Starting Point Guide
Bring this guide to your next leadership team meeting. You don't need to explain the Power Session — just use the framework and the three reflection questions to open a real conversation about where your school is right now.
The Implementation Systems GPS™ is built on a simple truth: you cannot navigate to where you're going if you don't know where you are. Use these three moves — in order — to get your team aligned on current reality before you plan anything.
Get Clear
on Current Reality
What does your data actually show right now?
Not what you hope. Not last year. What is true in this building, with these students and this staff, today.
Look at all three types:
- Student data
- Adult / staff data
- Implementation data
Prioritize
What Matters Most
What does the data say matters most right now?
You cannot fix everything. What is the one place where focused attention will move the most students and adults forward?
Priority is:
- Data-driven, not urgency-driven
- Team-owned, not leader-owned
- Protected from competing noise
Strengthen
Systems for Growth
What systems need to exist to make progress stick?
A good intervention inside a broken system will fail. Every time. What infrastructure needs to be in place so this works even when you're not watching?
Systems include:
- Schedules and routines
- Roles and accountability
- Data and decision cycles
Don't answer these yourself first — let the team work through them together.
If we looked at our student data, our adult data, and our implementation data all at the same time — what would we see that we're not currently seeing?
What does the full picture look like — not just the slice we look at in our data meetings?
If we could only focus on ONE thing this year — what would the data say it should be?
Not what's loudest. Not what's on the authorizer's list. What does the data say will move the most students and adults forward if we focus there first?
What happens to our most important work when I'm out of the building for a week?
The answer to this question will tell you everything about whether your systems are real — or whether they depend on one person holding everything together.