On Mother’s Day, I went to Dasha’s Nails & Spa to get a mani/pedi. After my nails had dried, I gathered my things and got ready to walk out the door. At that point, my nail technician unexpectedly stopped me, then handed me a beautiful long-stemmed red rose and wished me a happy Mother’s Day.
This was a brilliant example of Chip & Dan Heath’s The Power of Moments in action. Through giving me the rose, Dasha’s Nails & Spa elevated the experience they offered me in a meaningful way- and made me much more likely to come back again.
There are four types of defining moments.
ELEVATION- Defining moments rise above the everyday. They provoke not just transient happiness, like laughing at a friend's joke, but memorable delight. (You pick up the red phone and someone says, "Popsicle Hotline, we'll be right out.") To construct elevated moments, we must boost sensory pleasures- the Popsicles must be delivered poolside on a silver tray, of course- and if appropriate, add an element of surprise. We'll see why surprise can warp our perceptions of time, and why most people's most memorable experiences are clustered in their teens and twenties. Moments of elevation transcend the normal course of events; they are literally extraordinary.
INSIGHT- Defining moments rewire our understanding of ourselves or the world. In a few seconds or minutes, we realize something that might influence our lives for decades. Now is the time for me to start this business. Or, This is the person I'm going to marry. The psychologist Roy Baumeister studied life changes that were precipitated by "a crystallization of discontent," moments when people abruptly saw things as they were, such as cult members who suddenly realized the truth about their leader. And although these moments of insight often seem serendipitous, we can engineer them- or at the very least, lay the groundwork. [...]
PRIDE- Defining moments capture us at our best- moments of achievement, moments of courage. To create such moments, we need to understand something about the architecture of pride- how to plan for a series of milestone moments that build on each other en route to a larger goal. We'll explore why the "Couch to 5K" program was so successful- and so much more effective in sparking exercise than the simple imperative to "jog more." And we'll learn some unexpected things about acts of courage and the surprising ripple effects they create.
CONNECTION- Defining moments are social: weddings, graduations, baptisms, vacations, work triumphs, bar and bat mitzvahs, speeches, sporting events. These moments are strengthened because we share them with others. [...]
Chip and Dan Heath explain that these moments do not simply have to happen to us…we can craft them. This is something I consider carefully in my classroom, and have also discussed with our school in general when it comes to creating transformative experiences such as our freshman orientation, Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration or ICJA Takes the Runway (now ICJA Takes the Stage) experience. We can- and moreover, should- craft these moments. One notable example of a school rising to this challenge was how Yeshivat Noam crafted 8th grade graduation during COVID. Watch the video below. It’s amazing. Every kid is going to remember it. And every school should be harnessing this energy all the time.
It’s not enough to figure out how to react to a bad situation such as COVID19. We should be proactive as well. We should dream. What if? What’s possible? How might we?
I’m a creative. As such, I’m always curious about the ways in which people run creative companies, because I think a lot of that wisdom can and should be applied back to the field of Jewish education (and more specifically, Jewish day schools). At first blush, management of imagination-centered Fortune 500 companies and Jewish day schools may not seem related, but bear with my far analogy. (This, by the way, is one of the ways I think that other people do not think- I see everything as a web, and the question is always how it comes back to the topics that are of most interest to me, especially God and Judaism.)
I believe school should be a magical place. And I’m not the only one- check out the Ron Clark Academy! There are slides in the school. Learning is fun and it should be able to happen in a fun, exciting environment- coupled with students being taught they are accountable and responsible for their learning and behavior. You want school to be a place that students actually want to be.
So that’s why I decided to look into Pixar and Disney.
A few years ago I read Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation. It was a fantastic book, and there are so many takeaways I wish Jewish day schools would implement. It’s essential reading in terms of developing culture, community and also looking into how to manage people. I’m going to skip to the back of the book (beginning on page 315), where he gives you his bite-sized takeaways and thoughts for managing a creative culture. (I recommend reading the book for a more robust treatment.)
(Note: feel free to skim the list if these are beyond the scope of your role or interest- there’s more good content afterwards.)
Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they will screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a great team, and they will either fix it or come up with something better. If you get the team right, chances are that they’ll get the ideas right.
