Don't Focus on the New but the Old

As leaders, we often become fixated on what's new and how to integrate it into our schools. We want to assure parents and students that we are on the cutting edge, "playing" with new "toys" ahead of our competitors.

Our strategic plans are often filled with ideas on how to respond to threats, such as not using the newest technology, or opportunities, like building another makerspace.

Sometimes it feels like we're mice running on a perpetual treadmill, never quite catching up. Before we can master one new technology or idea, an even newer (and supposedly better) one emerges.

I wonder if we have it backward. Investing our strategic time and effort into predicting what will be different in five years and how we should respond is both futile (we can’t foresee what will change tomorrow, let alone five years from now—consider AI and COVID) and fruitless. Instead, we should spend our strategic time thinking about what will remain constant, despite unpredictable changes, and plan to excel at that. (I owe much of this thinking to a talk by Jeff Bezos.)

In schools, no matter what changes occur, students and parents will always cherish close relationships with their teachers. It’s hard to imagine a universe where this will not be true. Likewise, students will always want to be part of a tight-knit community where they are known and loved. They will want time to develop close relationships with their peers and engage in activities during the school day.

Knowing this, perhaps our strategic plans should focus on how to strengthen our community, how to foster deep relationships with peers and adults, and how to offer engaging activities.

Technology may change how we accomplish these goals, but it should not divert our attention from the core principles of what people will always value. If we are great at delivering what students and parents have always wanted and will continue to want, we will be both strategic and delivering an excellent product.