C16: Putting Action Together with the Golden Circle

by Lu Gerlach

I have a tendency to build up ideas together until your brain wants to explode and then work backwards to an easier starting point.  I don’t know why I do this and you’d think I’d learn by now.  It’s just how I’m programmed as a learner.  I guess I like to have a big picture of how everything works and then plan the first steps towards getting there.  ​

We’ve unpacked the three levels of action.  Actually, I don’t like calling them levels of action, because they are all unique in their own purpose.  I think of the different types of action as a scaffold towards the next.  This reminds me of the Golden Circle that we talked about in the first podcast.  We begin with the type of action at the heart of what we believe and work ourselves outward towards simple steps on how to achieve it.

As ​A reminder, the Golden Circle is a construct that helps us to focus on why we are doing something and how and what we must do to obtain it.  We ask ourselves these questions:  

• WHY - what do you believe?  What is your goal?
• HOW - how are you achieving your WHY?
• WHAT - what do you do?  What is your proof? 

If I were to classify the types of action by levels, here’s how it would correlate with the Golden Circle. 

• WHY - Level 3
• HOW - Level 2
• WHAT - Level 1

Let’s try to apply this with an easy example first.  I know what you’re thinking...you are doing  something that’s easy?  Is this stuff ever easy?  Probably not, but it’s definitely worth a try.  I’m secretly chuckling right now, because this is not going to be easy, but I keep telling myself it is. 

​WHY - Lifestyle Choices

• I want to make better choices when buying products

HOW - Doing:  Making the world a better place through our actions

• I want to do my part in sharing the planet with others, reducing the amount of plastic products that I use. 

WHAT - What can I do that is tangible? 

• I can use refillable water bottles
• I can bring my lunch in reusable containers
• I can bring reusable containers to a restaurant to take home leftovers
• I can purchase home and bath care products with minimal packaging
• I can buy items in bulk to reduce excessive packaging

Here’s a review of my thinking process.  It’s a bit all over the place, but it came to be beautiful in the end. 

1. First, I chose my Level 3 action type, since I knew it would drive everything else.  I decided I would focus on lifestyle choices, since this was the most tangible for people to connect to. 

 

1. Then, I made a statement of what lifestyle choice I wanted to make.  I chose to reduce plastic consumption. 

 

1. Next, I captured all the ways that I could reduce plastic consumption.  This will be more difficult for children, since they aren’t purchasing the goods.  But, they can choose Advocacy as their HOW to convince their parents or guardian to make different choices. 

 

1.  After that, I moved my state about lifestyle choice to HOW.  I determined that this was way too specific and my WHY needed to be broader. 

 

1.  Finally,  I made my WHY statement. 

As an adult, this process took me about 10 minutes to complete.  We will definitely need to slow this process down for our students to probably an hour, but the result will be magical.  You are laying the groundwork for meaningful action to happen in your classroom.  

I’m super excited about this expanded vision of action.  It’s more relevant, timely, and meaningful for our students. Yay!  I can’t wait to get started with a class right away!