​​​​The Space and Time for Newness.

Stale bread. That’s what I wrote about a few years ago when I was frustrated seeing far too many leaders reuse materials and approaches that were best living in the trash bin.

It was a gross time. Copies of worksheets from the 1990s in classroom use nearly 30 years later. Management strategies from the 1980s focused on compliance with the process, leaving no room for best practices and better tools. The direct opposite of the things we need more of were in full effect.

Stale bread was the only analogy I could conjure up. Stale bread helps us out when we have nothing better. Even though it’s not the best, we accept it as a standby.

Today I sigh when I see leaders dishing out the same things to our working teams or our kids in school. I have no words, just an ask; throw out the stale bread.

After a few minutes with one of our SheLeadsEdu rockstars, I was reminded that my heavy sigh does nothing to help change our reliance on stale bread. Even though that sigh and a killer eye roll felt terrific, she was right.

I would serve our shared community better by “figuring out why we keep going for the stale bread.”

So after some interviews and research, I’m settling in with reasons and solutions. Maybe we keep reusing what we know is old and ineffective because we don’t make time to generate anything new. It takes time, calm, focus, openness, and confidence in your ability to lead and thrive through change. Committing time to…