Learn from the people

Plan with the people

Begin with what they have

Learn what they know

Of the best leaders

When the task is accomplished

The people remark

We have done it ourselves

~ Lao-tzu

Atul Gawande writes a heck of a book. And that’s off hours from his day job as a surgeon.

I hope to write a post shortly that kicks around his stinging observations of medical malpractice suits– malpractice having been heralded by some as a model for teacher accountability. (Quick summary of my 180 on that idea after reading Gawande: Um, not so much.)

For now, though, I’ll give you the five suggestions he hands off to medical students when they ask for advice on becoming “positive deviants” within their monolithic system.

1) Ask an unscripted question.

” If you ask a question, the machine begins to feel less like a machine. Keep the conversation going.”

2) Don’t complain.

“Resist it. It’s boring, it doesn’t solve anything, and it will get you down. You don’t have to be sunny about everything. Just be prepared with something else to discuss.”

3) Count something.

“One should be a scientist in this world. The only requirement is that what you count should be interesting to you…if you count something you find interesting, you will learn something interesting.”

4) Write something.

“What you write need not achieve perfection. It need only add some small observation about your world. By soliciting modest contributions from the many, we have produced a store of collective know-how with far greater power than any individual would have achieved.”

5) Change.

“It often seems safest to do what everyone else is doing. But a doctor must not let that happen– nor anyone else who takes on risk and responsibility in society.”

Repeating these five to myself– and I do– gives me a jolt of hope. (And, ironically, is the best down and dirty accountability check I’ve run across in a long time.)

Check out the seminal and fascinating article on positive deviance here. (This is not just my geekspeak– it really does rock.) It’s in the Harvard Business Review, but don’t let that frighten you– you’ll feel like they’re talking right to us.

Now, if I can just get to the superintendent…