The OSLN Promise
Context
Ohio STEM Learning Network is:
- a network of powerful engagements between the public and private sector to design, start-up, and operate STEM teaching and learning systems
- a way of doing business that exists only through a portfolio of contributors and users who actively collaborate
- pushing the envelope of education systems design to add new players in complex problem solving in the education realm
- reinventing a positive new experience for STEM as it relates to education, economic development, and personal prosperity
- partnerships, policy and practice
Four Types of Stakeholder Groups:
For OSLN to work,
stakeholders must be true to a basic promise as our part of our value system…
What do we promise to each other as part of this team?
To our investors - you have chosen to provide resources to help construct the OSLN, based on your trust that we will do what we said
We promise to:
- give you our best, individually and collectively
- apply resources for the purpose of obtaining a different result, not to support the status quo
- be responsible stewards of your resources
- leverage your resources with other like-minded investors so that you achieve a multiplier effect from your investment
- provide you with honest and candid feedback about progress and problems
- be transparent about where we are applying resources and why
- listen and seek your feedback
- be accountable for outcomes
- tell you when we make mistakes, and not cover them up
To our core team - you have willingly chosen among other alternatives to direct your time and organization toward this vision
We promise to:
- show appreciation for your work as pioneers
- give each other the freedom to take risks and the opportunity to be wrong
- keep our collective priority on the translation of work in the direction of lasting state-wide impact
- be tolerant of confusion caused by ambiguities of OSLN being both a work in progress and a vision at the same time
- ask “what do you see that I don’t see?” as an invitation to advance our collective progress. New people are joining the team along the journey. They don’t have the shared experience of how OSLN began, but do bring different levels of understanding and see things that are in the blind spots of those already entrenched in the work.
- respect that team members share OSLN as a project, but they are employed by different organizations. Therefore they have different enlightened self-interests. The effect of this is not always obvious or discussed, but we understand that multiple accountabilities will influence how a core team member reacts to any specific situation.
- give each other permission to care about/step into the work I’m doing (don’t have to wait for invitation)
- all take responsibility to assist with on-boarding new participants, and to accelerate their ability to do constructive work
- ask others for help as soon as we encounter a situation we cannot complete reliably by ourselves. It is each team member’s responsibility to ask, and to recognize that not accomplishing the work places the project success at risk. If you are asked, it is your responsibility to listen to the request and act to the best of your ability. Finally, even when not invited, we are all freely encouraged to join in conversations where we believe we can be helpful, or where the knowledge we gain will be valuable.
- make sure that no OSLN team member is left stranded or feeling alone in any of their endeavors. Any member may be called on by any other member directly, without going through a gatekeeper.
- take the work seriously, laugh with each other, and keep the environment fun
- make sure that leaders of the core team are clear about plans, priorities, and communicate openly when changes in direction are taking place
- provide support for each other as we negotiate this new way of doing business together
To our capacity builders - you are translating the vision into a reality that meets a region where it is
We promise to:
- give you tools that help with your local needs
- support risk taking
- listen and seek your feedback on the evolution of OSLN
- help connect you to a larger network of like-minded talent that can be amplify and accelerate your work
- pay attention to the results you are creating and distill important features that can benefit others across the state
- bring you together with other colleagues in the state in sessions that are always well-designed and a valuable use of your time
To our early adopters - you have chosen to be first to use systems of teaching/learning strategies, and help OSLN learn as a part of your experience
We promise to:
- be quick to respond to issues that arise as a first user
- be respectful of the culture and norms that exist in your environment
- be constant advocates of your work, shine light on your successes, and help to shield unproductive distractions from skeptics who could interfere with your early progress
- help connect you to a larger network of like-minded talent that can be amplify and accelerate your work
