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The Power of Negative Thinking: Turning Worry into Productive Planning
by William D. Parker
When I was a new assistant principal, I was excited and nervous about teacher observation and evaluation. The idea of sitting in other classrooms for extended amounts of time was something I had not done since student teaching. Now, it would be my responsibility to provide feedback to dozens of teachers. My intention was to give each one the kind of attention and support I had wanted as a teacher.
Sadly, once the school year began, student discipline, parent concerns, and master schedule challenges quickly crowded into my calendar. Before long, I was months into the school year when I realized I wouldn’t finish my observations on time. What did I do? I crammed them all into a few days and gave feedback that was lacking and insufficient.
What happens when we fail to anticipate the reality of what we’re going to experience, even when we have the best intentions?
“The Power of Negative Thinking”
I’ve been reading a book by Col. Chris Hadfield called An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. He’s a Canadian astronaut who has flown missions with NASA, lived on the International Space Station, and became a YouTube sensation when singing songs with his guitar in space.
The book is a deep dive into the preparation, skills, and mindset necessary for leadership in space, but it is also a great book for leadership in general.
In particular, I have been pushed in my thinking as Hadfield espouses an idea he calls “the power of negative thinking.” Imagine the worst-case scenario, and then plan in advance how to respond if or when that happens. Better yet, plan in advance for how you may keep it from happening.
What You Can’t Control
Many situations are never within your control. You cannot control natural disasters, predict when a crisis will happen, or force people to behave perfectly. Life and humans are messy, and any leader who thinks he or she controls these outcomes is fooling themselves.
Hadfield talks about scenarios where NASA team members pull together in advance of a mission and role-play his death (58–59). Sound morbid? It is, but it also reveals a lot of unanswered questions: Who will inform family members? How quickly can a press release be written? What happens if his wife cannot be reached by phone?
These same scenarios apply to schools. Whether it is an intruder drill, a bad weather situation, or a car accident resulting in the death of a staff member or student, how do you role-play these scenarios in advance so that you are responding, not reacting, in these situations?
What You Can Control
On the other hand, some situations you can anticipate in advance. The end of a grading period is on the calendar. Spring semester will bring changes to your master schedule or course catalogs. Teacher observations and evaluations will be due by certain dates.
How do you anticipate the best outcomes and plan accordingly? Or, as Hadfield would ask, how do you imagine a nightmare outcome? Then plan accordingly to keep that from happening.
So, here’s a question his work prompted that I’ve never asked leaders before: Imagine the worst end-of-year outcomes you can think of. What would that feel like, look like, sound like, and be like for your school?
Maybe it’s meeting none of the learning goals you’ve set. Maybe it is your school culture crumbling around you and turning toxic. Maybe the budget implodes and cuts are deeper than you’ve ever imagined.
These scenarios are hard to imagine and feel so counterintuitive to how most school leaders operate—with the highest expectations in mind.
Hadfield would say, however, that imagining the worst and then planning strategically for it not to happen is the opposite of worry—it’s a practice in productivity.
How might this look in reality for your own leadership?
- It may mean pulling together trusted team members and talking about worst-case scenarios in advance, and then planning simulations or practices in case those situations occur.
- It may mean reexamining your procedures, plans, and norms around meetings, professional development, or teacher development—and asking if what you are doing is actually producing the kind of outcomes you were targeting.
- It may mean taking an honest look at your calendar and asking if what you said was most important for your outcomes is actually reflected in what you have scheduled and are doing.
These are just a few ways that the “power of negative thinking,” as Hadfield puts it, can help you avoid worrying and turn those concerns into productive planning, strategy, and execution.
Let’s Wrap This Up
After my first year as an administrator, I learned that good intentions were not a plan. If I was going to observe and evaluate teachers with meaningful feedback, it meant I had to create a calendar for the school year in advance of the school year. I had to block out time each week for the names and rooms of teachers whom I would visit. I shared this schedule with them.
It didn’t mean I followed it exactly or was able to write the script for each of my days.
I still had to manage things out of my control, but because I had anticipated many things still in my control, I was able to achieve far more of what I intended than I had before.
Now It’s Your Turn
How would the “power of negative thinking” help you as you think ahead? What worst-case scenarios can you imagine that planning now might prepare you for?
Thank you for your commitment to leading with intentionality, and thank you for doing what matters!
Works Cited
Hadfield, Chris. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything. Random House Canada, 2013.
