Go Get Our Learning
Estimated Reading Time: 8-10 minutes
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it really takes to inspire people to change. Not just one person, but a school, a team or a culture.
One of the educators I met this year put it plainly, “I show up. I say yes to new opportunities. But when I invite others at my school to join, they pull back. They’re tired. Or hesitant. Or just say no.”
She was doing the work. She was ready. And it was hard to understand why others wouldn’t lean in. I’ve heard versions of this frustration before — and I think many leaders have felt it.
But behind that question “why doesn’t anyone else want to go get their learning?” is another, more interesting one:
What happened that made them stop wanting to try?
Curiosity matters here. Not just curiosity about students, or data, or school challenges — but about each other and about ourselves. When someone seems disengaged or disinterested, we can wonder:
Were they burned out?
Were their ideas dismissed too many times?
Did they not understand the purpose of change?
Did they stop believing that change was possible in their school?
Were they threatened or afraid of the change and how it might make them feel vulnerable or incompetent?
Did they feel alone in leading change?
And as you wonder about these questions, ask yourself if your questions are rooted in true curiosity, or are you hiding a judgement in the form of a curiosity? If we got curious about our own blindspots or biases, how would our questions shift to more open ended wonderings? Consider these:
What are we are not understanding here?
What's really going on?
Is this actually happening, or is this just what I am perceiving?
What’s the story I am telling myself about their story or their action or inaction?
I believe most of us want to grow. Most of us want to feel capable and creative. But we need the right container, the right people and the right invitation.
That’s what we’re trying to build at Leadership+Design, the invitation to Go Get Your Learning.
To me, “go get your learning” means not being a passive occupant in your school or in your own leadership. It means asking why, to the above questions about yourself/others, or about the root causes of complex human challenges in your school. Then going further to say yes, to the bias to listen, explore, collaborate and act. Not saying yes to everything, but opting into the exploration of something that could be better for you, your team or your community.
It reminds me of Brené Brown’s famous reference in Daring Greatly to Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena”:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man [or woman] who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man [or woman] who is actually in the arena.”
Building on this thought, maybe it’s not just “go get your learning”. Maybe it’s really: go get our learning.
Leadership is not meant to be done alone, and leading change is a team expedition. One that is about active participation, team roles and an authentic and personal challenge.
One of the best examples I’ve seen of this is The Chicago Academy (TCA), through the Design Challenge we run in partnership with The Chicago Public Education Fund. In 2024, TCA’s design team, led by school leader Joyce Pae and a new teacher, Lee Rowbotham, tackled an equity issue: a discrepancy in behavioral referrals between boys and girls. Using a human centered design approach, the team turned the mirror on themselves. Teachers did shadow days. They conducted empathy interviews. They realized the issue was not just student behavior — it was how the students were being perceived by adults.
That kind of discovery doesn’t come from traditional “professional learning”. It comes from showing up with curiosity, humility, and the right process. And because the teachers made that discovery themselves, they also owned the solutions. Referral data improved. Classrooms shifted and the team didn’t stop.
During this year’s design challenge, as a returning finalist, the school team shared their story of scaling design thinking to drive change. New teachers joined the movement to work on behavior, a new group emerged to focus on improving systems for math intervention, and the school launched a new course for all K-8 students called “Design”, which inspired a perspective shift on how the students and staff view problem solving. The insight that propelled this expanded change effort was: “We need to spread this. "We need more people in our building using design thinking, and where they do, change happens”
That is what happens when you go get your learning — together. You don’t just solve a problem. You change a culture.
At our final pitch event for this year’s challenge, I watched another school take the stage. A school leader and her STEM coordinator, participating in the challenge for the first time, brought nearly a fifth of the audience with them. Her team wore beautiful matching school colors and gear. They cheered wildly and when they won, they cried with joy.
The school leader stood up and said: “We worked so hard on this. We did this together.”
You could feel it–they were all in the arena. Not just one leader, but the whole team. That’s what we want more of in schools. Not solo champions, but connected communities of changemakers.
Our design challenge teams — the ones who really show up — they are in the arena. They risk failure. They lean in, and they don’t do it alone.
Your Invitation
This fall, we’re launching something new: L+D Expedition, a national design challenge built from everything we’ve learned over twelve years of design thinking work with schools, including our partnership with The Fund in Chicago.
L+D Expedition is a five-month experience for school teams who are ready to take on something that matters. You bring the challenge — we bring the process, the structure, and the community. You might have
A specific strategic plan initiative that needs implementation
A schedule that no longer serves your students
A rise in phone use or social anxiety among students that you want to address
A desire to create a more learning-centered approach to professional growth and evaluation
Human centered design and the L+D Expedition is the arena. Your school’s real work is what you bring into it, and who is there alongside you.
Maybe you’re ready to sign up. Or maybe you know someone else who’s quietly ready to lead. Someone who’s been carrying the spark. Who just needs someone to see it in them. Send them this article. Tell them you believe in what they’re trying to do.
Curiosity is contagious. But someone has to go first. Why not you?
Join the Expedition
If you're ready to lead change with a team, join us.
If you're curious about what's next for your school, join us.
If you want to build something bold, practical, and rooted in human-centered design, L+D Expedition is here.
