategy was the orange card that could be created to be held up during a meeting to signal a conversation is going in the wrong direction (like a yellow card in soccer). This may take some time for appropriate buy-in, but could be effective (and fun). The “Parking Lot” is something that I have seen used in workshops before and it is effective. If a topic gets off agenda, you can acknowledge the thoughts or feelings of someone, put it in the parking lot to be revisited at a later time and redirect back to the agenda topic(s).
Overall, this workshop was well worth it and from what I could tell, was enjoyed by all participants. I have always tried to operate on the positive end of the spectrum, but this puts science-based research behind why this is important. The more we discuss these strategies, the more common it will become to see people putting positivity into action. Thank you to NCPS Central Office for recognizing the importance of positive leadership and leading by example!
Maybe we can arrange a trip to Google or Zappos to do some more research. We can dream, right?! Moonshot thinking moves programs forward… :)
Check out some of the videos that were used/shared:
What is the Happiness Advantage?: Shawn Achor whiteboard talk…
“Get Happy”: VW Super Bowl commercial (quick, funny, will definitely put a smile on your face)
Here are some related resources and a few final thoughts:
Simon Sinek TED talk - Start w/Why
Tim Ferriss interview w/Derek Sivers (started CD Baby) - selling cd’s w/a personal note (funny, can’t help but chuckle)
Here is the crowdsourced motivational video doc (thanks to all who participated)!
Questions to ponder to incorporate positivity into your day (or someone else’s)...:
Good things that have happened today; this week; this month; this year…
In the next two weeks, I am looking forward to…
Luckiest moment in my life…
Luckiest moment in the past year…
Luckiest moment yesterday…
Proudest accomplishment in the past year…
Power of the mind:
Related - think about how “news” is reported today and what this does to public perception. Is it representative of the actual good vs. bad/evil in the world? (I vote “no”...).
Sometimes you have to “break it” to continue to improve.
Celebrate “purposeful risk-taking”.
A couple of pics from the workshop:
Please feel free to contact or follow me:
Email: david.gusitsch@ncps-k12.org
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