SWAY

I am rereading a great book titled SWAY. It discusses irrational behavior and the forces that are out there that explain why a person, who seemingly rationale, engages in irrational behavior. The research behind the insights are fascinating.

As I am reading this book, I'm asking myself, "Are there seemingly things we are doing that could be considered irrational?" It's a much used quote from Einstein that we hear all the time: "The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results." Would we be considered irrational, would I be considered irrational, if we or I continued to do the same things expecting different results?

One of the things I'm going to ask staff this week is to respond to this quote: "In order to achieve results we've never attained before, we must start doing things we've never done before."

As I analyze this year around that lens, I am constantly asking myself, "What am I doing different that's going to really result in better student achievement?" The daily challenge we all face is to ask ourselves, "What are we doing differently that's going to lead to better achievement?"

That's called focus.

But the harder part is after we identify what we can be doing different, is to execute. And of course, that's where the majority of us have trouble. myself included. I'm great at focusing, but then having the discipline to execute on the most highest priorities is tough because we are inundated with urgent and important things coming at us, where as most of the highest priorities are important, not necessarily urgent.

I challenge all of us to reach higher by thinking about what we can be doing better or different...