Do Less but be Focused

 

 "Priority is itself a function of simplicity. It dictates that we select, clarify, and then focus on only a few things at a time: what is most likely to help us achieve our goals. Education has never been so beholden to complexity, the enemy of clarity and priority."

 

-Schmoker, 2018

 

When I first saw the message from The Wall Street Journal(2018),"The key to Success? Doing Less", I was wondering why the journal challenged us with this statement. Does this mean that we should stop doing things or make necessary selection before action because doing more doesn’t mean that we can guarantee an outcome success?

 

However, after reading the book, titled, “Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning” (2nd Edition), written by Mike Schmoker in 2018, I immediately understood what the key message it wanted to inform the readers. It is about ‘Being Focused’, not simply ‘Doing Less’ only! Especially in Chapter 2 of the book, I was much attracted by the three words of ‘Simplicity, Clarity and Priority’, which sudden reminded me to reflect on what we have done in the past years and why, what and how we should move forward in the coming years!

 

As a school leader and a change agent, we cannot do everything at one shot because, as Fullan (2001) comments, we cannot adopt all kinds of school changes at the same time, just like hanging a lot of decoration items on a Christmas tree! The lesson is: if we want improvement changes to take place, we should be focused, and then simplify and clarify what we should and what we should not do, and then prioritise them in the right orders, making reference to the rules of “First things first” and “Sharpen the Saw” (Covey, 1994). Also refer to Jim Collins, author of, “Good to Great”, who also said: “The real path to greatness, it turns out, requires simplicity and diligence. It requires clarity, not instant illumination. It demands each of us to focus on what is vital and to eliminate all of the extraneous distractions…”

 

Therefore, as a leadership practice, we should take the principles of “Simplicity, clarity, and priority” because they are intimately linked. If we want to continuously improve and move forward, we have to maintain a clear focus on its highest priorities. We must routinely clarify them so that everyone in the organization can share the meaning of what to do and what not to do and its priority! Then, sharpen our saw and get the task done!

 

Reference

 

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap...and others don’t. CA: HarperCollins.

 

Convey, S. (1990). The 7 habits of highly effective people : Powerful lessons in personal change. Franklin Convey Co.

 

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

Schmoker, M. (2018). Focus: Elevating the essentials to radically improve student learning (2nd Ed.) Alexandria, VA: ASCD.