A Mirror for Difficult Conversations
Why the topic of AI isn’t about tools.
Introduction: A Shift in Perception
I’ve written a few newsletters now, and you might be wondering why I haven’t brought up a specific AI tool. When will I start to get into useful AI tools?
But here’s the thing: AI is not about the tools, it’s a shift in perception.
The Power of Questions and Coaching
I, or anyone else, may tell you what you need but only you and your team will know what is truly the best solution for your organisation, to help offer clarity if you are struggling. I heard the following line from JB Hollows, a human who lives with this message in the truest sense:
“Shine a light on their wisdom”
-JB Hollows
www.jbhollows.co.uk
Unfortunately, people have become accustomed to speaking to each other instead of with each other.
We have our own ways of internalising information, and we often need the confidence and clarity to see that we have the capacity to find those answers.
It’s the power of questions.
A thoughtful question can open up possibilities, and conversations and build connections.
Answers or set ideas can often have the opposite impact.
It’s why I’ve been so obsessed with the coaching approach to organisational change and have been working on a book of powerful questions with my dear friend and soon-to-be co-author, Shane Leaning. We believe this approach is foundational as it empowers organisations to strengthen their innate confidence, relationships and wisdom to lead from within.
Aligning Values and Addressing Disconnection
Although Shane and I come from different backgrounds and experiences within and outside the field of education, our values are deeply aligned.
We see the value in shining a light on the organisations we work with to be self-sufficient.
So what does this have to do with AI?
Well, AI is a mirror of ourselves. It reflects the relationships and values at the centre of our community. Our shared safety of knowing who we are and what we aim to achieve is supercharged with AI.
If there are cracks of disconnection in our educational approach, in our relationships or communication channels, those cracks could reveal gaping and widening holes with AI.
But if used correctly, AI can serve as a partner in the educational process to truly reimagine what is possible.
Setting Foundations
AI represents innovation, a new approach, and it must be used consciously, meaningfully, and purposefully.
Many others speak about the technical updates and ongoing developments—friends and colleagues I deeply admire and I hope to collaborate with in the upcoming newsletters I share with you here. But for now, I aim to set the foundations.
Our ability to confidently ground ourselves and feel self-assured, individually and as a community, in who we are, what we want to achieve, and how we adapt to these ongoing changes that occur is crucial.
Practical Exercise: Complementing Strengths
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”
Thoughtful questions are more uncomfortable, more challenging, and more unsettling than answers but have the power to allow us to reflect and make a lasting impact.
Yes, it might take longer, but the impact of good questions is that they can allow us to chip away at our preconceived assumptions and build a stronger connection in what we do, who we are as a community, and how we operate together.
I can act as a consultant or an advisor and give you a list of things to do with AI, or, the path I’ve chosen, I can help you gain clarity on where and when you might use AI.
I don’t know what you need; together with your community and organisation only you will be able to answer that.
So why is this specific to AI?
Unlike traditional educational tools, which often replicate old methods in digital form, AI offers a fundamentally different approach: it learns and adapts, it can allow us to contain the vision and aspirations of the individuals within our organisations, to listen and learn whilst weaving together and deeply embedding our shared values.
Reimagining Relationships with AI
These are nice statements, but what does that mean?
Before I begin to answer what the above means, I’ve got a challenge for you.
Imagine a friend, someone who has different personal strengths, interests, and challenges. Although you might be different, there’s something that brings you together that is deeply aligned with who you are and what your values are.
I want you to think of how you complement each other.
Can you do the same with 5 friends, considering each other's strengths and how you can feed off each other positively? The dynamics have changed.
What about 100 people you know or know of?
Let’s add to what might be going on while you do this activity. What if a lot was going on while you were trying to do this?
As human beings, we’re limited by certain capabilities. I can’t speak for you, but I know I struggle to contain a lot of information at once. With my family, I can’t remember everyone’s birthday, but the reminders I get help trigger me to call and send a card. Does it mean I don’t love them as much? Not at all! I’m human, and it’s impossible to remember everything in the fast-paced society that I live in.
Those reminders can allow me the space to pause and take a step back. But there seems to be a fine line between augmenting my relationships with technology (for example: sending a quick text message for a loved one’s milestone without thought or feeling) and augmenting our lives to support and develop those relationships (for example using a technology to create a virtual card for my parents overseas)?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this:
I believe that, depending on the context and the use of it, it can support us. It allows me to speak regularly with my parents. Unfortunately, it can also take away from being present with my spouse.
In our organisations too, there’s so much that is going on that technology can help or hinder. There’s immense complexity that can create disconnect without us realising it. For our people, our data and our internal systems.
In the past, I found the conversation was either understanding the goals, values and vision of the individual or understanding that of the community. It felt like an either/or option and understandably so, there’s so much to consider.
Investing in Clarity and Internal Preparation
With AI, we can invest in understanding how each individual can shape our collective values and vision as a school, but that requires clarity. AI can then help us augment these systems.
How do we create the space for this type of innovation and change?
Cultural and organisational change demands significant trust, clarity, and unity within a community.
During the COVID pandemic, I was working in a leadership position running the Sixth Form of a grammar school in the UK. As most school leadership positions seem to include multiple roles, I was responsible for pastoral care, attendance, results, behaviour, extracurricular activities, and career guidance, and as time went on the list seemed to grow.
As a human being, it was impossible for me to properly be present in all these areas at once. Like the challenge of remembering birthdays or people’s strengths, having clear systems and a team allows this to be more manageable.
So, where does AI come into this?
AI could allow us to reimagine our teams and systems if we let it.
AI learns based on the information and data we provide.
But how are we collecting our data, and what role do our team have in this process?
For this approach to work effectively, we must engage every stakeholder in our educational community, to build self-confidence and foster a collective readiness. To have clarity in our educational and organisational systems and goals.
There is immense power in truly listening and valuing the voices within and across our organisations, now more than ever. However, considering change becomes daunting when our school community is often disconnected and overwhelmed with work.
While AI technology may offer solutions to improve our culture and connections, we must first ask ourselves:
Are we truly prepared as an organisation internally to innovate?
What are the risks involved, and what will it take for us, as leaders, to confidently take the next steps alongside our school community?
The Benefits of AI and Good Questions
The conversation about AI forces us to face these questions that have always been beneath the surface. As my dear friend Merissa Sadler-Holder, founder of Teaching With Machines, shared yesterday:
The conversation about AI encourages all of the following:
Collaboration to find innovative solutions
Compels us to address existing challenges
Brings a voice to those who didn't have it before
Identifies the beauty of what makes us uniquely human
Creates new pathways for us that seemed impossible before
Redefines what a meaningful education looks like now and for the future
It’s the power of questions, and as John Rainford, a wise and true leader, described to me, innovation requires good questions.
Sneak Peek
In the following newsletter, I’ll give you a sneak peek into the book Shane and I are writing, I will dig into what those questions could be and what those questions may tell us. I can’t wait to share more!
Wishing you a relaxing weekend,
Efraim