Core #2 is Leading and that involved 5 “T’s” – Tools, Talent, Technology, Training and Time. The fifth and last “T” of Leadership is Time.
Time – Add Time to the four prior T’s and you get success. What appears to be failures or stuttering starts end up being success when you add time.
How does this work? What make bad things into good? What allows the planning of yesterday to become the foundation of tomorrow and the expansion into the future?
Time – just give it some time…
Give Tools time to mature
New and exciting tools are being developed in education, but they cannot do everything you want them to do. None of them can. Because as soon as they do – you want them to do more. But look backwards and see that the troubles of yesterday are being addressed by the tools today. Just give the developers time (and let them know what to work on) and they will mature the tools they offer.
Give Talent time to play
Talented people need tools and they need time to play with them. They need some space to fail and room to experiment. Allow those who are the best and brightest to just fiddle with new things, try out new software and push the limits of ED Tech. When you do this, they will not always succeed. But they will learn and find new approaches to old problems. They will help you get past the hurdles of Tools that are not mature yet.
Give Technology time to catch up
When Talented people push technology they attempt things that the developers never thought they would try. I have heard developers tell me that they never thought someone would try to do what they are trying to do. I have seen the light bulbs turn on in their minds as we mention options that they never thought of before. This means that the real world of education is always setting the bar higher and the developers are playing catch up. So give them some time and they usually get the technology focused on your needs.
Give Training time to sink in
Finishing a class does not make someone an expert. It begins the path to expertise, but the job is not completed. Add time to training and you end up with a ever increasing level of staff who can operate on their own. Sometimes administration thinks that when training is done, the users are up to speed and can do everything needed. But give them a little time and some class focused testing and they will develop into tech superstars.
Be patient.
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