How Many Problems Can a Frying Pan Solve?

I recently came across this video (watch it--it is only 16 seconds long) on LinkedIn with the reminder that people do not buy products but solutions to problems. 

I think many businesses, especially independent schools, forget this and as a result craft their program to solve their own, and not their customer’s, problems. 

A perfect example is when I started at Duke School, preschoolers started school with four ½ days before moving to a full day. While the reasoning for this staggered start is logical--ease young children into a long school day--it ignored that most Duke School families included two working parents and ½ days created havoc for them. 

While we may not want to admit it, one of the problems schools solve for parents is providing custodial care for their young children. The 4 ½ day start ignored this problem and placed the problem squarely back on the shoulders of parents, who understandably were unhappy with the school. Generally, it is a bad idea to make new parents unhappy with you particularly at the beginning of their school experience.  

Ironically, the ½ day start did not make the preschoolers' lives any easier. Instead of being able to stay at one place, they were transported to another care provider. So, they were taken care of by two groups in two different places and missed nap time while being transported often by nonparents. 

Almost immediately after my arrival, we moved to a schedule where preschoolers were invited to visit the classroom and meet their teacher for an hour. On the next day, we started a full schedule. Not only did the children thrive, parents expressed thanks to the school for the change.  

Soon, we eliminated all ½ days from the schedule (except for the last day of school), understanding that parents can handle and plan for a day with no school more easily than for a ½ day. 

I don’t mean to imply that the only problem schools solve is custodial care, but it is a real problem and those of us in leadership need to pay attention to it. 

It would be a good exercise for your leadership team to wrestle with what other problems parents and students are looking to solve by attending our schools, and how we can help them solve those problems more effectively and efficiently.