8 Module 6: Implementation and Sustainability (40 minutes)
Facilitator: Mónica Muñoz Torres (Bridge Center)
8.1 Content Block: The Monday Morning Protocol (5 minutes)
The goal is for participants to leave not just with a plan, but with a designed experiment to introduce one team science practice to their lab.
8.1.1 The Hook(The Implementation Challenge) (5 minutes)
- Facilitator: “We know that 90% of training is lost without implementation support.Your labs are busy, stressed, and resistant to change. We aren’t going to overhaul your lab culture overnight. We are going to run a scientific experiment on your team’s process.”
- Concept: Briefly introduce the Knowing-Doing Gap and Resistance as natural forces to be navigated, not fought. Recognize that understanding the source of resistance often presents a gift, resulting in a better approach.
| Concept | The Trap | The Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| The Knowing-Doing Gap | Assuming that learning information automatically leads to behavior change. | Design for unfavorable conditions, the “Hot State”: Create checklists and defaults that work when you are stressed and busy. |
| Resistance | Viewing skepticism as “being difficult” or “anti-collaboration.” | The Pilot Method: Lower the stakes. Don’t ask for a permanent change; ask for a temporary experiment. |
Food for thought: We have spent 5 modules learning what to do. But research shows there is a ‘Valley of Death’ between learning a concept and applying it. This is the Knowing-Doing Gap (attributed to Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton, 2000). In this workshop, you are currently in a ‘cold’ state—you are calm, rational, and reflective. Next Monday morning, you will return to a ‘hot’ state—stressed, rushing for grant deadlines, and managing complex personalities. From an overly simplistic point of view, the Knowing-Doing gap happens because we try to apply ‘cold’ logic to ‘hot’ situations without a bridge. Today, our workshop is about building that bridge.
8.2 Activity 6: The Monday Morning Protocol (35 minutes)
8.2.1 The Design Sprint (Start Small & Measurement) (20 minutes)
- Step 1: Select the Variable (5 mins): Participants pick one friction point from Modules 1-5 (e.g., “Meetings go overtime,” “Data is hard to find,” “Unclear authorship”).
- Step 2: Design the Micro-Pilot (10 mins): Instead of a “policy,” they design a 2-week pilot. (Constraint: It must require zero budget and zero permission to start (e.g., “I will send an agenda 24 hours before my next update meeting,” not “We will change how the whole lab meets”).)
- Step 3: Define the Metric (5 mins): How will they know it worked? (e.g., “Meeting ended 5 mins early,” “PI replied to email within 24 hours”). This covers the Measurement block.
8.2.2 The Reality Check (Scaling Thoughtfully) (10 minutes)
- Peer Consulting (10 mins): Pairs swap plans. The partner plays the role of the Skeptic/System (e.g., a busy PI or cynical post-doc). They identify one reason the pilot will fail.
- The proposer must identify one Champion (who will support this?) and one Structural Fix (template, checklist) to address the skeptic. This covers the Scaling block.
8.2.3 Debrief & Commitment (5 minutes)
- Ask 2-3 volunteers to share their Micro-Pilot.
- Facilitator Closing: Sustainability isn’t about giant leaps; it’s about successful pilots that get scaled because they work.