Two ways: 1. Discipline. 2. Discipline.

Update: We first spoke with Dr. Debra Gustafson in December 2019 about how she had applied Jim Collins’ principle of the flywheel to her work as an elementary school principal. It was a powerful discussion, in part, because Deb emphasized the need for discipline of thought and action. She wanted to focus on those practices that would move the dial for her kids. Academically, yes, but what was even more important was the need for her kids to believe in themselves. Therefore, hiring the right people who were instinctively wired to support kids was essential. As you’ll hear in our first interview, that discipline of focus paid off.

If hiring the right people sounds like another Jim Collins concept from Good to Great, it is: get the right people on the bus. Now as Associate Superintendent, her belief in the importance of hiring the right people has not wavered:

“Literally, the interviewing and hiring process is the most important thing that we do as as building leaders and district leaders because that that identifies whether our kids are going to be taken care of. Are we getting the right people in front of our kids?”

Finally, COVID presented the expected challenges, but Deb stayed true to her flywheel principles by helping her team to understand that "We can't do everything. We have to set priorities around what matters." And as we’ll hear, they did.

Our first conversation with Deb

Why this conversation matters

One of the many problems that plague U.S. businesses, not-for-profits, and our U.S. education system is when and how to change. For many institutions, the process can look like fruit-of-the-month club: they try “this” until a new “this” comes along. A new something – process, way of thinking, way of leading etc. – is seen as the answer to all organizational ills . . . until a new, shinier something takes its place. As a result, employees are whipped-sawed by an unending stream of changes, and sustained results are rarely achieved.

One who wrote at length about this problem was Jim Collins in his landmark book, Good to Great. There he looked at what great performing organizations do that good performing organizations typically don’t do. One of the habits that great organizations instinctively employ is something Collins called “the flywheel” – a process involving 4-6 elements with each element impacting / driving the next. The thinking went: “If we do “A,” then “B” will happen, which will cause “C” to happen, which will cause “D” and so on. Each element is a consequence of the element that came before it. As Collins wrote:

“Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward. You keep pushing, and with persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete on entire turn. You don’t stop. You keep pushing. The flywheel moves a bit fast. Then as some point —breakthrough! The flywheel flies forward with almost unstoppable momentum.”

Our guest

The book was written about U.S. business, but the question was quickly asked, “Would this thinking work for not-for-profits and specifically, education?” One educator who was immediately intrigued is Dr. Debra Gustafson. Deb is the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning for the Geary County Unified School District 475 based in Junction City, KS. When we first met her, she was the the Executive Director of Student Support Services. Our conversation focused on the work she did as principal of Ware Elementary School. That’s where she started turning a flywheel that still turns today.