The Obstacles We Create
During a Twitter chat this week for #AWSAConnect (Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, @AWSALeaders1), the facilitator Jay Posick posed a challenge for educators to respond to and blog about it before the next chat: Choose one barrier to hurdle next week.
Call To Action- Choose one barrier to hurdle next week. Write a blog and post it to #AWSAconnect before our next chat on February 7th. #GetOutOfYourOffice pic.twitter.com/rOeW8yoRqR
— Jay Posick (@posickj) January 25, 2019
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The hurdle I choose, one I think I select every week, are the obstacles I might create for myself.
Certainly, some hurdles are beyond our influence. For example, staffing that might be cut or resources that are limited due to budget constraints are legitimate obstacles we have little control over.
But I have found that the majority of the obstacles in our path are the ones we decide to let into our professional lives.
An example I wrote about recently was the commercial resource samples that appeared in our hallway. I had not requested these items. In the past, I would have shrugged and had our custodian put them in my office to review at a later time. And every time I went to my office, there they would be, waiting for me to open them up and make a decision on whether we should adopt these resources. This year, I requested that the company come back and pick up the samples. No more obstacle.
Potential hurdles that can interfere with our important work are not just physical. We also get inundated with online requests that call for our attention. For instance, a few of our faculty members have used Teachers Pay Teachers to order resources. A representative for this site reached out and asked if I was interested in a school account. In the past, I would have hemmed and hawed about making a decision, wondering who I might upset if I said "no" or "yes". Instead, I asked the rep for more information about how their resources are evaluated for effectiveness and for permissions. I'll share his responses with our leadership team and make a collaborative decision. Now, this obstacle was a chance to practice shared leadership.
We can event set up professional hurdles in our personal lives. They may not even seem like an obstacle to overcome at first. Case in point: I had my eye on a writers workshop for April. I talked to my wife about this being a birthday present, an opportunity to improve my writing skills. In the meantime, while discussing possible spring activities with my family, my daughter suggested we go to a Milwaukee Brewer game for my birthday (she knows I'm a baseball fan). It was at this point that I realize the workshop was connected closely to my work; I write almost exclusively about education. Her comment helped me get some perspective and reflect on my priorities as a father, husband, and friend. In other words, we're going to a baseball game.
And with that, I would like to add a follow-up question to Jay's call to action: Is this barrier that you want to hurdle an obstacle you created for yourself?