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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that if you want to introduce something new

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Speaker 1: and you aren't completely confident in it yet, just call

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Speaker 1: it an experiment. That way, no one will expect perfection.

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Speaker 1: You invite helpful feedback because hey, it's an experiment, and

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Speaker 1: if the experiment is a major change in how people

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Speaker 1: were doing things, they might not feel as stressed or

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Speaker 1: be as resentful as they might be if it were

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Speaker 1: presented as a permanent change. So I know of a

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Speaker 1: wonderful cook who does what she calls beta tests. Anytime

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Speaker 1: she tries a new recipe, and she often does, she

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Speaker 1: presents it as a beta test. That is, she mays,

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Speaker 1: is it clear that the recipe is a work in progress.

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Speaker 1: She is not promising that the dish will be delicious,

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Speaker 1: but she is hopeful that it might be good, and

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Speaker 1: in the meantime, she is happy to share the dish

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Speaker 1: and invite feedback so she can keep making it better.

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Speaker 1: Framing something new as a beta test, an experiment, or

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Speaker 1: a prototype can be helpful in lots of contexts. Basically,

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Speaker 1: anytime you try something new, and perhaps a little risky.

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Speaker 1: You can think of it in this way. A teacher

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Speaker 1: might experiment with a talking stick for students to share

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Speaker 1: airtime during discussions. She could tell her students why she

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Speaker 1: thinks the talking stick may be helpful, and then invite

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Speaker 1: their feedback after they've used it for a few discussions.

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Speaker 1: A department leader might use a new team meeting agenda

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Speaker 1: presented as an experiment, and afterwards ask everyone what they

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Speaker 1: thought about having the meeting structured in a new way.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps a librarian has an idea for a new program

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Speaker 1: where avid readers come together and each of them spends

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Speaker 1: five minutes recommending a book to the group, and everybody

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Speaker 1: leaves with ideas of books they would enjoy reading. You

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Speaker 1: could describe the first meeting as a prototype, implying that

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Speaker 1: it is not in its final form yet and letting

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Speaker 1: the participants share ideas for refining it. Even in your

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Speaker 1: family life, you could reframe new approaches as experiments. You

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Speaker 1: could experiment with not eating meat on weekdays. You could

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Speaker 1: experiment with a new school day morning routine, or with

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Speaker 1: how chores are assigned, or with giving your kids their

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Speaker 1: allowance in a different way. Everybody is more relaxed about

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Speaker 1: an experiment because the change isn't necessarily permanent, and you

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Speaker 1: feel free to make any tweaks that you need to.

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Speaker 1: After all, you are just trying it out. When you

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Speaker 1: frame something as an experiment, you manage exceptions, and you

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Speaker 1: position everyone else as partners and helping you evaluate and

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Speaker 1: refine or discard the new approach. It's a great way

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Speaker 1: to lower the risks and stress of making a change

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Speaker 1: because sometimes it turns out that things don't work. But

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Speaker 1: now you know, and if parts work and parts don't,

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Speaker 1: you know what you can keep and what should be discarded.

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Speaker 1: Your next iteration will probably work better, or you might

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Speaker 1: go back to what you were doing, but you won't

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Speaker 1: always wonder, and that can be a good thing. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening

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Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura VANDERCAMDA. Before

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Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows,