Pushing the right buttons at the leadership table – SCN Encourager 8/5/2013

Does the “easy” button at Staples really work?

Staples is the #1 retailer of office and school supplies.

And in my opinion, they deserve the honor.

But I still have to ask? Does that “easy” button of theirs really work?

For the longest time I’ve been relying on a genie’s lamp I found along the Lake Michigan shoreline – and the results have been mixed.

So I’m now totally open to having a different “button to push” that is always within my reach. But first, I’d like some assurances.

Change never comes all that “easy” for me.

Besides, the whole “easy” approach runs counter to the real world of school communications that I know. And you probably have a similar perspective.

In our domain, a new project or initiative…
… may be needed, but it is never easy.
… may be logical, but it is never easy.
… may be affordable, but it is never easy.
… may be wanted by the board and parents alike, but it is never easy.

You know what I mean. Most of the things in our world typically turn out to be more complicated and “nuanced” than we ever thought possible during those pre-implementation discussions at the leadership table.

Thanks to an infinite stockpile of future “unintended consequences” (which are currently stored underground in Nevada and then inevitably direct shipped into our districts at night when we least expect it), I think the truism that most school communicators labor under is “nothing’s easy.”

So here’s the perfect button for us. Just us.

Hope you like it!

But I also suspect that despite its truth, you somehow work your magic everyday (sans a genie’s lamp) to still get the job done.

OK. Maybe there are better buttons out there that are actually more applicable to what we do; buttons that fall somewhere between the “easy” and “not easy” extremes.

So here’s the first school communicators button I will recommend.

And this is going to be the first button of five to come your way this week.

Button #1 surprisingly uses fewer letters than the Staple’s “easy” one.

When you press it, it serves up an important reminder for us.

It reminds us that when we are discussing a specific plan or issue at the leadership table, there are often options beyond the two “A” or “B” alternatives most typically in front of us.

With just one speedy-kwik tap of this “C-Z” button – and creatively considering the range of other possibilities it ignites – we can avoid getting trapped into the limiting “this” or “that” corner.

You now have some questions. Fair enough.

Will this “C-Z Button” really work? Does it possess a hidden power that will push us past our common “A” or “B” only thinking?

Well, I can promise you this much. It will work as well as my genie’s lamp or the Staples’ button.

What were you expecting? An app for that?

Tom Page, SCN