Creating and Sustaining a High

Performance Team Culture

Mount Coot-tha Cluster

2015

Dr Neil Carrington
CEO Act for Kids
Learning must be TRANSFORMATIONAL
not just transactional

We must be prepared for

Learning ‘Pits’…
 Deep Learning involves
Transformational

L+
clear
understood
flows

time
confusion THE PIT
frustration
angst

L ++
Why is it someone is not doing
what you expect? (T-SAW)
WILL AWARENESS

Our default is to
often assume it is
about Will. Check
the others too!

SKILL TIME
 CULTURE
TEAMWORK
TIME
LEADERSHIP
PERCEPTION
FEEDBACK
DECISIONS
COACHING
Culture eats Strategy for
Breakfast
CULTURE must be one of your
Strategic Pillars
Your staff watch you to
work out what is important
around here…
TEAMWORK must be explicitly
discussed
Understand the difference
between agreement and
alignment…
 Team Equation
10
+ 10
+ 10
+ 10
= 40
10
+ 10

-
10

-
10
=0
10
x
10
x
10
x
10
= 10,000
87 87 87
87
x x x = 2,401
4,096
TIME must be well respected

Be laser-like with your

Strategic Priorities…
Less is More!
Substitute….
The next time you It’s really not
important to
say…… me

I haven’t
got time
 LEADERSHIP

All staff need to know how

and when to lead…..and
how and when to manage.
 Levels of Perspective
(Daniel Kim)

Leaders:
What
Visiondo I really want? • Work at top three levels
Leading of perspective
L
• Delegate responsibilities
Mental models E
for outcomes, rather
than delegating tasks
V
• Align others to a shared
vision, mental models
Systemic structure E
and systemic structures
• Must walk the talk,
R
transform not transact

Patterns of behaviour Managers: A

• Just get through the day
Managing G
• Deal with events and
Events behavioursE
 Levels of Perspective
Mission
Purpose

What do you
L
Vision
really want?
E
Values &models
Mental Beliefs V
E
Systemic
Systems structure
& Processes R
A
Patterns
Habitsof behaviour
& Routines G
E
Events
Outcomes & Outputs
PERCEPTION is reality

Understand how you and

others making meaning…
Dysfunctional Mental Model
of Perception

What I observe are the

facts

What I know is the

truth

Any reasonable
person would see
what I see and know
the truth as I know it
 Ladder of Inference
(Chris Argyris)

Action

Mental Model

Conclusion

Assumptions

Meaning

Data

Situation

Reflexive Loop should be a

Reflective Loop
Or it’s a Delicious loop of self delusion
• Behaviour is driven off deeply held mental models
• Your mental models determine the ladders you go up
• Each person sees things differently and makes their own
meanings
• Set up powerful feedback environments where everyone is
comfortable to share and explore ladders (What Feedback are
you getting and how has this changed from last year?)

Habari
gani?
Cómo estás?
Comment Wie geht
allez-vous? es dir?
 Defensive Reasoning
(Chris Argyris)

“the master program that most people use

is profoundly defensive. Defensive reasoning
encourages individuals to keep private the
premises, inferences, and conclusions that
shape their behaviour and to avoid testing
them in a truly independent, objective
fashion.

Because the attributions that go into

defensive reasoning are never really tested,
it is a closed loop, remarkably impervious
to conflicting points of view.”
 Key Concepts of a Performance,
Planning and Development Culture?

Mission, Vision, Strategy, Plan,

Align and Act

Professional Learning High

Performance
Culture
Accountability linked to
planning that uses feedback,
coaching, reflection and
review
Leaders understand how to
create and sustain a high
performance culture through
Embedding 4-way Feedback
 Why Performance, Planning &
Development?
The aim of performance, planning and
development is to further develop a
culture in which individuals and work
teams take responsibility for the
continuous improvement of the
organisation and hold self and
each other to account….
 What is your reaction to how Neil is performing as
a Leader with Carolyn.

1. He is giving her the help she needs

2. He is being, firm, fair and clear
3. He is talking too much and not
listening
4. He is taking the power away from her
5. Something else?
Next time you find yourself speaking with
someone, ask yourself…

• Am I Deeply Listening?
OR
• Am I conversing or ‘convincing’?
• Am I waiting to speak?
• Am I Thinking what to say next?
• Am I Evaluating what is being said
and thinking how I will ‘fix’ them?
After Deep Listening, what follow up
questions may help?

• How long has this been an issue?

• What action have you taken?

• What is the outcome you are looking for?

• What is the best way to move this forward?

• How would you like me to be involved here?

 After Deep Listening, what follow up
questions may help?
• What do you really want?

• What are all the options available to you?

• What are the priorities for you?

• How would XXX describe this situation?

• How do you think XXX feels about this situation?

• What do you need to do differently to move this

forward?
 After Deep Listening, what follow up
questions may help?
• How will you know if you have reached

a point where you are pleased with

the situation, describe what

is happening?

• Who else do you need to consult and what additional

data do you need to gather?

• What decisions can you make now and action

immediately?
What other follow up
questions may help?
• Build a bank of Open and Closed

questions that are ‘authentic’ for you

to use in Coaching Conversations.

Let’s Action this!

It’s the end of the year Dec 2015 and

Neil and DP are getting together to
review how the year has gone and
discuss plans for next year.
The focus is on DP’s portfolio of
work.
The Process

Discuss the how, where, when, what

and who and process of this
meeting?

What happens Prior, During and

Post such a meeting?
The best way to ensure action with
Feedback is by FOLDING BACK

What was the message you

delivered and what was the
message taken away?
SCAFFOLDING FEEDBACK

Do you Scaffold your

facilitated Feedback?
How do you make Decisions?
We must be
Evidenced Based
We don’t know
what we don’t know…
 How we make decisions?
Published Research Personal Practical
and Data Knowledge

Reflection
Generation
Outside Inside
Self
Action
Self

Current Practice Mental Models

Research Evidence
Prof John Hattie (Uni Auckland): 800 Meta-analyses
of over 50,000studies (200M+ students)
Major sources of variance in student achievement:

• Student ability: accounts for 50% of variance

• Home: 5-10%
• School: 5-10% (principals, other leaders)
• Peer Effects: 5-10%

• Teachers: 30%
Research Evidence
In Carrington’s opinion

Major sources of variance in student achievement:

• School Leaders: 80 %
(the staff are your class)
 Rank these effects: Hattie findings
• Self-Report Grades 1.44
• Piagetian Programs 1.28
• Providing Formative Evaluation .90
• Reducing disruptive behavior in the class .80
• Feedback .73
• Student/Teacher relationships .72
 Teacher Professional development .62
 Direct Instruction .59
 Parental Involvement .51
 Homework .29
• Audio-visual aids .22
 Class size .21
 Gender .12
 Initial Teacher Training .11
 Television -.18
• Mobility -.34
The Leader as Coach

Coaches understand how to

Listen for Understanding…
to Listen for Mental Models
 FACILITATIVE QUESTIONING

 Help the person to find their OWN insights

into their OWN issues.
 Focus totally on the person being
questioned - LISTEN to them.
 Ask questions to genuinely try to
understand what they are saying. Stay with
them like a terrain-hugging plane.
 Keep out your own agendas - do not try to
“fix” the person or give them your answers.
 Have total respect for the person being
questioned. (Edwards & Butler 1994)
Dear diary…

What should I
start/stop/continue/develop?
From my learnings today what
action will you take to Transform
my mental models and
behaviours as a QANTAS Leader?