Old minds with new programs · New minds with no programs · No programs at all? · If not programs, then what?
Do you care whether there are still people around here in a thousand years? In a hundred years? Fifty years?
Quinn says programs never achieve the things they’re created to achieve. Can you think of any exceptions?
The Manhattan Project and the Apollo Project both reached their goals. What’s the difference between a project and a program? [Projects have clearly defined goals.]
Following the 1999 Columbine massacre, Attorney General Janet Reno said, “Let us take that tragedy and do everything we can to prevent it in the future.” Does her statement reflect an old mind at work or a new mind? Have students collect and discuss examples of “Old” and “New” thinking clipped from newspapers or magazines.
Quinn gives several examples of people following the principle “If it didn’t work last year, let’s do MORE of it this year.” Drawing on your own experience, think of some other examples.
Have students list programs at work in your school or community and then define what unwanted behavior or activity they’re designed to stop or control. Then have them assess their effectiveness.
Pick a topic of concern (say, school security) and appoint two teams to discuss it. Have Team A discuss it as a matter of “stopping bad things,” then have Team B discuss it as a matter of “making things the way we want them to be.” Then have the teams switch roles and continue the discussion.
