Developing the ‘Why’
We’ve read countless articles, clung to the words of speakers recounting their journeys of school transformation, all compelling us to find the holy grail of a culture of innovation. The culture serves as the heartbeat of an organization. It’s the steady pulse of “why” that transforms our needs from must-do action items into rallying cries of purpose-filled impact that will improve the lives of our children.
Sounds like an insurmountable challenge, right? Actually, the key to culture is unifying the work through common vision.
So How Do We Get There?
As we began our vision quest in my district, Stephenville, we knew that we wanted the input and buy-in of the community, families, and faculty that we serve. While there is commonality of interest among these parties, we recognized that each had unique perspectives, and we wanted to limit influence from others; therefore, we met with these stakeholders as organizational entities.
In each session, we asked the same questions and took scrupulous notes to be sure to capture the intent and beliefs of all involved.
- What do we do? List out the goals.
- How do we do it? List the options and choices available.
- Who is this for? These answers often start as broad-brushed demographic categories, but please don’t stop there. To be truly effective with this question, ask each person to think of a specific child who will benefit. Give time to allow individuals to reflect on that child’s needs around this goal. What is she challenged with? What is he not getting [content, access, support, opportunity, voice, etc.]?
- Why is this important? Take that specific child and process through the benefits and impact that will come.
It’s interesting to note that, with one small exception, the responses that came from these meetings were very similar and allowed us to establish six core values centering on this underlying principle: Developing the potential of every student, every day.
This vision sets the tone for every lesson, business decision, resource, device (you get the idea) considered in our district. The litmus test is simple: is it what is best for kids?
Visions are not reserved for superintendents, school boards, or principals. Empower every member of the organization to see the power of her impact by defining her why and you will most certainly achieve that culture of innovation and true transformational learning for everyone.
- Beyond book displays: How to build lasting support for your school library - September 22, 2026
- The oral exam is back, and AI may be the reason - September 18, 2026
- Let’s work to keep our students while we still have them - September 17, 2026