3-2-1: On the magic of wanting less, changing inch by inch, and building a sense of hope
I.
“If you always want more, then you’ll find the most you can have will always be too little.”
II.
“Large, sweeping changes often sound good in theory, but the faster you try to change your life, the more likely you are to backslide. Real change is inch by inch. Go out and win the next five minutes.”
III.
“Whatever can be measured grabs our attention. How much money we make. How much weight we can lift. How many bedrooms are in the house.
And once we notice a number, it is natural to want to improve it. We find ourselves wondering how to make more money, lift more weight, add another bedroom. What is measurable becomes what is important. Not because it matters more, but because it is easier to see.
Sometimes a new perspective is helpful. Rather than asking, “How can I get more?” Try asking, “What is an inspiring way to live?”
The Unasked Question
heard a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff say something shocking.
“The question I wish people would have asked me is, ‘How do you feel?’”
On another occasion I heard a CIO ask his CEO, “How do you feel about that?”
The unasked question is, “How do you feel?”
Feelings
Don’t let feelings govern your life.
In the rush to deliver results and solve problems, feelings are left at the door.
I like to think, “Just do the work.” But feelings matter.
Maybe you need more conflicts in your team
What if a leadership team’s real problem isn’t conflict, but the absence of it? This question alone can begin to shift how team dynamics are interpreted. Most organizations seek to foster high-performing teams. Leaders envision seamless meetings with little visible tension and quick decisions reached with full consensus on all sides. However, successful teams that consistently deliver extraordinary results have the opposite experience: forgoing boardroom harmony to work productively in the face of tension.
A few years ago, I worked with an executive team of a large infrastructure organization. At first glance, the team appeared highly effective with respectful executives, structured and disciplined meetings, and discussions that remained consistently polite and constructive. There was little visible friction.
And yet, across the organization, execution problems continuously arose, with strategic initiatives stalling, priorities drifting between business units, and decisions taking longer than necessary.
Settling Scores: Experts Debate Why AP Performance Has Soared
A few years ago, education experts noticed that scores were climbing upwards on a number of Advanced Placement tests. The increases, measured on some of the program’s most popular assessments, were as significant as they were unexpected.
In AP Chemistry, the share of students scoring a 3, 4 or 5 (generally interpreted as a passing grade on the famously challenging exams, which are scored on a 1-5 scale) increased from 54% in 2022 to 75.1% in 2023. In AP United States Government and Politics, that proportion grew even more, from 49.2% to 73% from year to year. By one estimate, roughly 100,000 more students hit the passing threshold on AP U.S. History in 2024 than in 2023.
How Schools Are Navigating the English-Learner Teacher Shortage
Recruiting enough teachers certified to teach English-language development has historically been a challenge for schools across the country.
New national survey data from the EdWeek Research Center show this staffing challenge persists as the national English-learner population has grown to more than 10% of the public-school student enrollment.
In a March survey of 1,122 educators who work directly with English learners or oversee instruction for students including English learners, 55% said the number of staff in their district or school who have been appropriately trained to serve those students is insufficient.
How one superintendent learned to ‘pause, process and produce’
Dr. Atiya Perkins says her “Good Lesson” emerged out of her journey from “frosty to connected” during her first three years as superintendent of the district from which she graduated, Linden Public Schools in New Jersey.
Accountability transformed her communications philosophy when unfounded safety concerns and a swirl of misinformation at one of her schools caused anxiety among families. Despite a district statement meant to clarify the situation, the fears surfaced at a school board meeting, Perkins tells host Amy Dujon on the latest episode of District Administration’s “A Good Lesson” podcast.