Sept. 30, 2022

Dear OHDS Families,

On one of my morning walks this week I spent some time with the idea of heshbon ha nefesh, an “accounting of the soul”, traditional to this time of year between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. If I really want to make lasting change in myself, what does that process look like? I started to think about different realms of my life and opportunities for growth and I found myself moving through the design thinking process. This process, something we adopted two years ago as we began our strategic planning, has quickly become a go-to approach for any kind of planning process. From strategic goals to events to learning spaces, we use design thinking to plan all kinds of work. It’s such a helpful approach and, as I realized on my walk, it’s even an approach we can bring to the work of teshuva (repentance). Design thinking, as we’ve learned it, cycles through four basic steps: 

Make observations.

This is when we collect data. In school this might involve surveys, observations or focus groups. In my personal teshuva process I need to start with honest observations too. What are the real habits I’ve acquired? How do my actions seem to impact others?

Set design principles.

We take a hard look at our observations and we name what matters most. For example, when planning Back to School Night we named that we wanted to make sure parents had a feeling of the student experience and this design principle drove how teachers prepared their presentations. In my teshuva process, can I name the values that will drive my personal work? Maybe I need to make sure that my growth plan is sustainable over time? Or perhaps I will only be motivated to do the work if there is an accountability plan? What matters most to help me be successful?

Generate ideas.

Once I have clear design principles I can start to brainstorm. We do this a lot in our team meetings, generating way more ideas than ever get tried. It’s important to let go of judgment here. If we’re going to stretch ourselves and try new things, we have to put all the ideas on the table without shooting them down. Could this be an important part of teshuva as well? Before rushing to create a self-improvement plan, what happens if I give myself the time and safety to just brainstorm a little? 

Try some experiments.

Finally we move into action by choosing some experiments to try. In using the word “experiment” we allow ourselves to take a risk and we lower the fear of failure. For example, this month at OHDS we’re trying an experiment of creating a salon of couches, carpets and lamps in the Oolam - a space that middle schoolers and faculty will be able to share as a community. We don’t yet know how this will work, but we’ll find out! In my personal growth, can I also try some experiments? Rather than seeing teshuva as an all-or-nothing effort in which I will either succeed or fail, what happens if I just try some experiments, see how they go and keep tweaking until I find the right approach?

With blessings for courage, humility, curiosity and perseverance as we do the important work of personal growth and transformation.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova,

Tania