1. Dr. Lolli Haws Chief Administrator
Designing an Employee-Generated
Continuous Improvement Strategic Plan:
Our Race Strategy to World Class
Dr. Lolli Haws Chief Administrator

2. Iowa’s AEAs GREEN HILLS AEA: 43 Districts 39 Superintendents 7 Offices
290 Employees
37,500 Students
8,599 Sq. miles
22 Counties
(About the size of New Jersey)

3. Kicking the Tires: Job Entry Plan, July ‘18
Reach Out
First 100 Days
Reflect
Fall - Winter
Respond
Winter - Summer
Launch
Fall 2019 & Beyond: Strategic Plan

4. What We Heard From Our 43 Districts
Superior AEA Staff: skilled, passionate, knowledgeable, supportive, positive, very professional and effective
Our Special Education Expertise: most valued
Reliable, Quality Partner in all districts we serve
Superintendents value AEA’s ability to connect and focus them on key topics, statewide efforts, and political developments
Excellent training and support for educators so schools perform better
Media & print services are valued resource
July-Dec 2018

5. What We Heard From Our Staff
Too many teams and initiatives
Inundated with disconnected, unaligned communication
Leadership doesn’t understand challenges and joys of staff’s daily work
Working in isolation: not connected to the agency as a whole & unaware of what other teams are doing
Feel valued & respected
Like and respect supervisors
Ample opportunities to grow
Trust their colleagues
Career ladders exist
July-Dec 2018

6. Key Takeaways: High regard from districts for expertise and support
50+ Teams--duplicative work, people on multiple, unaligned teams
Communication clarity and information sharing was a problem
Staff felt disconnected to the agency and their work was not well understood
Lacked clarity about how the work of individuals and teams impacts students (DATA)
Unclear focus and low accountability for the work of teams

7. DATA: Moving from Contentment → Urgency
Idling Engines
DATA: Moving from Contentment → Urgency

8. Idling: 5 Years of Early Childhood Results

9. Idling: 5 Years of Reading Results

10. Idling: 5 Years of Math Results

11. Idling: Special Education Gap Data

12. Repair Needed: Postsecondary Data
4-Year Postsecondary Degree Attainment
Iowa HS Graduation Rate
Postsecondary Degree Attainment
29.1%
Gap between HS Grad.
& 4-year Degrees
62.1%
Ranking… 35th
Ranking… 45th
2-Year Postsecondary Degree Attainment
91.2%
Postsecondary Degree Attainment
13.2%
Gap between HS Grad.
& 2-year Degrees
78%
Ranking… 2nd
Ranking...
1st
Ranking… 37th
Ranking 2nd

13. Visualizing Our Core Issue

15. GHAEA Goal Goal is known
Independent efforts may be disconnected from each other
“Silos” form
Independent efforts may or may not impact the overall goal
GHAEA
Goal

16. GHAEA GOAL COLLECTIVE IMPACT
Goal is ALIVE, compelling, measured and impactful
GHAEA
GOAL +
Each component builds strength from others to impact goal attainment
COLLECTIVE IMPACT =

17. It’s Time to Get in the Best Car for our Journey!

18. Forming Well-Oiled Pit Crew Teams
Preparing Our Staff for the Challenges of the Race
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019

19. The Change Cycle Any change causes many emotions.
Leaders often get too far ahead of their people during change.
Transparency and frequent communication help people move through the Change Cycle more quickly and smoothly.
Brock & Salerno (1994)
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019

20. ANNOUNCEMENT! Change is Coming!
Shared the Change Cycle with Leadership
How do we respond to change?
What personal and professional changes have we experienced?
Highlighted the Change Cycle with all staff
Staff Chats
Team Meetings
Agency Internal Communication Tools
Posters in all offices
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019

21. Leadership Paving the Track Asking Ourselves:
How can we best lead the system-wide change process?
What are our aligned, consistent key messages?
What is our leadership role in ensuring a grass roots systemic change process?
How will we provide staff with abundant leadership opportunities?
Do our current mission, vision, and core values speak powerfully to our future?
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019

22. Ethical Leadership Requires Foresight (Vision)
Ethical Leaders have Vision: a ‘clear, compelling picture of the future that people want to bring into reality’
Ethical leaders are “sharply awake & reasonably disturbed”
Ethical Leaders first change mental models to change processes & structures
The vision must have a deep connection to people & spur ‘generative action’
Ethical leaders engage people in creating, holding, and communicating the vision
All administration read and discussed. Strategic Planning Council read prior to their 3-day retreat
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019

23. Pit Crew Leaders: Strategic Planning Council
Step 1: Revisit, Revise, Rewrite our Mission, Vision, & Core Values
Change Cycle
Foresight as Ethical Leadership
Collective Impact vs. Silos
Flat Data
50+ Teams
Urgency + Autonomy
3 audacious, challenging, inspiring days together
Facilitator selection was key
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019

24. New Mission: New Core Values: New Vision: Serve ● Support ● Advocate
Who we are
Building Relationships
Leading Through Service
Continuous Learning
Acting on Data
New Core Values:
What we stand for and
how we do our work
Through collective impact, Green Hills Area Education Agency will be a world-class organization that unleashes dreams, uses our talents to challenge the status quo, and creates and nurtures partnerships to ensure all individuals are future ready.
New Vision:
Where do we need to go?
COLOR

