A Wrestling Coach

Professional wrestling, or better known today as Sports Entertainment has been entertaining my dad and I (and now my nephew too) for the past 30 years. What I did not know was that the Induction concept of “preparing your replacement” was embedded in the wrestling culture.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon, current chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is not only a billionaire wrestling promoter and an onscreen wrestling personality, he is the coordinator of a highly visible coaching program. Vince didn’t invent the program, but his actions demonstrate a commitment to professional development.

Throughout the week and between live performances WWE Superstars practice wrestling moves, memorize lines, and stick to an intense exercise program. On the other side of the ropes, Vince and his staff is constantly recruiting younger talent and seeking the assistance of wrestling coaches in the form of “older” talent. When Vince develops the wrestling storylines it is common practice to put a newbie in a program with one of the experienced wrestlers. Once the bell rings, a wrestler is only as good as his opponent; in the wrestling culture it is expected that the WWE Superstars “put over” the younger talent. This is a great example of coaching on the job.

Just as I still cheer for Rick Flair and Hulk Hogan, my nephew cheers for their replacements, WWE Superstars Ken Kennedy and Paul London.

Being A Coach at Denny's

4:00 AM at Denny’s Restaurant was not the place where I would expect to find elements of Induction. A few items that demonstrated a Recipe for Success included…

1) A new waitress was teaming/shadowing with an experienced server in the middle of the night. The middle of the night is probably the best time to model, provide opportunity to learn, coach and provide feedback for a new employee.

2) Regardless of who “owned” the table, the wait staff worked together to make sure our needs were met. One server directed us to our table and served drinks while the Mentee and her Server Coach took the initial order. Additional wait staff constantly surveyed the area and refilled our drinks.

3) Service/support did not end when the meal was delivered. The Mentee and her Server Coach stopped by AFTER the meal to offer additional assistance.

4) Being There. At then end of the meal, the Mentee and her Server Coach stopped by, smiled, and said “Thanks for coming by, we hope to see you again.” By all means it was us who should had offered them THANKS for being there and providing a friendly experience.

We were quite impressed for a place that is known for the Slam and its 4:00 a.m. Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Responsibility In Less Than 60 Seconds

Liberty Mutual has produced a TV commercial with the message of Responsibility (along with a purpose of providing you insurance, but I can look beyond the fiscal function of the commercial). I am quite impressed with what you can say and mean within 60 seconds. If a 60 second commercial can reinforce a concept, can the same medium be used to teach a lesson? Click here to take a look at the clip.

An Induction (Football) Team

It is not my intention for this space to have a football focus, but as long as University of Florida head coach, Urban Meyer is the poster child for Induction, he will be here until he finds his replacement.

Just a few weeks ago, Urban was disappointed with the team’s opening win and publicly stated that improvement comes with individual performance and growth. As a result, a crowd of 106,000 plus received a clinic on Commitment, Collaboration, Communication, and Leadership.

"That was one of the finest team efforts I've ever seen," coach Urban Meyer said.

When the ball is snapped at the point of impact, the 3-0 Gators represent a union of great individual performances that reach the end successfully only as a Team.

Why an Induction Blog?

Her silence had me thinking. I had the chance to catch up with one of my mentors and as always she questioned the direction of my current work and my approach. When it came to sharing this Blog to her she simply asked about its purpose, I stated without hesitation, “the relationship of Induction to real life events”. Her silence had me thinking. “To show Liaisons that the components of Induction go beyond our work.” Her silence had me thinking. “To teach others about Induction.”

Her silence had me thinking about the generational differences, from Boomers to Generation Xers, and now Gen Y. New Educators unlike most of the NESS Liaisons, spent at least half of their life with a home computer and Internet access, and lately these teachers use the Internet as a tool for socialization more so than previous generations.

Why a blog? Reflection is an honored practice of learning from your experiences, the generational difference is sharing with a click of the mouse. I walk away knowing it's not that one generation is better than the other, it's just what can we do to understand and appreciate the differences. Her silence had me thinking.

"Steve Greenberg for Editor & Publisher magazine; posted here with artist's permission"

Do the Dolphins have an Induction Plan?

Miami Dolphin Head Coach, Nick Saban has a responsibility to develop his football team. This involves cutting (firing might be a more appropriate term) dozens of players until his team is at the NFL approved roster number of 53. I did not pay much attention to this process until I heard Coach Saban describe his team.

"We have three kinds of guys on our team," Saban said after conducting a practice in preparation for Sunday's home opener against the Bills.

(1st Type) "We have guys that get it; they play good; they understand how to play winning football.”

(2nd Type) "We have some guys that are trying to get it, and they are working hard every day. ... We are supporting them, and we want the guys that have it to support them.”

(3rd Type) "Then we have some guys that don't get it and don't know that they don't get it. We are trying to replace them."

One of the Dolphin players added, "That's how the program works, try to find the best players to win."

Are these TYPES of players found in our schools? Are there three types of teachers? Are there three types of Instructional Coaches? Are there three types of NESS Liaisons? Are there three types of NESS Program Facilitators? Are there three types of HRD Producers? Are there three types of Directors?

