Doesn’t that just sound obvious?  Doesn’t that just seem fair?

I read this on the TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) website today.  http://bit.ly/bXLH3h  It talks about how teachers in the school district are going to be paid by how well they teach and how well their students progress.  They have been getting ready for this for 3 years.  The principles of the schools have to evaluate probationary teachers 8 times a semester and 4 times for non probationary teachers. The teachers then discuss the observations and get feed back from the principles.  Most of the teachers that have been involved feel this observation and feedback is helpful.   It’s cool because the district has had the teachers involved in the process the whole time.  So there is some pretty good buy in from most.  Of course there are disenters.  The article brings up a point from an art teacher, “You can’t  test on art” But the article doesn’t refute the point.  You can test on art.  There are rules to effective art and to be a truly great artist you have to know the rules.  And if you break the rules you better have a good reason.

One of the thing that came to my mind is that some people are just going to be better than other people and we need to help those those that aren’t so good.   I think we should try harder to help each other find out what we do best.  For instance, I worked with a mentally and physically challenged lady in a company.  She could do basic office work, she was not the best, but she was at work on time everyday and would do work no one else wanted to do.  She never complained, she just did her work.  She didn’t make much money.

While working at that office my wife delivered our second child.  The day I came back to work.  This lady gifted me a hand knitted afghan. It was beautiful and it was perfect.  I couldn’t believe how well it was made.  She said she had made it for us in the previous couple of days. I asked here how long it took her to make it.  She said it took 6 to 8 hours.  I thought, she should be making those for a living.   I wish I had more money to setup an campaign to market these amazing afghans for her.  I still wish I could.

One of my life’s goals is to help people find what they are best at doing and enjoying.

Back to the teachers in Colorado Springs.  I am hoping compensations plans like this will help people discover what they are best at.

I believe a desire to be good is also key.  I think compensation that rewards excellence helps motivate those that want to be better find ways to innovate and  become better.

There are those that seem to be naturally gifted.  I think about professional sports players.  Many seem to be naturally gifted.  It is true in basket ball those that are tall have an advantage.  But a closer look at people like Michael Jordan.  They just have some sort of internal motivation that overcomes there lack of natural advantages.  We see them play on TV and are amazed.  What we don’t see is the countless hours of effective practice to be able to play on TV.  Notice I said effective, effective is the key.

There is a misconception that practice makes perfect.  Effective practice makes perfect.  For instance if I take a rifle out to a shooting range and just start shooting It doesn’t necessarily make me a better marksmen.  Only when I have a target and watch where each shot scores.  Listening to a friend that has won shooting awards he said even controlling your breathing makes a better shooter.

If we are trying to motivate teachers to be better we need a way to find which teachers are the most effective and why.  Then we can share that with other teachers and help them be better.   We really should be doing this in most companies.  People should have a target to shoot for and be able to see if they are hitting the target.

I think all industries should pay this way.  Of course that would be Utopia doing what we like doing, were good at and got paid good money for doing.

We all need to demand this and the world will change.

Innovation creates;

• Increased Productivity
• Lower Labor Costs
• Motivated Employees
• Loyal Employees
• Happy Employees
• Happy Owners

One of the common questions that gets asked as people talk is “What do you do?” I think most of us know what we do, and can explain it to people. However, after you talk to people can they tell their friends what you do. I have been trying now for six months to get it to the next level. Now I think I have it.

So when people ask me what I do I can tell them, “I am a business consultant that increases productivity and lowers labor costs.”

These seam like they would not go together. That is where the magic of innovation comes in.  The first and most critical step for innovation is “asking questions.”  Such as; “How can we do this better?” “How can we do this faster?”  ”Why am I doing it like this?” “What does the customer want?”

The next step, and the most powerful, is listening to the answers.  Without listening innovation will never live.  This is also the phase of innovation that involves creating the plan of action.

Next is ACTION,  this is where experimentation puts new innovation into play and where the results are found, tested, and improved.  This is the exciting part,  whether it’s a success or failure.  Like Thomas Edison, you must be prepared to fail.  Learning comes from failure and should be expected.   Failure should be also be painful, pain is what we learn from. I have spent more than 20 year experimenting, feeling the pain and finding what works.   Good planing and experience can avoid experimentation and pain.

Once the learning is complete this where companies pull ahead of their competition and win the day.   Increasing productivity and lowering labor cost are big parts of helping companies find the win.

With my 20 years of experience(from experimentation and pain) I can help significantly reduce

Well Do you? I posted the question today on Facebook. If you do why? There were more responses to that comment than anything else I have ever posted. Most of the people didn’t answer the question. A couple thought I was trying to push some MLM, some responded honestly, and one asked why? I know I hit a chord because of all the comments. A couple of times in my life I have loved my career. One of those times I was gluing rocks together.
I believe the times I have really loved what I was doing is because I had complete freedom to choose my own destiny and create cool things for the company I was working for. I love creating systems that maximize efficiency. I love creating environments where innovation will thrive.

I have a friend that is that kind of situation now. I heard a guy on the radio stating that 60% of people interviewed in their job where unsatisfied, because they were board. This tells me they know they are capable of more, but they don’t have the freedom to make a difference. I believe there is going to be a major shift in America’s workforce in the next 10 years.

I believe we all want more freedom to provide for ourselves, our family, and make a difference in the world. Every company that creates that environment is going to conquer in the future.

This may be a pretty lame article because I can’t think of a cool way to start.  So if your looking to be entertained.  click the search bar and go find a replay of the latest American Idol act.

I try to find and read articles on Innovation. I want to find out how and why people are innovating.  I want to find out to be a better innovator and how to get people to be more innovative.

I read an article this week that gave me great hope for innovation in my own life and for the people Interact with.

The article that referred to a 6 year study of innovation, conducted by three professors Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University, Hal Gregersen of Insead, and Clay Christensen of Harvard Business School. How Do Innovators Think? – BusinessWeek and The Innovator’s DNA – Harvard Business Review

The exciting thing in the article is that innovation can be learned and improved.  The other thing in the study that was very encouraging to me is that they understand the root cause of innovative thinking.  Mostly to be a better innovator you need to constantly be asking questions.  Questions like “Why are we doing this?”, “Can this be done better, faster, more efficiently.”

I have noticed sometimes in my life I get a little lazy and get used to the status quo.  I like turning on the autopilot and fall asleep while things move forward.  This is where the disruptive innovation needs to be driven home.  I need to start asking questions and finding out if things can be done better.   My wife is pretty good and getting me to start asking some of those questions.

America continues to fall behind other countries in academic performance. Why? I think it’s because we abuse teachers in this country. They are underpaid and overworked. I believe a solution to this problem is pay for performance in teaching. There is a growing push towards pay for performance for teachers. I read a great blog post this morning by Michael J. Corso, Ph.D. that discussed some simple measurements to which teachers could be held accountable. Dr. Corso Article

From my years of working with pay for performance in industry I believe if teachers can make %50 to %100 more for meeting simple criteria our education system will out perform any in the world.