When looking to hire people, give their potential to grow more weight than their current skill level. What they will be capable of tomorrow is more important than what they can do today.
Always try to hire people who are smarter than you. Always take a chance on better, even if it seems like a potential threat.
If there are people in your organization who feel they are not free to suggest ideas, you lose. Do not discount ideas from unexpected sources. Inspiration can, and does, come from anywhere.
It isn’t enough merely to be open to ideas from others. Engaging the collective brainpower of the people you work with is an active, ongoing process. As a manager, you must coax ideas out of your staff and constantly push them to contribute.
There are many valid reasons why people aren’t candid with one another in a work environment. Your job is to search for those reasons and then address them.
Likewise, if someone disagrees with you, there is a reason. Our first job is to understand the reasoning behind their conclusions.
Further, if there is fear in an organization, there isa. reason for it- our job is (a) to find out what’s causing it, (b) to understand it, and (c ) to root it out.
There is nothing quite as effective, when it comes to shutting down alternative viewpoints, as being convinced you are right.
In general, people are hesitant to say things that might rock the boat. Braintrust meetings, dailies, postmortems, and Notes Day are all efforts to reinforce the idea that it is okay to express yourself. All are mechanisms of self-assessment that seek to uncover what’s real.
If there is more truth in the hallways than in meetings, you have a problem.
Many managers feel that if they are not notified about problems before others are or if they are surprised in a meeting, then that is a sign of disrespect. Get over it.
Careful “messaging” to downplay problems makes you appear to be lying, deluded, ignorant or uncaring. Sharing problems is an act of inclusion that makes employees feel invested in the larger enterprise.
The first conclusions we draw from our successes and failures are typically wrong. Measuring the outcome without evaluating the process is deceiving.
Do not fall for the illusion that by preventing errors, you won’t have errors to fix. The truth is, the cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
Change and uncertainty are part of life. Our job is not to resist them but to build the capability to recover when unexpected events occur. If you don’t always try to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead.
Similarly, it is not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It is the manager’s job to make it safe to take them.
Failure isn’t a necessary evil. In fact, it isn’t evil at all. It is a necessary consequence of doing something new.
Trust doesn’t mean that you trust that someone won’t screw up- it means you trust them even when they do screw up.
The people ultimately responsible for implementing a plan must be empowered to make decisions when things go wrong, even before getting approval. Finding and fixing problems is everybody’s job. Anyone should be able to stop the production line.
The desire for everything to run smoothly is a false goal- it leads to measuring people by the mistakes they make rather than by their ability to solve problems.
Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way. And that’s as it should be.
A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.
Be wary of making too many rules. Rules can simplify life for managers, but they can be demeaning to the 95 percent who behave well. Don’t create rules to rein in on the other 5 percent- address abuses of common sense individually. This is more work but ultimately healthier.
Imposing limits can encourage a creative response. Excellent work can emerge from uncomfortable or seemingly untenable circumstances.
Engaging with exceptionally hard problems forces us to think differently.
An organization, as a whole, is more conservative and resistant to change than the individuals who comprise it. Do not assume that general agreement will lead to change- it takes substantial energy to move a group, even when all are on board.
The healthiest organizations are made up of departments whose agendas differ but whose goals are interdependent. If one agenda wins, we all lose.
Our job as managers in creative environments is to protect new ideas from those who don’t understand that in order for greatness to emerge, there must be phases of not-greatness. Protect the future, not the past.
New crises are not always lamentable- they test and demonstrate a company’s values. The process of problem-solving often bonds people together and keeps the culture in the present.
Excellence, quality and good should be earned words, attributed by others to us, not proclaimed by us about ourselves.
Do not accidentally make stability a goal. Balance is more important than stability.
Don’t confuse the process with the goal. Working on our processes to make them better, easier and more efficient is an indispensable activity and something we should continually work on-but it is not the goal. Making the product great is the goal.