What do you do when a peer is unconscious and unaware? What is our role as support for the 3rd Type of player?

Instructional Coach Jedi Master

I was only nine when I first learned the way of the Jedi, and almost thirty years later there seems to be a lot more to learn. As I discovered the Jedi mentoring principles (see below), I wondered if George Lucas participated in HRD’s Induction Site-based Professional Development event.

1) Though some small Force abilities may be instinctive or learned from experience, to become a powerful Jedi you must train. For a student to learn skills at a more advanced level, he/she must be trained by a mentor. Training with a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master is the fastest way to learn and a Jedi trainee may also have multiple mentors in their lives.

2) A Jedi Master is extremely experienced in the ways of the Force. A Jedi Master can function as a teacher or a mentor. A Jedi Knight, although he knows the Force, still has much to learn.

3) When training with a teacher, the student gains the benefits of the experience and insight, which that teacher has to offer. The teacher knows what works and what doesn’t. He/she knows a proven method of learning because he has already been a student. Without a teacher, a Jedi student is at a severe disadvantage.

If you missed Star Wars on the big screen, from September 12 to December 31, the original Star Wars trilogy is available on DVD.

Double or Nothing with Continuous Improvement

I perceived the Plan, Do, Study, Act process as four equal parts…until today. Planning is a major part of the Continuous Improvement Cycle and is appropriately represented in this graphic with Planning as no less than 50% of the time. Makes sense when W. Edwards Deming preached, "We should work on the process, not the outcome of the processes."

Do we double the amount of time in planning our actions? For example:

What planning was involved in determining the class list of a New Educator? What planning and considerations were involved in preparing the class lists?

What planning was involved in designing the monthly NESS meeting? If the meeting last an hour was two hours of planning invested?

What planning was involved in developing the Instructional Coaches? If coaches are asked to meet the New Educator at least once a week, who meets with the coaches?


Here are few of my favorite Deming Quotes:
“It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.”
“The emphasis should be on why we do a job.”
“If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.”

Click here to find your favorite Deming quotes

Chain of Events from Video to Practice

A NESS Liaison shared with me a chain of events today that involved sharing and communication.. Follow this:

1) On the 6th day of school I videotaped a New Educator utilizing Response (Dry Erase) Boards during Writing instruction (to be used as a New Educator podcast).
2) A few days later I emailed the video clip to the NESS Liaison for feedback.
3) Through the NESS Liaison, the Principal heard of the podcast, and found additional Response Boards for the rest of the New Educators.
4) The NESS Liaison shared the clip and the new Boards with her New Educators.
5) A week later, I videotaped a different New Educator practicing a new skill: Utilizing Response Boards during Math Instruction.


The NESS Liaison was quite impressed on how fast her teachers are implementing new ideas.
It was a thrill to hear everyone tuned into the same frequency!

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers

Your Gut Feeling

Just watched The Sentinel. Not the edge of your seat thriller that I was expecting, but then again what should I expect lately from Hollywood? One could even describe the current trend in Hollywood as “banal”.

However there is a shining moment, something that makes you go, “Hmmmmmmmm”. Early in the movie, when David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) and Jill Marin (Eva Longoria) arrive at the scene of an agent's murder, Breckinridge lectures a police detective: "The problem with a gut feeling is that the only evidence you see is the kind that supports your gut feeling."
Hmmmmmmmm.

Gators 1-0! Is this good data?

The final score had Florida Gator fans thrilled, the clock ended with a 34-7 victory, however the post game interview with head coach Urban Meyer told a different story. Said UF coach, "I was disappointed after that game because I felt like we could play so much better."

Disappointed?!?! Did we just watch the same game?

I realized that as we looked at the final score, we JUDGED the performance of the football team and we were pleased. However the score did not INFORM us on how well the football team performed. Granted the Gators performed better than Southern Mississippi, yet in the language of Assessment and Accountability Coach Meyer and his players believe that improvement comes from looking at individual performance and growth.

Offensive lineman Drew Miller expressed next actions perfectly, "We've got to get better. We've got to watch film, make adjustments, and be better."

Unlike Drew, what film do I have to gauge my growth as NESS Program Facilitator? When looking at the performance of our New Educators, Instructional Coaches, or the NESS Liaison - what film is available?

Pooh and NESS

My cousin sent me an email today with the following “Pooh” message. Her intentions were to prompt my thinking and not necessarily NESS related, yet the relation to our current New Educator Support connect…well, what do you see?

"...it's a very large Forest, and there's plenty of room to bounce in it. But I don't see why he should come into my little corner of it and bounce here." --AA Milne

Your future doesn't just "happen" to you.

You co-create your future with the other people who are in your life.

(One of many reasons that it's important to have good people in your life!)



The people around you are in your life precisely to help you create the life you came here to experience and precisely to have you help them create the life they came here to experience. They are here to help you, to challenge you, to test you and to inspire you.

And you are here to help them in the very same ways.

 No one in your life is in your life "by accident.”

If you want to change what your life looks like, you must change. It's
 really that simple...and that challenging.