Field Tools

These downloadable resources support the entire Field Guide and will be most useful after reading through Chapter 3.

They are organized below in the order of how they are most commonly used in the process.

They are available for download on this page or on mobile view as you continue scrolling.

Downloads have AI upload and prompt recommendations!

1. See the System

Understanding the challenge, identifying patterns, and exploring system influences

Where Should We Start? Choosing a Challenge
Challenge Study Protocol for Teams and Individuals
Systems Mapping Tool
Lens Mapping Protocol
Mapping Priorities to the System
What Do We Actually Know? (Testing Assumptions)

2. Understand Needs and Experiences

Understanding how people experience the challenge and identifying missing perspectives

Challenge Study Protocol for Teams and Individuals
Design Thinking Check
Student Voice Toolkit
Competing Needs Map

3. Improve the Work

Testing ideas, planning improvements, and supporting implementation

Challenge Study Protocol for Teams and Individuals
Small Tests of Change Planner
Scale and Readiness Check
Learning Team Launch First 90 Days Guide

4. Reflect and Repeat

Reflecting, adapting, and building organizational learning

Challenge Study Protocol for Teams and Individuals
When the Learning Isn't Clear
Scale and Readiness Check

5. Building Team Capacity

Resources for creating the conditions for ongoing improvement

Challenge Study Protocol for Teams and Individuals
Learning Team Purpose
Sample Learning Team Agenda
Leadership Team Makeover
Learning Team Launch First 90 Days Guide
When the Challenge Feels Too Big Case Study

Get Notified When The Guide Is Published

Too often, however, learning is expected primarily of students. Adults plan. Students comply. New initiatives are implemented. Existing practices are repeated.

Success is sometimes measured more by how faithfully people follow directions than by how thoughtfully people learn together.

The future calls us to something more. Learning cannot simply be something we teach. It must become something we model.

The challenges facing education will continue to change. The way we approach them can too.

Artificial intelligence. Student engagement. School culture. Portraits of a Graduate. Assessment. New initiatives. Changing leadership. Evolving student needs.

Education isn't running out of challenges—or opportunities. The question isn't whether something new will get your attention. The question is how you'll respond when it does.

Seeing the System, Leading Change is a practical field guide for educators who want to move beyond reacting to problems and begin leading thoughtful, lasting improvement.

Rather than offering another program or quick fix, this guide introduces a simple four-step process grounded in systems thinking, design thinking and improvement science for:

understanding challenges and opportunities before rushing to solutions and roll-outs
learning alongside the people experiencing the systems connected to the issue(s)
improving the work through thoughtful action and small tests of change
continuing to learn as implementation unfolds

More importantly, it helps educators develop something every school increasingly needs: the capacity to navigate uncertainty with curiosity, confidence, and continuous learning.

Because our goal isn't simply to solve today's challenges. It's to prepare ourselves and our students for challenges and opportunities that don't yet exist.

Designed to be read in an afternoon and used throughout the year, this concise field guide includes practical reflection questions, companion field tools (downloads), discussion guides, and real-world examples for individuals, leadership teams, book studies, and professional learning communities.

Mapping The Systems
Using "Map Priorities to the System" Download
Seeing The System, Leading Change At Work

Field Tools & Resources

Try It — Complimentary

5 Field Tools to get started.

Go Deeper —

Choose the collection that fits your work:

$9.99 Leadership/Learning Team Pack — Tools for building a team that learns and improves together.
$14.99 Improvement Pack — Tools for understanding challenges, gathering perspectives, testing ideas, and learning from results.

Get Everything — $19.99

Complete Field Tool Library — Includes all Field Tools, both packs, and the Implementation Study Guide.

Want to Share the Field Tools?

License	Price
School License	89.00
District License — up to 5 schools	249.00
District License — 6–15 schools	399.00
16+ schools / organizations/Consultant/Facilitator	Contact Us

The downloads can be used as written, but in the spirit of the field guide, make them work for you. You likely won’t have room on the page to capture everything your team wants to think about or discuss. Move beyond the template when needed—use chart paper, sticky notes, shared documents, digital tools, or whatever works best.

Adapt the questions, steps, and format to fit your context.

The download is a starting point, not a limit on the work.

If you see an issue with a Field Tool, please contact us

Complimentary Field Tools

$0.00

Examples included! Four-step protocol-study a challenge or opportunity before jumping to solutions. Add to cart to download.

$0.00

Explore a challenge through student, classroom, school, and district lenses. Add to cart to download.

$0.00

Plan and learn from a small test before scaling. Add to cart to download.

$0.00

Map the factors and connections influencing what you're seeing. Add to cart to download.

$0.00

For individual use only.

See the pricing table above for school, district, and facilitator licensing.

Thank You!

Choose the Collection That Fits Your Work:

$14.99

Includes: Challenge-Opportunity Study Protocol, Student Voice Toolkit, What Do We Actually Know Protocol, Map Priorities to the System, Scale and Readiness Check, Where Should We Start: Choosing a Challenge, Design Thinking Check, Competing Needs Map

$9.99

Includes: Challenge-Opportunity Study Protocol, Leadership Team Makeover, Learning Team Purpose, Sample Learning Team Agenda, and Learning Team Launch Guide