Assignment 1 – What is My Why?

As I reflect on this assignment, I realized that I was overcomplicating it, (hopefully). I wound up going down a rabbit hole looking at advertising and the concepts behind both advertising and SADvertising. The appeals to the Aristotlian concepts of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, (Studiobinder, 2020). Pathos, the appeal to emotions and feelings is what we are attempting to tap to convince others to join us on our journey to implement change in our classrooms and schools. 

I am glad that I wandered down the rabbit hole, as I found quite a few videos that I had either never seen or had forgotten about. One of the videos I discovered was the following advertisement from Burger King and nobully.org.

Click for: Burger King | Bullying Jr.

The statistics are a little shocking at the end. 

Click for: Budweiser ‘9/11 Tribute’ Ad: Super Bowl 2011 

Another video was one where no words were spoken, the images provoke the pathos reaction we strive for. It is an excellent example of Pathos because of the emotional triggers that we experience when we remember that day. It could also be from being on site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania for the first three days after 9/11. Our high school cafeteria was chosen as a Red Cross Disaster Relief Site, as we were equipped for meal preparation and delivery for 22 Summer Food Service sites around the city. At the peak, we were sending 7500+ meals a day to support the recovery efforts, plus 1200+ student meals per day. As the food service director for the Greater Johnstown School District, scheduling, ordering, deliveries, and storage logistics were immense. It was a 24/7 operation, staffed with volunteers from all over Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Eastern Ohio. People would arrive at 1:00am and work through lunch or at 10:00am and work through dinner. Unloading coolers from the backs of trucks full of bagged and tagged body parts at the temporary morgue is something that I will never forget.

Another example of Pathos is the ASPCA ‘Silent Night’ commercial. 

Urgency is something that we definitely need to be successful. As John Kotter emphasizes, a sense of urgency will determine whether you are successful or not, (Kotter, 2013). The majority of the sadvertising videos have a sense of urgency about them. Instilling a sense of urgency should not be taken for granted by those of us working towards change. We need to convey that urgency from the beginning in a transparent manner, including everyone in the organization with regular updates and keep emphasizing the importance of WHY. Transparency is going to be the key.

As leaders in our districts, we need to establish WHY, Urgency, and get that initial 16% on board, (Sinek, 2013), to reach the tipping point where other stakeholders join and pick up and run with our change banner. A video I remembered from past professional development emphasizes that it is not leadership alone that matters, but the initial 16% jumping onboard and reaching that tipping point is. To watch  Derek Sivers 2010 video,“How to Start a Movement”. It demonstrates not only the need for leadership, but also getting the initial followers on board.