Sometimes Jewish day schools get complacent. If they are not in a geographic area where they have direct competitors, they may strive to improve, but without the urgency that will drive those other schools. This is not good. In order for our schools to deliver the best teaching, the most innovative strategies and solutions, we need to constantly be thinking, “What if?” and “How can we make this better?” and “Do the students look forward to being in our classroom?” If they don’t, what can we do and how can we tweak the school experience to make it more unexpectedly joyful, delightful, uplifting or happifying? It shouldn’t matter if we have competitors driving this thought process- striving for excellence should be enough of a reason. And no, creating this kind of environment does not mean decreasing the rigor. You can give rigorous, challenging assignments- and do it in an environment that is joyful.
My husband got me the book The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger. Iger offers a list of ten principles that strike him as necessary for true leadership (see his Prologue). I think we should consider how many of these are present in our Jewish day schools- and if we haven’t got them, how to inculcate them into the culture.
Optimism. One of the most important qualities of a good leader is optimism, a pragmatic enthusiasm for what can be achieved. Even in the face of difficult choices and less than ideal outcomes, an optimistic leader does not yield to pessimism. Simply put, people are not motivated or energized by pessimists.
Courage. The foundation of risk-taking is courage, and in ever-changing, disrupted businesses, risk-taking is essential, innovation is vital, and true innovation occurs only when people have courage. This is true of acquisitions, investments, and capital allocations, and it particularly applies to creative decisions. Fear of failure destroys creativity.
Focus. Allocating time, energy and resources to the strategies, problems, and projects that are of highest importance and value is extremely important, and it’s imperative to communicate your priorities clearly and often.
Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can and should be made in a timely way. Leaders must encourage a diversity of opinion balanced with the need to make and implement decisions. Chronic indecision is not only inefficient and counterproductive, but it is deeply corrosive to morale.
Curiosity. A deep and abiding curiosity enables the discovery of new people, places, and ideas, as well as an awareness and an understanding of the marketplace and its changing dynamics. The path to innovation begins with curiosity.
Fairness. Strong leadership embodies the fair and decent treatment of people. Empathy is essential, as is accessibility. People committing honest mistakes deserve second chances, and judging people too harshly generates fear and anxiety, which discourage communication and innovation. Nothing is worse to an organization than a culture of fear.
Thoughtfulness. Thoughtfulness is one of the most underrated elements of good leadership. It is the process of gaining knowledge so an opinion rendered or decision made is more credible and more likely to be correct. It’s simply about taking the time to develop informed opinions.
Authenticity. Be genuine. Be honest. Don’t fake anything. Truth and authenticity breed respect and trust.
The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection. This doesn’t mean perfectionism at all costs, but it does mean a refusal to accept mediocrity or make excuses for something being “good enough.” If you believe that something can be made better, put in the effort to do it. If you’re in the business of making things, be in the business oof making things great.
Integrity. Nothing is more important than the quality and integrity of the organization’s people and its product. A company’s success depends on setting high ethical standards for all things, big and small. Another way of saying this is: The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
Imagine what our schools could be if we gave teachers the time, space and grace to harness their imagination in the classroom. What kinds of lessons or meaningful, dramatic and impactful moments could they design? What kinds of ideas could they share with administration?
If a school engaged in the relentless pursuit of perfection, what would that look like? What kind of physical campus or space would there be? What would decorate the walls? What kinds of assignments would teachers give? What would teachers do in their free time? How would management make our focus clear? (Here’s an idea- if you ask the average student at your school what the school stands for, can they answer, and is the answer clear (not a platitude)? If they can’t, the school has not been explicit enough in conveying its values and top priorities.)
I have thought a lot about these questions. I think schools can be joyous places rather than the torture chambers or prison cells students so often experience them as. But that would have to be a value. Creating a joyful space that featured an overall culture of trust, curiosity, passion and rigor takes a lot of work- but it can be done and it should be done. Not simply to attract the students who will otherwise defect and go to the rival school. But because we want to take pride in being a school that does the best possible job at what we do.
Education that features the imagination- bright, colorful and exploding with possibility- is what I live for. Every single school has room to grow in creating a culture focused on the principles and ideas that Bob Iger and Ed Catmull espouse. Every single school can do better at intentionally crafting meaningful moments, as Chip and Dan Heath lay out.
It’s just a question of committing to do so.