Finding Focus

This week, Abby Sloan and Mandy Duncan joined me at PLC Steering Committee.  It was a great day of learning from our colleagues around the district.  One thought that really stuck with me from that meeting was the idea of focus.  As we continue to have this discussion about effective teams, I realized that effective teams are characterized by focus.  Dr. Hintz shared that one of his mentors used to tell him that “everything is nothing.”  When a person, teacher, team, etc., tries to do everything, they end up doing nothing.  Effective teams have focus.

            I think the thing to realize about effective teams is that they don’t just happen.  They’re created intentionally.  Now, every now and then, you have a group of people that come together by chance and bring the elements of an effective team and it kind of naturally happens, but more often than not, effective teams are created intentionally.

            The same concept is true with this idea of focus.  A team can’t just say, “We’re going to be focused,” there has to be some intentionality when it comes to focus.  The reality is life in school can get kind of crazy!  We all have times where we feel like we’re barely keeping our heads above water.  In those instances, without intentional focus, we’ll just do what we need to in order to survive.  However, as a school, I don’t want us to just survive; I want us to THRIVE! 

            So, how do we build in this intentional focus?  How do we ensure we are focusing so that we will thrive instead of just survive? Well, that’s a challenging question.  At PLC Steering on Wednesday we took some time to discuss that question.  I’ve got to be honest, I was kind of stumped.  I’m a verbal processer and almost never feel like I don’t know what to say when a question is asked of me (just ask my wife…it’s pretty annoying).  However, when we were asked to think about how we keep focus, I initially had a hard time.  Thankfully, I was at a table with some experts who were able to help me figure it out.

            Effective teams (and individuals) build structures into their daily lives that ensure focus.  Again, remember, when we’re just trying to stay afloat, we need those structures in our lives in order to stay focused. 

            So what does that look like for a school?  Well, it means we have a clear mission or purpose that is why we do what we do.  Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.  If we’re having a hard time staying focused, we need to come back to that purpose.  Does what we’re (or I’m) working on support this mission?  If not, it’s something that can be dropped because it takes away from focus.

            I believe effective schools also stay structured by being explicit in their process and procedures.  Being unclear is the opposite of focus.  So being clear about things like schedules, intervention, and expectations is critical.

            But what about you?  How do we stay focused individually?  Through our discussion on Wednesday I realized each person stays focused in different ways.  The key is that you find out what works for you and do it!  For me, I keep a notebook.  I always joke that even though I write almost everything down, I still feel like I only remember 80% of what I do!  That’s a joke but the point is, without it, I’d be really ineffective as a principal.  Also, I have worked to build a couple of key routines into my day to keep me focused on the mission; on why I do what I do.  This year, a couple of my routines are to start my day by writing a couple of notes to staff members, to great as many students as I can individually, and I’m trying to end my day with a positive phone call home.  Now, I’m not perfect with this, but those routines remind me of our mission here at WCS.  I want to enrich your lives and the lives of our students. 

            So has you take time to relax this weekend (PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DO), take some time to reflect on what you do to keep focused on what’s important.  Maybe you’ll find you haven’t’ really considered staying focused and you need to build some structures into your life.  Maybe you’ll find that you’re staying pretty focused.  In either case, start with the mission and build your focus from there.  Have a great weekend!

Lessons from the Light Brigade

Last week, I ran across an article in a magazine about "The Charge of the Light Brigade."  If you're not familiar with The Charge, there was a famous poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about this battle.  The Charge of the Light Brigade was an infamous battle in the Crimean War in which a British force of just over 600 troops was soundly defeated by the Russians. 

            Now, I'm no history major, so I don’t claim to know everything about this event, and I have no idea was the Crimean War was, but I was able to spend some time reading about the event this week.  Basically, the “Light Brigade” was a group of British mounted solders.  Some of these mounted solders were from the famous “Green Dragoons” group.  If you’ve seen the movie “The Patriot” you’ll know what I’m talking about.  Anyway, this mounted force had a very specific niche in the British Army.  Primarily they were used to sweep in on an enemy infantry and cut them down, usually as the enemy was retreating.  This battle took place in 1854, yet most in the Light Brigade were only equipped with swords and lances.  The point was to be able to cover a lot of ground quickly, and so there was very little need for heavy armor or weaponry.

