Don't Change, Iterate!

   We all have challenges. For my youngest Son, it's that he eats about five things for dinner and for my oldest son, it's that he has several hours of homework each night. It seems easy enough to say do your homework or eat this. It seems like it would be as simple as Yoda says, "Do or do not, there is no try." For those who have parented before, you recognize, that those things which seem easy rarely are. Change is difficult. Abrupt change is even more so.
   As leaders of a household, classroom, building, or school district we are always looking for ways to improve. Whether it's a way to save a few dollars, such as cutting the cord on cable or no longer paying for a certain work book, adding a new practice to our routine like walking a puppy or guided math, we always looking for our next step towards improvement. The challenge is even with a desire from leadership, change doesn't simply happen. Furthermore, even if I wish it were so, effective change can rarely be mandated.
   There is hope, if you think you have problems with change, that's just peanuts compared to Apple. Each year they sell around 200,000,000 iPhones. Each year, they update their operating system and have around 500,000,000 people using new software tools that they didn't ask for. And each year, the press come out and say that this update isn't that much. Approximately 90% of Apple users choose to update their software each year. Android isn't even close. Part of this is control of the cellular service and device. However, part of this is also helping people feel comfortable in the idea that the change process is helpful and worthwhile.
   Supporting growth and change is hard. Effective change only come from internal motivation. Individuals need to believe they have something to gain from changing and they need to believe that the change is both achievable and manageable. Rene Ritchie from iMore maintains a comprehensive change list of how iOS, the iPhone operating system, has evolved. In it, one can see that Apple has taken an iterative process. Each year adding only a couple of new features. Even though other phone makers may have a process quicker such as cut and paste or facial recognition, Apple baby steps the journey in order to bring their products, software, and users along with each iteration. For example, the first iPhone didn't have an app store. Cut and paste came in version 3. Drag and drop copying came in version 11. FaceTime over WiFi came in version 4. FaceTime over cellular came in version 6. FaceTime audio came in version 7. Small enhancements year over year lead to longterm changes for the user and the product. iOS 11 is dramatically different than iOS 7, iOS 3, and the original iPhone. However, the small annual jumps do not feel drastic to the reviewer or the user.
   This iterative approach to change highlights a way for successful development both at home and in the workplace. My youngest son isn't going to magically start eating every food. However, we have gotten him to try 3 new meals over the past 4 months, of which, he will consistently eat one. My eldest didn't go from zero to multiple hours of homework each night. It started by adding one subject than the next over the past couple of years so now, while tired, he does feel that he can get it done. The same thing in schools. We are exploring two change initiatives. One with technology and one with pedagogy. In doing so, we are not taking away teachers' old tools, but adding new ones in an exploratory phase. Slowly, over time we hope to have the new ones accentuate positive practices and eliminate less effective practices as our instructional leaders see the impact of their work. We may want to totally transform our workplace and home life. We may dream about the moonshot. However, in reality, the more we iterate, the more substantial growth we may accomplish over time.

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