Cultures of Excellence

“Culture is what enables teams of people to defy the odds and achieve the remarkable.” 

from the NfX Company Culture Manual

“Culture” and “Excellence” are two words that get tossed around so frequently that, at times, I fear they are in danger of becoming meaningless. Yet, I never tire of talking about school culture and how we can create cultures of excellence because I am convinced that (as stated above) it enables us to defy the odds and achieve the remarkable. Students and teachers can both perform at higher levels when working at schools with positive school cultures. Moreover, I have served in schools with almost identical characteristics and demographics that perform at distinctly different levels because of the school’s culture. We must not simply talk about excellence and culture; we must act intentionally to create and maintain a culture that is truly excellent, defining along the way not only what culture is but also what excellence means to us and what it looks like in our day-to-day actions and interactions. My good friend and colleague Jimmy Casas often implores us to, “Live your excellence,” rather than merely talking about it, I wholeheartedly agree and believe we must have conversations about what living our excellence sounds like and looks like.


Culture includes the norms, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, values, traditions, myths, and celebrations in place at any school. When working with educators on the topic of school culture, a good starting point is to examine shared values and explicitly create a list of core values that will guide subsequent beliefs and behaviors. I have seen this done successfully in any number of ways. I often start by suggesting that we all believe in excellence, obviously, and creating cultures of excellence.

However, the word “excellence,” as I suggested, is meaningless unless we drill down a bit deeper. I often ask teachers and administrators to fill in a simple blank, describing in single words what they would like their school’s culture to be known for. Whenever I pose this rather simple task, within seconds each person is able to share several compelling words that most everyone in attendance agrees would be laudable culture descriptors. I then share my own list on a slide (which varies regularly since there are so many enticing words to select):

What are some other words you would choose to describe the ideal culture you would like to be known for creating and working in? I would love to hear your thoughts. It is also interesting to look at one-word cultural values shared by non-school entities. Here are just a few examples I came across recently:

Cirrus Logic

• Continuous Improvement
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Communication
• Job Satisfaction

Clif Bar

• Connect
• Organic
• Restore
• Ethical

Adidas

• Performance
• Passion
• Integrity
• Diversity

Adobe

• Genuine
• Exceptional
• Innovative
• Involved

Of course, it is not enough to simply brainstorm one-word culture values; we must turn these cultural values into cultural commitments. We must create action steps to achieve them, moving, perhaps, from things we believe to things we will do. Again, there are an infinite number of ways to create these statements. I continue to favor the idea of “We Will” statements and limiting these to five total. At one school in which I served, we spent a significant amount of time debating these and then wordsmithing the final five Faculty Values Statements, which ultimately included the following:

• We Will promote and insist on a safe and orderly learning environment.

• We Will design and deliver meaningful and relevant daily learning experiences.

• We Will treat every person in our school community with dignity and respect.

• We Will innovate through experimentation.

• We Will recognize and celebrate our many successes.

Once again, even these "We Will..." statements are not enough. We must then identify specific actions we can take to make each of these statements  a reality. Finally, we must all hold each other accountable for adhering to these. When a person fails to uphold these core values (which will happen, not because people are bad, but because life happens and we are not perfect) another person must address it, not as an accountability “gotcha,” but simply as an accountability reminder. A reminder that we said we were going to do these things and that it is important for us to do what we say we are going to do. In addition to everyone holding each other accountable for living their excellence by adhering to core values, we must also carve out time to actually practice the culture and celebrate instances when we see the culture being lived out loud.

Excellent school cultures do not happen by chance; they happen by choice. In schools with excellent cultures, educators choose to create shared values. They choose to practice and celebrate cultural values. They choose to reflect on the culture and measure how they are doing in the eyes of staff, students, and parents. Living our collective excellence by intentionally creating cultures of excellence is another way we Teach, Learn, and Lead with Passion!

Take the Hard Road

“What comes easy won't last long and 

what lasts long won't come easy.”

As we begin a new calendar year, many people make resolutions and set goals designed to positively impact themselves and/or others. Making such resolutions is relatively easy; sticking to them is often difficult. Some will no doubt succeed in adhering to their resolutions while others, inevitably, will fail. The difference? In many cases, those who succeed will take the hard road rather than the easy road when faced with difficult choices.

For example, many self improvement plans center on exercise, diet, or finances. In each instance, success depends on choosing the hard road on a consistent basis. Waking up early to run five miles is taking the hard road. Sleeping in and skipping the run is the easy road. Cooking a meal with healthy food can be a hard road while ordering a pizza to be delivered is an easy road. When it comes to finances, spending $100 is an easy road; saving $100 is a hard road. Unfortunately, it seems as if we humans are generally wired to take the easy road; the default position seems to be the status quo or to create as little stress, work, or discomfit as possible. On the other hand, it takes discipline and intentionality to do what is hard. 

via: http://bit.ly/300Yq5H

Here is the good news, however, that we must keep in mind: Easy roads eventually become hard, while hard roads eventually become easy. That morning run, that daily meal, and the consistent saving of a few dollars? Eventually these acts become routines and these routines ultimately become habits. It no longer becomes a question of whether to run, save, or eat healthy; it has simply become what we do and who we are. It was hard, but over time, we simply became people who exercise, people who eat healthy foods, and people who are financially stable. It is no longer a choice of whether we do it; it simply becomes who we are. What was once a hard road has become an easy road because we are now more healthy or wealthy. Conversely, had we taken the easy road in the beginning, we would eventually be on the hard road, forced to deal with difficulties in terms of our health or finances.

In our personal lives, there are scads of examples proving the easy road/hard road concept. I suspect this phenomenon is equally applicable in our professional lives as educators. What are some hard roads we must take now in our classrooms and schools so that our lives (and those of our students) eventually become easier and we achieve our goals? There are likely endless examples, but one that comes to mind is addressing the underperformance of a student or staff member. Perhaps a student continuously misbehaves in our classroom. Perhaps a teacher in our school is not adhering to our cultural norms. In both instances, the easy road might be to overlook the underperformance or to address it, but only in a cursory way. Perhaps we talk to the student, but fail to contact the parent who has proven difficult to deal with in the past. Maybe we mention our concerns to the staff member, yet still provide a satisfactory formal evaluation. This easy path will eventually become hard as the underperformance will continue and likely worsen.

via: http://bit.ly/2RapqvF

The hard road in these scenarios involves making the time to learn why the behavior is occurring, having potentially difficult conversations with those involved, creating a plan to change the underperformance, and continuing to monitor the situation throughout the school year, providing feedback and possibly consequences along the way. Left unchecked, the undesired behaviors will not only continue, but will likely get worse. Taking the hard road is (obviously) hard--at first. In this example, it takes a great deal of time and requires us to engage in uncomfortable conversations. However, this commitment to taking the hard road at the outset pays dividends over time as the student’s behavior improves or the staff member’s commitment deepens. In the end, because we chose the hard road, our work became easier.

What are some other instances at our schools in which it behooves us to take the hard road now so we can enjoy the easy road further down the line and reach our ultimate destination as smoothly as possible? Do they involve grading, assessment, data, and pedagogy? Teacher evaluation, parent/community relationships, standardized testing, and implementing change? I would love to hear your thoughts. Knowing that hard roads become easy and easy roads become hard and choosing, therefore, to take the hard road is another way we Teach, Learn, and Lead with Passion!