The Power of Pause

When I started thinking about this post I went straight to Google and started looking for quotes about “haste” and “patience”. I realised that I could quickly fill pages with pretty superficial aphorisms without getting to the heart of the matter. This is simple in teaching and leadership patience is definitely more productive than haste. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I have to respond immediately, either in the classroom or the office, but these moments are rare. We do not “pause for thought” when a child has his hands around the throat of another child but when we are responding to a complaint, a staffing dispute, a change to the curriculum (for example), we do tend to have time.

Think about a Q&A in the classroom. A research study from a few years ago showed that the average “wait time” between asking a question and taking an answer was under a second. When observing lessons I look at this myself and it is still often the case that many teachers don’t wait long enough. The problem is that half of your class are being excluded from the activity because they are possibly still processing the question by the time someone else has answered it. I reached the point where if after waiting 5 seconds only half the hands went up then I’d rephrase the question and wait again. It may seem time consuming but it gave children the time to think, and in that time it increased the chance that they would get it right rather than feel pressurised to give a rapid answer that is wrong.

We are no different when a colleague asks you a question or brings a problem to your attention. Whilst it is unlikely that you will be asked “what is the name of the group of substances that we use to determine whether an unknown chemical is an acid or an alkali” you will get questions and problems thrown at you that require responses. You may think you have the answer, you may believe you are infallible, you may believe that you are wise and experienced and that “wrong” is not part of your professional profile. If that’s the case get out of leadership and enter politics. Otherwise consider the following.

The first tip is… WAIT! You do not know everything and getting it wrong in a split second is likely to do considerably more damage. Count to 10, or maybe 50. Lean back on your chair, look out of the window, whistle a little tune, but wait. Now multi-task whilst counting. When we take a decision in leadership we are having to weigh up a diverse range of issues. For instance a very simple problem which may provoke a knee-jerk reaction may raise a multitude of questions:

• Do you actually need to act?
• Do I need to consult?
• Is there more than one possible solution?
• Who will be affected?
• What are the possible consequences of your decision?
• How will colleagues, parents, children, governors react?
• Will the solution absorb resources (time, money and so on)?
• Is your solution legal?

There are sure to be more but this is a simple snap-shot of what you should be asking whenever you take decisions.

I now tell colleagues that I do pause, I do reflect and that they will have to wait. They know this before they come through the door. That way my ego isn’t at risk by thinking that my colleagues may perceive that I’m a little slow on the uptake! They also understand the way that I work and so the way I will consider their issue. They actually know that not only will I attempt not to get it wrong but that their problem is worth taking time over.

It is true that over time you will recognise that some problems will be similar to those which you have dealt with before and so finding a solution is made easier, but it is still likely to be unique and so will require and deserve attention.

It takes time to process ideas and formulate a response. We are all different and our processing time is different (and this is not about IQ), if we are in a race to make decisions then those who process quickly will come first but how often can we not wait five minutes to get it right? No-one will remember you as the school leader you made the right decisions in a split second or in 5 minutes, but you will be remembered as the impetuous fool whose knee-jerk reactions did more harm than good.

So here’s my pithy aphorism: Act in haste, make mistakes. Take your time, it should be fine.