Mafost Blog

Matt's blog about people, culture, and impact.

Tag: Human-Centered

  • Immediacy, 5 Ways to Use It

    Immediacy is an important concept to school leadership because it is an actionable way to lead with empathy. It has impact. But what is it? Read More here.

  • One Tip to Gain Influence

    Trust, transparency, predictability, support – these are surefire ways to gain influence. But there are also more tactical ways such as this tip to gain influence. Manage the size of the group. Often we want a larger group to speak a message once – to keep communication clear. However, meeting with smaller groups can increase…

  • Conformity Bias

    There are many pressures that resist change. Chief among them is the conformity bias. In our evolutionary history, this bias served a powerful role – conforming to the norms of a group (who have clearly survived) will help me survive along with the group. Wheras diverging from social norms might cause me to lose out…

  • Schools and Mental Health, Just the Facts

    In the past 12 months, there have been a number of studies focused on the alarming nature of mental health and schools. Here are the facts: The number of teachers seeking support for concerns related to mental health has risen 35% in the past 12 months. 61% of educators report their work is “always” or “often”…

  • Burnout and Demoralization

    Both are the product of organizational health. Or should I say, a lack of organizational health? How we view the two is important. Burnout is not the same as demoralization and vice versa. According to Merriam Webster, demoralize is: 1: to cause to turn aside or away from what is good or true or morally…

  • Hot Coffee, Warm Hearts

    People are strange. We really are. A 2008 Yale study found that participants in a study were more fond of the researcher when they had warm coffee versus participants who had iced coffee. But it’s more than just strange. It’s human reality. The idea is called cognitive embodiment. It’s the idea that what we experience…

  • Attribution Error, Devilish Little Error with Big Impact

    Attribution error was a major concept discussed in the podcast (Season 3, Ep 1) and is a common factor that limits performance on teams. What is attribution error? What can we do about? What is Attribution Error? Attribution error is the idea that we fundamentally give a larger benefit of the doubt to ourselves than we do…

  • Leading with Vulnerability

    Vulnerability starts with the leader. And when you lead with vulnerability, it becomes an emotional resource from which conflicts and challenges can be solved. But it starts with the leader. And its benefits are many: Others will follow suit. It opens the door to trust. It increases organizational health. It minimizes risk. It strengthens teams.…

  • Empathy is Not

    Empathy is not… An excuse to forget that a team exists to accomplish goals. An exemption from shared accountability. A soft feeling similar to roasting marshmallows around a campfire (which, by the way, is a lot of fun). Empathy is not these things, but it is among the most powerful undercurrents to establishing high-performing teams…

  • Execution Gaps

    There’s the vision, and there’s strategy to move us there. There are values, and they guide actions. There are tactics, and they create effects. There are plans, and they allocate resources. But none of this has any impact without execution. There are those tiny little traps called execution gaps. They exist because of this tricky…

  • Fear of Failure

    It’s not a fear of failure that holds us back. It’s a fear of criticism. People mocking our failures. Our deep need for community drives this fear, which is a fear of:Not being accepted.Not being respected.Not being valued.Find every reason for this type of fear to subside. Then your work will become your art. It’s not a…

  • Collaboration, A Basic Need

    Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are more than mere lesson planning or book studies…they are a basic human need. In yesterday’s episode of the Mafost Mashup, I had the privilege to sit with Dr. Coryn Prince, school administrator and educational leader, whose recent doctoral research focused on features of successful PLCs. Topics included: PLCs as a…

  • Impact Serotonin

    Serotonin is one of the four chemicals your body produces that create the emotional state of happiness. If you lead a school, you have the ability and responsibility to impact serotonin. Here’s why and how. Why? Low levels of serotonin are associated with feelings of loneliness and depression. In a school culture, these are toxic…

  • Turnover and Academic Progress (Research)

    Is teacher happiness one of your primary leadership aims? It should be. And it’s not a target that is at odds with student-centeredness. They go hand in hand. In 2004, the US Department of Education released a study that examined the relationship between “transformative” leadership practices and turnover and student achievement. Transformative leadership for principals is…

  • When Mistakes Happen

    When mistakes happen, own them. You already know this, but it happened to me yesterday. I made a horrible mistake yesterday. You may not have received the post on The Capacity of Your Property. I really love this post and think it’s critical to analyzing culture data and making school culture shifts. Listen in on four…