I love watching the Olympics every two years, alternating summer and winter. The spirit, the countries, the culture, the wins and losses, and the athletes’ journey to excellence. The whole thing is amazing. I love it. I saw a stat pop up one day on one of the programs I watched in last year’s summer Olympics. In 1988, Carl Lewis was a decorated champion runner for the United States. I remember fondly watching those Olympics as a 13-year-old, thinking I could fly like Carl Lewis. He was the gold standard and a symbol of the United States Olympic athletes!
They showed us statistics this year regarding the men’s 100 m sprint. The official sprint time winning Carl a gold medal in 1988 would have put him in last place this year.
It got me thinking about my journey as a school leader, how I must continue to grow and get better, how things change and advance, and the many technologies and new and improved ways of doing things. Some standards have stood the test of time, but many additional things have changed over the years for the benefit of the children as well as the educators.
A couple pops to mind: I laugh about years ago when I had to get a memo or information out to the teachers. I would write it on a piece of paper, and then we’d have to photocopy it and put it in their mailboxes. Now, a quick email is the way to go.
On a snow day, groups of teachers would call one another on a phone chain. Now, there’s automated texting, social media, and calls. Getting a vote from the student body or even just their opinion on topics we’d have to call home, print the ballots, get all the kids down, have them put it on a piece of paper and sit there and count the ballots for hours. Crazy. Now, with a click of a button, we can do a student vote and get the results back instantly.
These are just three examples of improvements in how things are done. We could write a whole book about this concept.
The point is to continue to grow in advance with the times. There are products, strategies, and ways of doing things that will continue to improve our journeys as school leaders and educators.
Keep growing and learning, and keep surviving and thriving, friends. Keep running like Carl Lewis! #SurviveThrive
Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I am often looking for examples like these that have moved the needle forward and sometimes met with the comment, “The old way worked just fine. Change for the sake of change is a waste of time.” While I agree that change without connection to your ‘Why’ can be fruitless, even small changes can have a large impact. Happy New Year to you and thank you for the work you do. Reading your blog keeps me thinking.