Effective responses to moments of crisis rely upon a laser-like focus on an Objective. A commitment to achieving that Objective requires resolve.
Wall Street, Oliver Stone’s homage to the 1980’s excess, is best remembered for Gordon Gecko’s (Michael Douglas) infamous “greed is good” speech. One of my favorite scenes, however, is when Lou (Hal Holbrook) counsels the disgraced Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) that when “man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”
I’m not saying that greed has brought about Michigan’s budget crisis, but Lansing is indeed peering into the abyss. Moments like this can accelerate actions along dimensions that blur partisan lines. We’ve already started to see some of this in Lansing, most notably Democrat Andy Dillon’s plan that upsets a core Democratic constituency. My post last week on the plight of Detroit Public Schools provides another example. In today’s papers the left-leaning Free Press editorialist Stephen Henderson calls out the Michigan Democrats’ for failure to publicly bring forth their version of the state budget proposal. Turn the page and Henderson’s Detroit News conservative counterpart, Nolan Finley, delivers a similar message accompanied with a warning that any solution will leave some marks. Both know the answers to Michigan’s budget problems will be painful. Both rightly call for action – now. Can I get an Amen?
As I have written before, from a budget standpoint, when Lansing sneezes Michigan’s local school districts get pneumonia. I’d rather not speculate on where that leaves us when Lansing has pneumonia, but suffice it to say local school districts are about to find their character. That makes for some uncomfortable times, but I am convinced that more good than bad will come from this challenging period if we take it as an opportunity to focus on what we want of our district, act on what is truly best for our students, and to hone a compelling value proposition.
Is innovation the answer or do we need to get back to basics?
Another article in today’s Free Press reports on how federal “Race to the Top” funds are spurring innovative approaches to traditional education. Some are intriguing and others strike me as recycled versions of the “innovative solutions” of the past (e.g. remember when so many were convinced we were all going to have to learn Japanese?). Am I the only one who finds it ironic that only the promise of new funds prompts this “innovation?” The abyss into which local school districts peer tells me that we better find a way to achieve our objectives within our current financial means – in fact probably with even less. This is the moment when philosophy, budgets and educational objectives intersect.
Football season is now upon us. Some of these innovative ideas, with new funding sources required, strike me as the equivalent of trick plays or gimmick offenses. I’d rather have a power running game. In Grosse Pointe Public Schools our over-arching Objective is to “promote the achievement of every student at the highest level of their individual abilities.” I really like that. In our football analogy, GPPSS’ Objective is like Vince Lombardi’s famous “Packer Sweep.” Lombardi was convinced that a properly executed power sweep was indefensible – no matter the conditions or the opponent. But it required unity of purpose, each player flawlessly executing their individual assignment, and precision throughout.
Executing our version of the Power Sweep is eminently possible.
Our budget challenges are manageable when we can identify our root cause problems. This is why we developed our Financial Transparency Series. I will talk more about these later. But for the time being, the Series aims to inform us so we can better execute, not to serve as an excuse for why we can’t. This is the moment when we define our character. Our budget doesn’t define who we are, our Objectives do. This will keep us out of the abyss.
As we move into a new school year we know our budget will be a challenge, but we need to execute our version of the Packer Sweep with same precision Coach Lombardi demanded of his championship teams. I will be advocating an approach to budgeting where the “achievement of every student to the highest of their ability” is our pre-eminent and perpetual guidepost. Sure this sounds great and indeed who could argue with that philosophy? But rest assured, there will be times when we need to question and prove whether our practices deliver on this goal, whether our assignments are the right ones, and whether we are executing with precision. These will be some difficult moments.
If we can set aside for the moment his character flaws, Bobby Knight has a great quote along these lines: “Everyone has the will to win. It’s the will to prepare to win that is important.” We need to be ready to ask some tough questions and be ready for answers we may not expect and then have the will to act on that information.
If we intend to gauge the effectiveness of our school district on an individual student basis we better be prepared for a variety of measures.
Measuring the effectiveness of the Packer Sweep was easy: yardage, first downs, and touchdowns were the clear goals. What measures define the unique milestones for each of our students? Every student is different and each has (or should have) unique goals. Their touchdowns will take many different forms and our goal is to ensure everyone crosses the goal line. But these are long drives – literally 12 years long. We need to do lots of measuring along the way. As the saying goes, we need to keep moving the chains. We can’t turn it over on downs and we need to be mindful of the game clock.
I’m no Vince Lombardi, but I do have some ideas for how we can pull this all together. I’ll be posting thoughts on this in the coming weeks. But to end where we began, I can tell you that we need to be mindful of Lou’s advise to Bud. Focusing on individual student achievement will provide a consistent clarity of purpose. Insofar as we collectively agree on this Objective we will have found our character. Then it’s all about execution and precision. I, for one, am eager for the new season and I hope you are as well.