Fighting the system

Colleagues,

MVP: The feeling of “fighting the system” is the result of misalignment within the organization.
 
Yesterday I wrote about feeling like I was swimming against the current as a middle school teacher.
 
My team and I were trying to do things that the school wasn’t really set up to do, which made our audacious plans much more difficult to carry out.

Throughout my career, there have been many times I experienced this feeling of swimming upstream, and I have heard countless colleagues and friends describe the same feeling.
 
What’s happening?
 
Essentially, it’s all about alignment.
 
When you are trying to do your job, and it feels like you are “fighting the system”, that’s a sign that you and your organization are out of alignment.
 
There are four elements in every organization which need to be in alignment”

• People
• Purpose
• Structures
• Resources

 
Mis-alignment creates friction, and that friction creates the feeling of swimming upstream.
 
If you are intrigued by today’s message, you should listen to this morning’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast in which I dive more deeply into the issue of alignment.
 
Today’s intention: Think about these four elements and where friction might be occurring.

Cheers!

Frederick