9 Constraint Flipping Prompts to Unlock AIs Promise in K12 Education

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There's a story about two businessmen that relates to AI in education.

The story goes like this …

Two businessmen meet, and one shares with the other about his robust training system for his employees. This training system requires a lot of time, energy, and financial resources.

Curious about this training program, the one man asks his colleague:

"Aren't you afraid that you will invest all these resources into your employees and then they'll just leave for a higher-paying job?"

To which the other businessman replies:

"No, I'm more afraid if I don't provide this kind of training and they stay."

That’s basically how schools are thinking about AI + education right now.

• Is it safe?

• Can we afford it?

• Will ruin critical thinking?

All of these questions have one thing in common.

They are rooted in fear.

And no LEGENDARY outcomes are ever created with fear at the root.

I like to say that Ruckus Makers are visitors from the future showing us how education can one day be.

So the better question … the one that Ruckus Makers ask … goes like this:

“How can we leverage AI to Do School Different?”

The Real Problem (It's Not What You Think … It’s How You Think)

Have you ever heard that the problem is not the problem … the problem is how you are thinking about the problem?

That’s what’s happening in education when it comes to AI.

We're staring down historic teacher burnout. Ballooning workloads. Rising community expectations. And a generation of kids who can spot irrelevance from 30 feet away.

Then AI lands in your lap — not with a bow, but with a bomb.

But did you realize that teachers who are embracing AI shaved 6-weeks of work off their to-do list. That’s a helluva outcome.

Some see AI as one more thing. Ruckus Makers see it as THE thing that (already has) changed everything.

But education has an innovation problem.

When new tools enter education, they follow a predictable death spiral:

• Stage 1: Fear → "This is dangerous and we're not ready."

• Stage 2: Compliance → "Here's the policy manual. Please sign."

• Stage 3: Mediocrity → "We added it to the PD calendar once. Now let's move on."

That's exactly how overhead projectors, SMART Boards, and Chromebooks got trapped in irrelevance.

AI doesn't have to follow that path.

But only if we flip the script.

The Constraint-Flipping Framework

Instead of eliminating constraints, the most effective leaders flip them into fuel.

They use a simple but powerful mindset tool: "Can-If” Thinking.

I first came across Can-If Thinking and the Nine Propelling Questions when I read A Beautiful Constraint.

These 9 prompts will help you use AI to create more value with fewer resources — while everyone else is busy saying "we can't because..."

1. We can use AI to Do School Different if we think of it as a co-teacher, not a threat.

Educators FREAKED out when Bill Gates said AI will replace teachers in a decade.

I wrote a post about this on LinkedIn. This has been the most viewed, commented, and shared post I’ve written this year (read it here).

And it only confirms that most educators fear AI.

But smart Ruckus Makers all over the world view AI with an opposite lens. They think, how can I leverage it as a co-principal, co-teacher, or partner to Do School Different?

The sky is the limit here. Just like the last question I ask all my guests on the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast.

If your only limitation was your ability to imagine … how would you build your dream school?

Once educators see it's not a threat — it's an assistant — they'll start asking, "What else can it do?"