Group Dynamic

Recently, I planned an event that took place at a hotel, and I needed to check in eight rooms at once.  The front desk was busy, and so I understood that I needed to wait my turn.  No problem.  However, the two employees were not moving very quickly.  It was as though they felt no sense of urgency at all, with a full lobby.  It’s not that they were thorough, they were… slow. And kind of cold. This made me a touch impatient. Then, the manager (well-dressed, cheerful, smiling) arrived on the scene, and I was momentarily relieved.

Momentarily.

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I’ve been reading about the Adaptation Principle. This can take on many forms depending on the venue (it’s very popular in exercise physiology), but in organizations it goes something like this:

When we get used to things, we don’t notice them as much. We also don’t think about their meaning.

Examples: Read the rest of this entry »

or

How is being an effective band director like running a good business?

or

What if the best practices in band program administration collide with the best practices in managing and developing employees?

It is striking how the franchise prototype model outlined in “The E-Myth” coincides with an effective, student-leader-empowered, music program:

• Must provide consistent value to customers (students), employees (staff and student leaders), suppliers (parents), and lenders (school district curriculum and administration).
• Results must be attainable by people with the skill level they already have.
• Must stand out as a place of impeccable order and structure.
• All work must be defined in operations manuals. (Clear standards of “how we do things around here”)
• Events must unfold in a predictable, orderly, way.
• Must utilize a uniform color, dress, and facilities code.

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Alans recommended books – Leadership Is an Art.

Thanks for the reminder, Dane.

today’s blog, take one:

Yesterday, while reading a very insightful blog post, two things were striking:

1) The post had very valuable ideas for all of us who teach and lead.

2) The writer of the blog consistently used his own successes to make his points, and used the words “me”, “myself”, and “I” quite liberally.

Using those words – AND using himself as the best example of the practices he was promoting – was quite distracting from the content.  He damaged his credibility with all the self-reference and bragging.

———– Read the rest of this entry »