BUSINESS AS USUAL

Most teachers I know loathe having their schools compared to businesses, their students labeled “clients” and parents regarded as “customers”. Their righteous anger comes from high moral ground: Our students are not Chryslers, coming down the assembly line, they say. We cannot standardize instruction or promise uniform results—each precious child is an individual, a citizen in the making.  

That's a noble sentiment, but limiting and maybe even counterproductive. Schools can learn a lot by studying what businesses already know about organizational dynamics, being responsive to change, stretching resources and building capacity. In fact, if schools don’t creatively adapt to outside forces, they may find themselves victims of the market-driven, bottom-line world we’re sharing.

Here’s my list of things schools could learn from businesses:

• Choice is good. Parents would appreciate being able to select from an array of special curriculums or programs. More choices within districts would keep parents from looking outside the district. One size does not fit all. Offer quality differences in instruction, grouping, curricular emphasis, hours, etc.
• Develop a culture of excellence. Seek and nourish high-performing employees. If you have the right people, let them know how much they’re valued. If you have the wrong people, do whatever it takes to move them out, compassionately but quickly. And stop blaming someone else for lacking the will to clean house.
• Use technology to do actual work. Schools are still laboring under the impression that they’re responsible for technology training: teaching kids about specific programs or platforms that  will be obsolete next year. Instead, schools should use technology as a vehicle or resource. Teach kids to read and write, to evaluate and organize data and information, to create, communicate and dream. They’ll figure out how to use machines and programs in ways their teachers never dreamed of.
• Stimulate innovation. Make all employees “idea entrepreneurs.” Reward thinking outside the box. Stop thinking about management as control; start thinking about how to get the best from people.
• Beware dependence on the charismatic leader. Watch out for Lee Iacocca Syndrome. It’s dangerous for schools to believe their success rests on the leadership of a single person, no matter how compelling that person is. Real leaders are focused on sustainable effectiveness, nurturing the capacity of the organization, not standing in the spotlight. If progress is halted when the leader leaves, you’ve got the wrong person.
• Stop doing what doesn’t work. Invested a bundle in a professional development scheme that your teachers think is make-work? Cut your losses and move on.
• Find your niche. One of the few unique things about American education is its persistent faith in local control. Take advantage of that gifted drama teacher, or one-of-a-kind elementary Japanese program. Tailor your school to fit your community and your staff. (This was the principle behind charter school legislation; many charters, unfortunately, have not taken advantage of this invitation to be distinctive.)
• Use a combination of data and narrative to tell your story to your public. Businesses rely on data to establish superior performance. They also tell human stories to grab hearts as well as minds. While parents want data on graduation rates and math achievement, they also want to know that schools pay attention to individual needs. Tell them real stories about kids who were successful because someone cared and had the instructional skills to make a difference.
  
• Use competition honestly. The goal is not to be better than some other school. The goal is to produce the best possible services for your community. Aim to satisfy, not to win.
• Change is vital. Schools are among the most intransigent organizations on the globe. Unfortunately, many parents are also caught up in the nostalgic idea that schools should look and feel like the places they knew 30 years ago. While businesses accepted responsibility for teaching their customers about the desirability of anti-lock brakes and Blackberries, schools don’t always convincingly articulate the reasons and need for changes.

These ideas are core concepts in the literature on business leadership and systems thinking. The phrase “learning organization” crops up again and again. Shouldn’t schools be at the forefront of the movement to create learning organizations? It’s their primary business, after all.

Comments

[TeachMoore]

Nancy,
I was recently in a major discussion about this very issue. I made this point: We [educators] often make that claim that we should not be compared to businesses because we "don't make ___" (fill in the blank). Yet most of us are still stuck in schools/district modeled after the factories of the 19th century! Grade levels, class periods, bells, administration vs. faculty...all come from that model. Thank you for a refreshing take on this topic.

[Bob]

Your list reads like an informed, thoughtful person with a broad experience base wrote this in order to offer ways for teachers to consider adjusting our behavior and rhetoric. I think you articulated what most of us know, but have not assembled the words as concisely as your list. Thanks for your optimism, Leader.

[DrPezz]

I think the business analogy bothers teachers because it can connote the idea of students as merely numbers, not individual students with unique needs. It also seems to imply that the bottom line in education is funding when it's actually learning.

[Nancy Flanagan]

DrPrezz,
I know what you mean--and I do recognize and support teachers' very moral desire to understand and teach their students as human beings. If you regularly read my blog, you'd know that I think the prevalence of economists in education policy thinking lately, calculating how much it costs to achieve a certain test score, is anathema to genuine education.

Still--it bothers me when schools overlook or outright reject work done in organization theory or principles of running a successful business. Schools could learn a lot from Deming and "Good to Great." In the end, schools have to decide how to use the resources they have in the most productive ways.