Teaching Thoughts Week 22- The Momentum and Culture Edition

Teaching Thoughts Week 22 - The Momentum and Culture Edition

 

Momentum and culture are the secret ingredients to any successful organization or team. And they are the hardest things to build too. 

 

Too often in any business, team, school, or organization, these things are just given lip service at best. You know it's true. Stop me if you've seen (or been a part of any of these) -

 

* You've heard something like, "Talk about our core values." You don't talk about your core values. You LIVE your core values every second of the work day. If you don't do that, then you don't have core values regardless of how much you talk about them.

 

* Upper management has the obligatory post about momentum and culture on social media after they tell you "Talk about our core values."  This is especially true if you look at their social media account and see that they only have half a dozen posts total! Momentum and culture can't be administered top-down. When you have employees, players, students, stake holders posting things that show how they are living the core values . . . that is how you get real momentum and culture.

 

* Trainers have been brought in to spark the momentum and culture, but everyone sitting through the slideshow knows it really is just checking a box. If you really want to see momentum and culture, have your staff or students or players or employees do the training. As one of my colleagues in the Red River Valley Writing Project used to say - "Teachers learn best from other teachers."

 

* Upper management tries to swap out leadership in hopes of sparking change. We see this in professional sports often. Is there any reason why some of the worst teams constantly change coaches every two years? Momentum and culture takes time to build.

 

Why all of this talk of momentum and culture? Well, that because my favorite football team, the Cincinnati Bengals, just rode momentum and culture to the Super Bowl. Now, win or lose, this is remarkable for a team that only won four games last year and two the year before that.

 

What sparked the change? Three simple things. First, they hired the right leader, Zac Taylor. He came in with a vision to overhaul the culture. The previous coach, Marvin Lewis, put a premium on talent over character. It was one reason the Bengals were always at the top of the league in arrests and disciplinary issues. It was also why they would self-destruct in big games when the pressure was on. Second, Taylor focused on bringing in guys who were captains on their previous teams (his superstar quarterback, Joe Burrow, is a great example) and who have high motors and love to compete (offensive rookie of the year and Pro Bowler, Ja'Marr Chase, is a perfect example). Third, once Taylor had the right people on the bus and got them in the right seats on the bus, he let the chemistry of the right players in the right spots work its magic - and he has excellent team culture. This was evident when they beat the Las Vegas Raiders in the opening round (the Bengals first playoff win in 31 years). It was evident when they upset the #1 seeded Tennessee Titans on the road in the divisional round. It was again evident when they then went to Kansas City and upset the #2 seeded Chiefs, rallying from a 21-3 deficit (the largest in championship history). 

 

The point about momentum and culture is simple - if one of the worst franchises in all of sports can turn everything around, why can't your team, your organization, your classroom, your school, your business?

 

Inside the week's Teaching Thoughts -

 

The World is a Fine Place . . . Shout out to our local Ingram's Candy Store for finding a creative way to motivate kids to shovel out the fire hydrants in their neighborhoods. We need more thinking like this!

 

Book of the Week . . . Upstream by Dan Heath. Stop being reactive to problems when they occur. That is why seek to put the fire out after it's already raging? Why not be proactive and put the first out before it even has a chance to start by removing the conditions that make it likely that a fire will start in the first place? This is how you build momentum and culture.

 

Teaching Thoughts . . . Check out #19 - White sheets. Want to see what the culture is really like in your organization, school, or classroom? Read this one.

 

Thoughts from Twitter . . . I rarely put things I've retweeted or commented on in this section, but when I saw the award winning graphic novel, Maus, was being banned by a school board in Tennessee, well, I had to offer my thoughts.

 

Bonus Content . . . Check out the infographic on "Things Schools Could Be Instead of Schools." I'm not saying we have to totally alter what schools are. But what if we had a day once per semester where set school up as one of these options instead?

 

Have a great week. Keep empowering your students or workers or staff! They are the ones who really get the momentum and culture rolling. We are all role models for those around us. Think like that more often and see what kind of momentum and culture you wind up with.

 

 

The background for this week's newsletter - a painting of the Bengals' Joe Burrow with his Super Bowl 56 jersey on. Who dey!