Infinite MIndset

 Simon Sinek THE INFINITE GAME

Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why changed how we move forward with our shared leadership framework at our school. We have learned to begin our decision-making conversations with the relevancy of why they positively impact students. We then proceed to the how and what that would look like and feel like for students. It has been an incredible component of our turnaround school improvement initiative. Leaning into Sinek’s newest findings in The Infinite Game, the goal was to continue to refine our pursuit of equitable outcomes for students. Balancing our accountability for student achievement as we plan forward with a relentless vision of each child being and becoming a learner who reads is an agreed-upon worthy pursuit for our team. 

“If there are at least two players, a game exists,” and Sinek defines and describes these two types of games, a Finite Game and Infinite Game. The Finite Game celebrates the end by declaring a winner who followed the rules, earned the most points, thus winning the game. The Infinite Game never stops as rules continue to evolve with no declared winner as they build a legacy together. While reading, I envisioned my role as a school leader with the reality of the tug and pull of having to play both games. The Finite Game includes being accountable for student achievement of the summative end-of-year state testing. At the same time participating in the never-ending Infinite Game of developing students who read well and often (p.3). 

When considering our mindset in each game, Sinek offers these insights. We don’t always get to choose whether a game is finite or infinite, and we get to decide if we want to join the game. If we do decide to join, we can always choose a finite or invite mindset. A leader who wants to adopt an infinite mindset must advance a just cause, build a trusting team, study your worthy rivals, prepare for existential flexibility, and demonstrate the courage to lead (p. 24-25). 

I could rewrite Sinek’s statement to reflect my role as a school leader. 

“A finite minder leader used the company’s performance to demonstrate the value of their own career. 

An infinite indeed leader uses their career to enhance the long-term value of the company” (p. 19).

to

A finite minder leader used the school’s performance to demonstrate the value of their achievement. 

An infinite-minded leader uses their achievement to enhance the long-term value of each student. 

A school leader who wants to adopt an infinite mindset can advance their just cause of each student becoming a skilled reader by; 

building trusting instructional teams, 

studying worthy school rivals (You kids are doing better than mine. What are you doing?”),

demonstrate flexibility as you continue to learn how to meet each of your learner’s needs,

and be vulnerable by showing the courage to lead. 

Great school leaders set up their school communities to succeed beyond their lifetimes, and when they do, the benefits to students (and staff)—are extraordinary. 

Most Powerful Question in Education

 Karin Chenoweth districts that succeed—breaking the correlation between race, poverty, and achievement  

It’s happening in school districts across our country, and it’s inspiring. District and school leaders are breaking “the correlation between students’ backgrounds and achievement. That is to say, they all serve students of color and students from low-income backgrounds, and they are all high achieving or rapidly improving” (p. 129). In Karin Chenoweth’s book, districts that succeed, breaking the correlation between race, poverty, and achievement, she revisits the school improvement stories of districts in Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Delaware, and New York featured in her previous publications. Chenoweth follows up with these districts with even greater detail on “what about them makes them more effective than other similar districts” (p. 129).  

Their stories often begin with a district leader’s relentless focus and belief in making all of ‘our kids’ smarter. Chenoweth recognizes the value of these passionate educators and describes what distinguishes their successful districts from other communities. She references American educator, author, and pioneer of successful school research, Ronald Edmonds. To create a school and district culture where “it is incumbent on all personnel to be instructional and effective for all pupils” (p. 130). In other words, all school and district staff has a collective responsibility aligned with accountability to provide implicit instruction to each of the students they serve. Not as an individual effort, but collectively and collaboratively, their mission moves forward in tandem with a belief mindset. 

Chenoweth’s reference to relevant research on school improvement requires strategic leadership, decision-making processes, and secure systems as critical components to get each of our kids smarter (p. 140). In the story of Chicago, Illinois, Chenoweth shared the findings of the UChicago Consortium’s ten-year study of school improvement. The results list five essential elements, including partnering with families, creating a supportive learning environment with high academic expectations, engaging and challenging instruction, influential leaders, and collaborative teachers (p. 45-46). It is essential to note the Consortium research also emphasized principals as the “drivers of school improvement” and how they“played a key role for improving student learning outcomes” (p. 46-67). 

These stories can be a reminder and example of what is needed to ensure equitable outcomes for each student in our school’s communities for district and school leaders. 

“Kids can get smarter.
We can all get smarter.
We just have to muster the will to do so.”

(p. 152)

We can all improve by continually seeking out each other’s areas of strength and asking what Chenoweth refers to as the most powerful question in education.

 

“Your kids are doing better than mine; what are you doing?”