Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [527]
The Cloud
As we know, positive or negative effects in any one of these functions impact all the others. For example, when student behaviors improve, teachers are more able to focus limited resources on teaching and both of these outcomes help school leaders meet the needs and expectations of all school stakeholders. In other words, the whole system improves. A positive effect of successfully addressing the problem of bullying is one such example because the impact is felt not only by those explicitly involved in the bullying but also by all those indirectly affected.
Sometimes bullying manifests itself as name-calling. During recess in a Singapore elementary school, when Joel called Alex names and Alex reacted by using vulgar language and biting Joel on his arm, both nine-year-olds were sent to Vice Principal Wong Siew Shan’s office. In a documented presentation (2000) to the 4th TOCfE International Conference7 Wong shared that her traditional response would have been to handle the problem for the children and then file a case sheet in the student’s “misbehavior file” for future reference. A few days prior to the incident, however, she had taken TOCfE training sponsored by the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University and was now looking forward to the opportunity of testing the TOC thinking tool, the Cloud, as a way of working through a problem by defining it through wants, needs, and a goal. Figure 26-3 depicts the results.
FIGURE 26-2 TOCfE thinking processes. (Graphics by Rami Goldratt. Source: TOCfE, used with permission.)
“It was heartening to note how easily they got the hang of how to use the Cloud template,” Wong noted. “After writing that his need was to have fun and, in order to do so, Joel wanted to call Alex names, Joel looked at me sheepishly and said that it wasn’t really true.”
The TOC tool guides students to see that, many times, their actions that lead to conflict are not based on clear thinking or accurate assumptions.8 The TOC process to explain the underlying reasons or assumptions why we take actions in order to get what we need is very effective to enable students to identify for themselves why sometimes their actions may not be appropriate and for them to create new and more responsible choices.
FIGURE 26-3 Name calling Cloud. (Source: TOCfE, used with permission.)
As Wong continues, “On surfacing his assumptions, Joel himself saw that they did not stand up to scrutiny. In fact, he came up with his own solutions and said that another way to meet his need to have fun would be to invite Alex to play with him.”
Additionally Wong pointed out that Joel also understood Alex’s need to be respected. Acknowledging and legitimizing the other side’s need in a conflict not only develops empathy but also a perspective well described by the words of (then) 13-year-old Niceville, Florida, student, Theresa Meyer: “The cloud makes you realize it is the situation that is the problem, not the people.”
The negative impact of name calling and bullying becomes exponential on a school campus when there are groups of students bullying other groups of students. As a student assistant coordinator at a large Michigan high school, Doug Roby (1999) used the Cloud to resolve a situation involving seniors who were hazing freshmen or other new students [Fig.26-4]. In his words, “by hazing I mean they were trying to make them do ridiculous, humiliating, or even painful things. I used a Cloud in a group intervention . . . with about 20 senior girls on hazing. Within 30 minutes I explained the concept of the Cloud to the students, had them raise assumptions on one side of the cloud and come up with their own solutions. What a powerful tool to get students to really understand why they are doing something,