jackiedoherty.org

News, schools, and views from a uniquely Lowell perspective
22nd May 2008

A timely motion

posted in Education, In the News, Money Matters |

School committee member Dave Conway made a motion last night to create a Council for Creative Solutions, which would be charged with analyzing and determining the feasibility of cost-saving ideas submitted by school department employees, with a potential for such employees to receive bonuses for successful submissions.  I’m not sure if Mr. Conway reads The New Yorker or not, but in the May 12th issue James Surowiecki describes the phenomenal success of Toyota, which has recently surpassed GM in car sales, and ascribes their long term profitability to a similar program of employee-driven change.  Here’s how they do it:

Toyota implements a million new ideas a year, and most of them come from ordinary workers.  Most of these ideas are small – making parts on a shelf easier to reach, say – and not all of them work.  But cumulatively, every day, Toyota knows a little more, and does things a little better, than it did the day before. 

Toyota’s changes and innovations result from a relentless focus on incremental improvements in process, rather than product.  Their methods are no secret, and many companies have tried to copy them, but the prevailing cultural mentality of expecting innovation to be dramatic and exciting, which Surowieki likens to crash-dieting as opposed to sensible eating, causes them to abandon such mundane efforts early on.  In addition, as Surowieki points out, most companies (and, I would argue, school districts) are still organized in a very top-down manner, and have a hard time handing responsibility to front-line workers. 

It does sometimes seem that school districts are always ready to put money into a new theory or program, scrapping previous efforts and jumping on the latest bandwagon, like dieters who go from one faddish eating plan to another.   The wearied teachers and staff follow along because they must, but their ownership of such top-down, theory-driven plans is often lacking.  Small, grassroots initiatives may have a better chance of succeeding and may also invigorate an openness to change throughout the system.  I hope the motion passes successfully through subcommittee and is positioned to be simple and effective (do we really need another council?), and that employees and school leaders will enter into the spirit of this, not just to save money but to improve the way we do the job in our schools.  It could pay off for everyone in the long run.
 

There is currently one response to “A timely motion”

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  1. 1 On May 22nd, 2008, Jackie said:

    I agree with your post that this is an excellent motion. My personal experience with the Raytheon Employees Suggestion Plan program, which successfully saved the company money while rewarding staff for cost-saving ideas, shows these programs work in business. Why not schools?

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