Rules to Break: That's How We Have Always Done It

"You are remembered for the rules you break." -Douglas MacArthur  

The MacArthur quote is especially true when you consider leadership.  If you don't break any rules you will continue to do the same things every day.  I thought I'd start a new series about the rules that leaders should be breaking.


The first rule in the series is more of a habit many leaders fall into.  It involves using the phrase "That's how we have always done it."  This is the cornerstone for answers about initiatives, procedures, etc. that do not make any sense.  If you are not convinced, try the following exercise.

• Pick something in your organization that doesn't make any sense, drives your crazy or gets in the way of the real work.
• Ask someone who has been in the organization for an extended period of time the following question: Why do we do that anyway?
• What answer are you likely to get?  The answer will be some variation of, "I'm not sure. That's the way we have always done it."

This is unfortunately also the answer to the most important question (WHY?) we can ask as leaders. These "that is how we have always done it" moments are also the things that are preventing change or improvement in organizations.  As a leader take inventory of all of your "that's how we have always done it" moments.  

• Can you answer the WHY question about your decisions, initiatives, and changes? 
• Does the answer to the WHY question actually match up with your stated values and beliefs?

Effective leaders move from "That's How We Have Always Done It" to "This is WHY we are doing it." The WHY must have a strong foundation in order to build an outstanding organization.


There are many other rules that leaders should break.  I'll try to capture more in the coming weeks. In the meantime...


What rules do you think leaders should break?

No One Has the Right To Waste a Minute of A Child's Life

The title of this post is actually a line in an Education Leadership article from ASCD.  I often come back to it as I work in and with schools.  


What would schools be like if we all embodied this concept?  
What if every moment was spent with this mindset?  


In the words of the great Dr.Seuss, "Oh, the places you'll go!"

Million Dollar Meetings and Minimal Results

"Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything."

- John Galbraith

Meetings are looked at as a sign that work is getting done in organizations.  You likely spend a lot of time in "event" meetings where it is scheduled on your calendar as a weekly, biweekly, or monthly event.  Calculate the total salary that is tied up in these meetings.  Now look at the results of these meetings.  Does the investment in time and resources match the outcome or results?  


Sometimes the best decision a leader can make is not to meet.  Take a closer look at your meetings through the lens of the following questions:

1. Why are we having this meeting?
2. How will everyone be smarter as a result of this meeting?
3. What would happen if this meeting did not occur?
4. Is there a more effective/efficient way to gather and disseminate the information?
5. Is there an expectation that work occurs outside of these meetings?
6. How could the time set aside for "event" meetings be better utilized to accomplish organizational goals?

How did you do with your answers?  Are you utilizing your time in a way that matches your stated priorities?  Challenge yourself to rethink and revolutionize your leadership practices by asking questions about everything.  Always start with WHY... Otherwise, you will be going through the motions with little movement to show for it.  

The way we have always done it is probably not the way we need to do it today and is certainly not the way we need to do it tomorrow.

A great resource for revamping your approach to meetings in "Read This Before Our Next Meeting".  It is a quick, insightful read about the modern meeting standard.

The Secret Formula to Excellence and Expertise

"Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours."

- Malcolm Gladwell

I was rereading the book Outliers recently and came across the quote above.  There really is no easy road to expertise and excellence.  Many people give up before they can realistically see improvement.   The other scenario is that people get good enough and settle.  Good is often the enemy of great in this scenario.  This is true with piano lessons, diets, and in the workplace.  People are often looking for the secret to greatness.  The secret all starts with your personal passion.  Once you understand that ingredient...the rest of the formula is as follows:

Your Passion + Deliberate Practice + A Strong Starting Five = Greatness

Understanding the formula is not difficult.  Putting the formula into practice is what ultimately separates good from great.

Excellence is Never an Accident

"Excellence is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities."

I was one of the world's biggest Michael Jordan fans growing up.  I even had a life size cut out of him in my classroom when I began my teaching career.  The greatest lesson I learned from following Michael Jordan's career is his pursuit of excellence.  His story is a great example of the quote above.  

Take a moment to think about someone that you feel is the best at what they do.  

Now consider the following questions:

• What does excellence look like at this person's level?
• How long has that person been practicing the skills necessary to be excellent?
• Was that person always great at what they do?
• What obstacles did they have to overcome to get where they are today?

People do not wake up as a master of their craft.  It was no accident that they became the top person in their respective field.  Thousands of hours of hard work is behind every expert in every field.  This type of deliberate practice is what separates mediocre from magnificent in every arena.  

Now consider the following questions as it relates to what you want to be excellent in:

• How are you being intentional in both your words and actions?
• What obstacles are currently keeping you from making progress?
• How can you turn those obstacles into opportunities?
• Who is in your starting five and how are they going to push you to be a better version of yourself?

Everyone has an opportunity to be excellent but it will never happen accidentally.  That journey begins today.

What If?

"Promise to yourself to live your life as a revolution and not just a process of evolution."

Anthony J. D'Angelo

There is always a great deal of debate around educational reform issues.  The rationale behind a lot of what we do in education is decades and even centuries old.  We continue to settle for evolving when much of what we do goes against what we believe.


For example:

• We believe learning can occur anytime/anywhere yet we have bells that tell us when the learning starts/stops.  
• We know that students develop at different rates yet we put all students on a 13 year track (K-12).
• We judge student/teacher/principal/school success on the ability to answer multiple choice questions yet we know it does not tell the whole story.
• We force unsuccessful students to repeat the same grade/course in largely the same way and expect different results.

We know that many of our students are entering the workforce without the requisite skills yet we still teach in many places to a standardized test.  In "Stop Stealing Dreams" Seth Godin writes that there are only two tools available to the educator.  The easy one is fear.  Fear is easy to awake, easy to maintain, but ultimately toxic.  The other tool is passion.


I have said before that "Nobody is Passionate about Bubbling in Answer Sheets".  What would happen if we began to operate from a place of passion instead of fear?  Imagine what school and ultimately the world could look like then...

Future-Proof Education

I am currently reading "Stop Stealing Dreams" by Seth Godin.  This free e book tackles the question "What is school for?" and is based on the premise that the economy has changed forever but school hasn't.  If you haven't downloaded it yet, you can find it here.


There are an abundance of points that resonate with me.  I thought I'd share my favorite quote so far below: 

"The two pillars of a future-proof education: 

# 1 Teach kids how to lead. 

# 2 Help them learn to solve interesting problems."

I couldn't agree more with those two pillars.  How do we build schools around those pillars?  That is a definitely a question to tackle in future posts.  


Download your copy and join the worldwide dialogue around "What is school for?".