At a recent meeting with Catholic school leaders, I offered a framework that undergirds my work and our collective efforts to create systems, structures, programs, policies, and procedures that will help us advance the mission of our schools. Taken from a part of change management known as improvement science, I have been using cycles of continuous improvement to help direct and guide my efforts throughout my career.
Chances are good that you have employed a similar system during your leadership as well.
As noted by the graphic, this cycle - or more appropriately stated - these cycles are intended to engage a number of leadership traits (missionary, visionary, strategic, collaborative, analytical, professional).
To start, we design a PLAN that is rooted in our mission, inspired by our vision for the future state of our school, and designed collaboratively with a specific strategy for us to employ.
Once crafted, we execute the plan with professionalism. We DO what the plan states with magnanimity, striving for greatness for our God, our students, our faculty and staff, our community, and ourselves. We rally others to play their part in this scheme, integrating, differentiating, delegating, and empowering across personnel and community members.
The next phase of one of these cycles demands that we humbly analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of our intended progress, helping us to identify affirmations of work that should continue and recommendations for how we can continuously improve. This STUDY must be thoughtful, so that the data we construct - leading vs. lagging indicators, low vs. high inference observations - actually informs us about how we are doing.
From there, we start the cycle again, taking ACTion to either stay the course while continuing to monitor our ongoing progress, or make adjustments with a new plan, implementation, and analysis.
This cycle of continuous improvement creates iterative improvements. While not intended to create instability across organizations, these cycles allow us to methodically and incrementally improve and enhance our schools.
As we continue to move throughout the 2024–2025 school year, may we CONTINUE to use this framework - Plan, Do, Study, Act - to propel us forward in advancing the mission of our schools.