25. Rebranding Ourselves
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019

26. Determine the Finish Line & Train Thoroughly

27. The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important
Discipline 2: Act on Lead Measures
Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability

28. Designing a Roadmap to Improvement
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
40+ staff Learned about The 4 Disciplines of Execution work from another Educational Service Unit
Established a 3-member 4DX Core team (Communications, Data, Expertise)
Strategic Planning Council members deeply trained in 4DX
Communicated our 4DX planning constantly & widely
Brought all employees along with us in the journey
Informed the Board throughout the process

29. Bringing Everyone Into the Race: Learning About 4DX
All staff chose their own adventure pathway:
Watched an overview video
Read an excerpt
Completed a book study
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019

30. Green Hills’ Wildly Important Goal (WIG):
Strategic Planning Council develops our agency WIG
2 challenging, impactful days of debate and decisions
Increase the percent of schools in GHAEA receiving an ESSA designation of Universal from 81% to 100% by Fall 2022.
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019
May 2019

31. Green Hills’ Intermediate WIGs:
Intense debate and work of the Strategic Planning Council
Increase the percent of schools in GHAEA receiving an ESSA designation of Universal from 81% to 100% by Fall 2022.
Intermediate WIGs
Increase the number of buildings who are effectively utilizing the Universal Tier Tools process from 29 to 43 by March 2020. 1 2
Increase the number of schools in the implementation of an effective intervention system measured by the Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAMI) from 14 to 28 by May 31, 2022. 3
Utilizing the Conditions for Learning Survey, improve from an average composite score of 46.7 to 50.6 by spring 2020.

32. Aligning Our Leadership for Victory
Creating World Class Leadership Structure
for a World Class Agency
Key Messages:
Our process to evolving the structure with the change cycle and strengths in mind:
Administrators draft and share their proposals of a better structure
Administrators provide chief with feedback on draft proposal
Each administrator discussed individual interests and concerns with chief privately
Chief shares final appointments and new structure with leaders and board
Communicate new structure via all-staff video, communication forums,
and staff chats
No loss of jobs
Changes in leadership titles and responsibilities
Strategically aligned to help accomplish agency WIG
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019
May 2019

33. Green Hills AEA Leadership Structure Should Reflect our Philosophy:
A Multi-Tiered System of SERVICE, SUPPORT & ADVOCACY

34. Embracing our
Mission and WIG
with an MTSS-based Non-hierarchical
Leadership Structure

35. Field Directors

36. Universal Services and Supports

37. Targeted Services and Supports

38. Specialized Services and Supports

39. Fueling up: 4DX WIG Team Performance Coaches
10 staff members consisting of content team leaders and aspiring leaders
Assigned to coach 3 WIG teams throughout the year--paid a stipend for their work and time
Received deeper 4DX training over the summer and cognitive coaching training in the fall
Facilitated staff understanding and use of the 4DX process in weekly WIG team meetings
Monitored & collected data: ensure the agency is on track to achieve our WIG
Design & led mid-year and end-of-year WIG Summits
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019
May 2019
June 19-Aug. 20

40. Race Day! Launch and Go! WIG Team Launch (3 mo.)
Teams meet weekly face to face or zoom <30 mins.
Opening Day, August 2019
4 Disciplines of Execution Speaker
Leadership Structure Review
WIG Teams meet member colleagues for the first time
Build relationships with cross discipline colleagues
Complete a sequenced WIG team launch plan to understand WIG work
WIG Team Launch (3 mo.)
Create team WIGs, measures, and weekly commitments to generate a winnable game
Build a team scoreboard to create a cadence of accountability
July-Dec 2018
Jan. 2019
Feb. 2019
Mar.-May 2019
May 2019
June-Aug. 2019
Aug Current

41. Strategic Leadership Plan
What’s Next?
Developing a 3-year
Strategic Leadership Plan
to Support WIG Work

42. Refining our Tactics for the Next Races
World Class
Collective Impact
4 Disciplines
of Execution
Facilitation Excellence
Data Quality
WIG
SUCCESS!
Cognitive Coaching
Superior
Communication

43. Sample Strategies to Support WIG Attainment and Our World Class Vision
Streamline
Business Processes
Align School Improvement & Content Teams
Align Budget to Leadership with Autonomy
Principal Academy
Recruiting and
Retaining Superior Staff
Assure Future Ready Graduates
IEP Progress Monitoring
Develop & Implement
a Comprehensive Communication Plan
Expand Social Emotional Learning/Mental Health Supports
Continuously Improve Structures & Processes

44. Honing our Leadership for the Upcoming Races

45. The Race to World Class: Keys to our Success
Slow and steady wins the race - go together to go far
Build your pit crew - Engage the right key people, not necessarily administrators
Trust & rely on all your people - Build commitment, grant autonomy, and develop leadership within your staff
Be Mindful--Monitor where people are with the change cycle & pace accordingly
Learn together- Book studies, videos, coaching, reflections, and discussions
Keep your sponsors in the loop - Include and inform the board and superintendents
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Think BIG. Be BOLD. INSPIRE Each Other.

46. Winning the Grand Prix: Our WIG attainment, 2022
Our Vision of World Class...

47. We are CONFIDENT, ENTHUSIASTIC & Poised for SUCCESS
We know we will win our race!