Stop Sending Memos
It was Sunday afternoon and my fingers were full of inspiration as I dashed off a few paragraphs making a connection between the magic of teaching and the work of real-life magicians. I was an eager young principal with few life responsibilities outside of school. That Monday, I casually asked one of the teachers if she read the article in the memo. I felt my soul leave my body when she answered, “that long memo? I don’t have time to read all of that.”
More than a decade later, I’m grateful for her truth and couldn’t agree more. Just as a hard copy newspaper - a printed version of yesterday’s news - feels like a relic from the past, I hope the same becomes true for the memos principals are drafting on Sunday night. What teacher walks in the building Monday morning thinking, “What’s going on this week?” With the complex curricula in place, frequent testing, and regular meetings on data and student interventions, conscientious teachers need to look much further ahead to be ready. And it’s the job of the leadership team to set the conditions for teachers to be ready for all of the demands of their role.
I’ll also offer that memos - which, for the record, are critical - are the tip of the iceberg of organizational communication. The memo is an artifact of long-term planning and strategic thinking. It is a representation or reminder of what everyone should know already. It is incumbent on the principal and leadership team to be looking to the month, quarter, and year ahead and effectively communicating weekly priorities in a manner that sets teachers up for success in doing what is asked of them. I don’t know anything about captaining large boats, but from what I understand, a captain must be looking far into the distance, because these behemoths can’t turn on a dime. If one of those captains were to run aground, I can’t imagine they would say, “those sailors weren’t working hard enough to turn the ship. If they just tried harder and had better relationships, we could have avoided the sandbar.”
So, I’ll leave you with this question - what was the memo or email that made you a better teacher or leader? As you think about it, I’ll offer that you might want to put your computer away and spend your time in a way that better serves your bravest aspirations for your students.