🐼 SKOOLME: Are We Solving the Right Problem?

Donna Thornton

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3d (edited) • ⚪️🚀 Start Here

One thing I've learned over the years is that we can work incredibly hard trying to solve the wrong problem.

I've seen it happen in education, organizations, and now online communities.

Something isn't working, so we do MORE.

More content.

More activities.

More challenges.

More strategies.

And sometimes?

We end up exhausted, with very little to show for all that effort. 😂

But what if the problem isn't that we're not doing enough?

What if we haven't figured out what's actually getting in the way?

That's one of the big ideas behind SKOOLME, the framework Todd and I developed to help community builders look beneath the surface before deciding what to change.

For example, let's say members aren't participating.

It's tempting to call that an engagement problem.

But what if members aren't sure where to begin?

That might be Onboarding.

What if they don't see how participating helps them accomplish something meaningful?

That might be Outcomes.

What if they haven't developed a sense of connection with anyone?

That might be Kinship.

Same symptom.

Very different things to investigate.

And very different next moves.

🔎 The Seven SKOOLME Lenses

Each lens helps us ask a different question about what's happening in our communities.

S — Substance: Is what we're offering genuinely useful to the people we're here to serve?

K — Kinship: Are members developing meaningful connections and a sense of belonging?

O — Onboarding: Do new members know where to begin and how to take their first meaningful step?

O — Outcomes: Are members making progress toward something that matters to them?

L — Leadership: Are we creating the conditions for a healthy, sustainable community?

M — Money: Does our model make sense for both the members and the people building the community?

E — Engagement: Are members participating in ways that create value and move them forward?

These aren't seven more things to add to your to-do list. 😂

They're seven ways to understand what's already happening.

🐼 How to Use SKOOLME Here in Skoolology

We've built several ways for you to explore your own community through these lenses.

🔎 SKOOLME Snapshot

A quick way to notice strengths and identify an area that might deserve a closer look.

👉 Snapshot

🔬 Full SKOOLME Assessment (Turn Your Score into a Plan) Password: 10594

A deeper look across all seven dimensions to help you understand patterns and priorities while creating a plan of action.

📚 SKOOLME Classroom Modules

Once you've identified an area to explore, the corresponding module offers ideas, questions, and practical ways to move forward.

👉 First SKOOLME Module

🔨 In the Build

This is where we can bring those discoveries into conversation.

Share what you're noticing, what you're considering changing, what you're testing, and what happens next.

And remember, these assessments aren't necessarily one-and-done.

You can return to the Snapshot or full assessment as your community evolves.

Sometimes the most useful discovery is seeing what's changed since the last time you looked.

❤️ What Comes Next?

Todd and I will be bringing more of these lenses into our conversations here, looking at real community-building situations and exploring what might be happening beneath the surface.

Not to give everyone another formula to follow.

But to help us become better at noticing, questioning, designing, testing, and learning together.

Because sometimes the most important move isn't doing something new.

It's understanding what actually needs our attention.

I'm curious...

Have you ever worked really hard trying to fix something in your community, only to discover that the real problem was somewhere else?

Or is there something you're working on right now that might deserve a closer look? 🐼❤️

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🐼 SKOOLME: Are We Solving the Right Problem?