Create Infrastructure for Your Vision

09/13/2005

Create Infrastructure for Your Vision

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
Aldous Huxley

Margie Carter promotes the value of vision as a means of focusing staff efforts to deliver quality services. In her Exchange article, “A Tale of Unraveling: Ideas for Training Staff,” (Exchange, May 2005), she talks about the importance of creating an infrastructure to support this vision . . .

“What good does it do to have cars if you don’t have roads, or indoor plumbing if you don’t have sewers? In other words, good ideas won’t go anywhere, or will soon fall apart if there aren’t structures to support their ongoing development. Teachers have to have the tools and working conditions to enable them to reach the vision for your program. They have to have time to meet, someone to mentor them, and ways to be held accountable. Systems must be put in place for all aspects of the work: building relationships, accomplishing tasks, maintaining communications, acquiring skills and tools, solving problems, documenting actions. Build these processes together as a staff, learn what’s required to maintain them, and divide up the responsibilities. Make this part of your orientation of all new staff. Be sure to include rituals and celebrations as part of your infrastructure. The work has to be lively and engaging, not just hard and demanding.”

The entire article, “A Tale of Unraveling . . . ” is available for free on our website - click here!

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