As mentioned in the 8/2/16 post, “Rely on People or Rely on Systems,” the A+ priority of leadership is designing, building, and revising a system that prioritizes effort for the purpose of maximizing results. But I didn’t expound on which results. In education we can pick any number of result categories to focus on. Three…
There is no question that talented people are important to the success of an organization. But beware of the trap of attributing all success to talent and all failure to the lack of talent. Talent can bring great individual success but it doesn’t bring long-term great organizational success. It is the system that leverages and…
The secret to system success is simple. 1. Strip away all the window dressing. 2. Strip away all the superfluous complexity. 3. Strip away all the extra steps. 4. Build in redundancy. Then implement the system, with fidelity, at 100% effort. Then in short time windows, assess, refine, adjust and repeat at 100% effort. As…
A regular LYS reader asks, “I’m very interested in PowerWalks. Our district utilizes the 3 minute walk through, which takes longer than 3 minutes, that’s for sure. Not sure that I’m 100% committed to this way of doing walk throughs. I’m looking for something that will benefit my teachers and students better.”SC ResponseSome quick background…
In response to the post, “Teacher Stress – Part 9,” the writer writes: “So the campus administrators will know, “Central Office” was my focus. I do agree that everyone has their own perception. This is not about principals. It’s about Central Office not being in touch with realistic goals and respecting the teaching profession. How…
In response to the posts relating to, “A Reader Shares… (Sunday Advice 2/7/10),” a reader writes: “Great explanation, I stand corrected. I thought that the philosophy the LYS team was using was aimed at incompetency and not systems. I fully understand and agree.Check Fire! Check Fire!” SC ResponseJust to confuse the situation even more, we…
I was recently talking with a first year principal, what was working, what wasn’t, etc. The conversation eventually led to two critical practices that are almost never shared with rookies, and as such, effectively lengthens their learning curve. Here are the practices: First, have a system. By system, I mean a focus, structure, and a…
