Quick Wins Authors Talk: The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni joined Matt Ciciora in Session 239 to discuss their latest book, Quick Wins: Using Behavior Science to Accelerate and Sustain School Improvement. In their conversation they talk about why they felt this book was necessary, who represents their ideal reader, and whether we ask too much of school leaders. That last point is something Matt has been thinking about a lot recently, as we oftentimes ask people with no background in behavior analysis to engage in complex activities like pinpointing performance indicators, diagnosing performance problems, and so on.

They also talk about the distinction between leading and lagging indicators, viewing relationships as accomplishments, their Quick Walk protocol, and what things leaders should do before providing corrective feedback to staff members.

Paulie and Anika are presenting what sounds like a great talk at this year's Stone Soup Conference 2023, which by the way, if you decide to attend, you can save on your registration by using the promo code, PODCAST.

Lastly, the three of them engaged in a little shameless self-promotion by talking about the project they've been working on called The Behavioral Toolbox, which is essentially an e-learning site they built for school-based professionals who are interested in learning how to improve student behavior in educational settings.

They just launched their first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and they have many more in various stages of development. If you work in these types of settings, please check it out. Matt also notes that the courses they're designing aren't just for Behavior Analysts. They've done their best to communicate in plain English rather than behavioral jargon so that the content is as accessible as possible. To stay up to date on all things toolbox related, be sure to sign up for The Behavioral Toolbox's newsletter on LinkedIn.