            While there’s still a lot of uncertainly about exactly what went wrong with this charge, it’s believed that the Light Brigade was given orders to attack a retreating Russian force.  However, what ended up happening was that the Light Brigade charged at the wrong Russian force.  They charged at a highly fortified Russian artillery force that was on some high ground and could see the Brigade coming from about a mile away.  Additionally, the Brigade charged at the Russians through a valley.  The Russians held ground on three of the four sides of the valley; so literally, the Light Brigade was fired on from three sides throughout the attack.  Finally, remember, the Light Brigade had only swords, and maybe a few small arms.  However, the Russian Artillery Unit was equipped with cannons that shot both case shot, and round shot.  Case shot could travel about 300 yards and round shot could travel about 1000 yards.  So, as these solders were riding through the valley to attack, they were being fired upon and they had no defense.  It was said by some historians that the Russians thought the attackers were drunk because their attack was basically a suicide mission.  What’s really fascinating about this story is that despite all the odds stacked against them, the British Light Brigade was actually able to break the Russian lines for a moment before being forced to retreat.  Obviously, the British faced massive casualties as a result of the charge.

            So, what in the world does this have to do with us?  Well, we’ve been studying what makes an effective team.  We usually look at successes while studying this topic; however, sometimes we can learn a lot from the failures of others too!  It’s great to learn from our own mistakes and it’s even better to learn from others! 

            First, please understand that this Light Brigade was a highly effective fighting force.  I think it’s important to understand that even highly effective teams can be rendered ineffective if the right elements aren’t in place.  As you think about our team here, we know we can be highly effective, but we have to make sure everything is in place. 

            Probably the biggest mistake here is that the Light Brigade was unclear about their objective.  While they were ordered to attack a retreating infantry force, they instead attacked a highly fortified Russian Artillery force. We talk a lot about how effective teams have to be doing the “right” work.  Effective teams become in effective when they are unclear about their mission. 

            Second, because of the lack of clarity about the mission, the Light Brigade was woefully unequipped to perform the task they had undertaken.  Remember, the enemy had guns that could shoot them from 1000 yards away, and what did the Light Brigade have?  Swords!  Not really a fair fight, is it?  The thing is, those fast horses and swords were perfectly suited for the task of attacking a retreating infantry unit, but not so well suited for attacking a fortified artillery unit.  So effective teams become ineffective when they don’t have the right tools for the job (or in this case, weapons for the mission).

            Finally, it’s amazing to me that despite all of the mistakes that were made; this force was able to inflict some damage on the enemy.  This shows how effective this team could be, when put in the right situation. 

            We’re getting ready to start the ninth week of school here at Jefferson.  Just like the Light Brigade needed to be aware of the dangers around them, we need to be aware of our situation.  Traditionally, this time of year tends to be stressful.  It always sneaks up on me too!  I think we expect the stress at Christmas or Spring Break, but the week of Parent/Teacher Conferences and Fall Break can really take a lot out of us.  Please make sure you understand that and prepare yourself accordingly.  Take care of yourself! 

            Also, as a team, we need to make sure we’re clear about the mission.  We know our big mission as a corporation, our purpose, to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while purposing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.  Over the last two weeks, we’ve been taking time to set interdependent team goals for the year.  These goals are your mission this year!  How will your team keep this mission in front of you so you don’t end up working toward the wrong things just like the Light Brigade?  What about your students?   How will you share these goals with your students?  What goals will they set from themselves?  Remember, we ALL need to have a purpose, a goal, a mission!  This is just as true for your students as it is for you!

            Finally, we’ve got to make sure we’re equipped for the work.  How do we make sure we’re equipped?  That’s the work of the collaborative team!  When you follow the Collaborative Team Action Cycle we’ve been talking about, when you focus on the 4 critical questions, you ensure that you and your team are equipped to accomplish your mission!  Nobody in the room is as smart as everybody in the room…it’s the power of a collaborative team.

            So, as we get ready for next week, make sure that you are aware of your challenges and prepare for them. Make sure you’re clear on your mission and share it with those you work with (students included), and finally, make sure the work you’re doing in your PLC equips you for the mission.