The edtech Pull Buoy

Keeping any collective (business, school, charity, family, or cooperative) afloat is a balance and coordination of limbs, harnessed to move forward. It’s a bit like swimming. Sometimes though, you are so busy keeping your head above water that, without help, it is hard to improve your stroke. Everyone needs a swim aid at some point. 

Thanks to some brilliant local teachers, both my kids have gone swimming since the were 6 months old. Now 11 and 9, both LittleZeek and her younger sister swim effortlessly. Not so their dad.

However, as they have improved, I have really worked at it; I now have a passable breaststroke, and no longer fear open water. However, my front crawl is a disgrace. I get the end of a length gasping and complaining.

So, I am getting help, from a friend who swims extremely well. The first thing she asked me to do was swim with a pull buoy. If, like me you have never used one of these before, it is a float that fits between your thighs: to give you lift, and keep your legs still; while you focus on what you are doing with your arms – the bit of the stroke that ‘pulls’ you through the water.

Today, during my first UK open air swim of the year, I discovered the power of this simple tool. As I did not have to worry about my legs, and could concentrate on what I was doing with my arms I discovered that I was wasting lots of energy removing my arms from the water; they were dragging me down and back.

As I swam, I realised that this is a lot like the work I do with my clients. I help them to focus on one aspect of their work, often taking some of the heavy lifting , so that they can concentrate on pulling themselves up and ahead.

For example, an edtech client was struggling with sales, and while we looked together at how the service could better help schools; I did some targeted work with part of the team on the way they communicated with teachers, building campaigns and learning in the business. This released the MD to work on harnessing the many strengths of their offering, and within the team, to move forward more positively.

Like psychotherapists, I think those offering critical friend services should experience it too. I’ve been really lucky to get some excellent support from Doug Belshaw, who has been helping me rebalance and, as a result, offer a better service.

Being a critical friend is not just about kindly pointing out what is wrong, or jumping in to fix a problem. It is about adding a little lift to a ‘dragging’ limb, and ensuring that each stroke takes you closer to the goal. As a recent client said:

“It was priceless! …There was huge value in gaining the overall view of the business from critical friends… of what should be obvious, but when you are in the thick of it, is hard to see.”

If you’d like me to be your ‘pull buoy’ , and support the work that you do in the education sector, then please get in touch.

In the meantime, I will continue to work on my front crawl. Happy swimming.