Resources for that Dream Team

Being a faculty member, I have often had to sit thru 'Envisioning Exercises' on how we can 'position' our school so that we can achieve even greater heights. Great stuff, but it just doesn't work.

A good deal of those attending are not 'with it', they just don't see how this 'corporate nonsense' fits into a school setting. "We're just different." And they shout to themselves, BOHICA! (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!)

Reality check - your school is no different from any other organisation. It's no different from the supermarket down the road, the mall down town or the factory where your neighbour works at. It's all the same. Many brilliant and hardworking people, working towards a common goal with the rest of their team. This corporate nonsense is not corporate, it's not nonsense. It's just organisational theory or more specifically ways to bring your or any organisation to new heights.

Before we can sit through an envisioning exercise for your school, I want to talk to you about an envisioning exercise for yourself. Yes, you! Sounds absurd but it worked for me. You are a company, you are an organisation. Yes you are! And you deserve all that comes with it. "Hogwash!" you say. "What's my corporation's name? What's it's address? What's the brand of the product?"

The corporation's name is your name, it's address is your address, and the brand of the product, well, again, it's your name.

Steven Covey talked about similar ideas in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, more specifically in his chapter on First Things First. I believe that there is a resource on his website that guides you to writing your vision statement. Go give it a try!

Once you have that vision, go figure out the resources that your corporation will need. Huh? My corporation? Yes, your corporation! If you name's Bill, then you are Bill Inc. Work with me on this one. You'll see!

If you were running a real corporation, you would naturally go out and get those resources, you would get HR working on hiring the right people, you would tap on those people you already know are winners in their own right, you would get yourself and your team attending some top end management courses, you would get the office space in order.

Why not with MyName Inc.?

Get people on your team. Find out who you'd need to help you get to that next level. If you're a student, perhaps you need a better tutor. I tell this to all my students, you hire the tutor, the tutor does not hire you! She's on your team. Fire her if she's not doing her job well but replace her with a better one. If it's your teacher, well, think about it, but if it's really her, try to get yourself transferred to another class or enrol in another course. Time is a commodity that cannot be replaced. Do NOT work with people who waste your time.

Maybe you're working really hard on a project that you know will bring you to greater heights. Maybe you're soaring at work but the home front isn't taken care of and you're beating yourself up about it. Hire a good babysitter for your kids. Get reliable domestic help. Get weekend help if you can't get it every day. If you know people who need the extra cash and they can help you out with errands or chores, hire them. If you can't afford the time to get your shirts washed and pressed, ask a friend if she knows a good laundry service. Money spent can be earned. Time spent is gone forever.

Get your resources in order. Your dream team is not just about people, it's also about the resources you have at hand. Get a day planner. Most people I know don't have a good day planner. Either that or it's a really expensive smartphone that had entries made into it for a few weeks after it was purchased. Then it was forgotten! Sounds familiar? Some have more than one day planner and information is everywhere! Information that is everywhere is nowhere. Get it all in one place. Go get other resources like books, subscriptions, anything you think that will get you one step closer to that goal. But don't just get it, make sure what you're getting is essential and is helpful. A fancy PDA that takes an hour to figure out each time you want to make a day entry is not worth it. Go with pen and paper instead.

Get the information and knowledge you need. There isn't really much to talk about on this one, it's self explanatory. Surround yourself with the type of people who are 'out there', who have the same drive and determination that you do. The honest sort, and the sort that shares. Ask them what they're reading, not just the title, ask them what they've learnt. Go get the book if you can. Subscribe to publications that will help. Then read them. A must for all, educate yourself, continually improve yourself. Kaizen. I've always said, being a teacher is not about teaching, it's about learning. Go back to school, enrol in courses, learn new skills just for the heck of it. Ask Steve Jobs. When he stopped being a drop out of Reed College and became a drop in, he attended a calligraphy course. That's why we now have great font! He didn't know it would come in useful, it just did. Luck favours the prepared mind.

The final tip I'd like to give you to build the resources for your dream team is to burn some bridges. The Art of Strategy by Dixit and Nalebuff is a great book. Grab it if you can. It talks about how burning bridges can sometimes be an effective strategy. I've used it often. Many corporations have some of their bridges burnt, they just can't dump it all and go back where they came from. Make a wild commitment, tell all your friends, tell all your colleagues, tell all your schoolmates, tell your boss, tell your teachers, tell your principal! Get rid of that thing you can fall back on. One tip I gave my students - "Buy your mom a cane. Tell her that if you don't get an A, she can use the cane on you. You will get that A!"

So that would be it, your resources for YourName.inc.
1. Get the right people, you pay them so be demanding
2. Get the physical resources you need, the right ones
3. Get the knowledge you need, the kind that moves you further
4. Burn some bridges, don't give yourself an escape route

Get these resources in order and you're on your way to the next step of reaching your goals.