Before GPS and smart phone apps came to the path around the Falls, finding the right direction when traveling was a bit more challenging. There used to be paper maps. Drivers had to be alert for appropriate road signs. Going even further back, there were a few signs in nature.
Moss grows on the north side of trees, we were told many years ago. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. These are the basics that guide much in life. We experienced another of these on Sunday heading into Oconto Falls on County I.
The instinctual compass noted the direction of travel was west bound. At the same time, there was clear evidence which was the north side of the road and which was the south side of the road. Contrary to popular opinion and early instruction in knowing about directions, the north side of the road was warmer than the south side of the road. What was the evidence? There was no snow in the north ditch, and there were places with more than a couple of feet of snow on the south side of the road.
This seemed to be a contradiction to what was supposed to be the case. Then, from out of the shadows, a light went on. Sunlight on the south side of the road was filtered by the trees. The sun was high enough in the sky at this time of year for the north ditch to be gifted with direct sunlight.
Many would consider this to be a piece of worthless trivia, but some of us need to take joy in the simple things in life. Just for clarification, if one was traveling westward in the southern hemisphere, in a similar situation six months from now, the ditch on the north side of the road would have snow, and the one on the south side would be clear.
Speaking of simple things, we heard a great one recently. It was the difference between the “yes but” and the “yes and” approach to leadership and working with people.
One of the issues about working with people is the approach taken to new ideas. Some people live and die by the philosophy of, “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” Taken to a slightly higher level of sophistication, this can be restated as, “Nobody likes change except a baby with a wet diaper.” In physics, this state of being is known as inertia, or Newton’s first law of motion: An object at rest stays at rest unless an outside force acts upon it.
So how does it apply to the yes approaches? Someone comes up with a new idea in a group or suggests a new idea to the leader. In more stagnant organizations, the leader or others in the group say something like, “Yes, that’s an interesting idea, but here’s why it won’t work.”
That’s like throwing a pail of water on the flame of inspiration. The tendency in that setting is not to encourage, but rather to discourage new ideas. This might go back to the nobody liking change philosophy or a sense of “If I didn’t come up with the idea, it’s not worth pursuing.” This can be depressing to the culture in an organization. The result is little forward movement for the enterprise. “Yes, but” is adversarial.
The flip side of that approach is the “Yes, and” philosophy. When the new idea comes up, the leader or other group member might say, “Yes, that’s a good idea, and here’s how we might implement it,” or something similar. It sends the message that the person coming up with the idea had the attention of the other person who really listened. People who use the line are open to new ideas. The flame of inspiration is fanned.
With new ideas, there are opportunities for growth and progress. That can work in the classroom. Great teachers use it.
When talking to students, according to one author, these teachers use lines like, “Yes, you got it. And here’s another little hint you can try.” “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about! And have you thought about it this way?” “Yes, fantastic! And here’s the next thing that builds on that idea.”
The energy in that classroom is obvious. There would be no need to check the moss on the tree to know that this teacher is headed in the right direction, and the students won’t get lost.
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