Systems and Results

The Tarheels lost to the Blue Devils Wednesday night. Invested as I am in UNC as both a tuition-paying parent and basketballl fan, it was a disappointment. Cold comfort came the next day in an interview with Coach K. What he said was a reminder for all of us. To paraphrase, success is not as much an outcome of individual effort as of a system of support.

In the case of a winning college basketball program, the system includes administrative and alumni support, effectively recruiting high school talent, the competence of assistant coaches, the physical conditioning and health of the players, the players' continuing academic eligibility, and last but not least, the loyal support of fans. K didn't mention the Cameron Crazies by name but word is more than a few opponents have been distracted by the freak show.

In any event, the interview got me thinking about TLA. Last week, I wrote on the winter meeting of the Board of Advisors. By all reports, it was a success both as a business meeting and learning event. Attendees enjoyed presentations by principals--Erica Boone of Durham, Eileen Tully of Chapel Hill-Carrboro, and Parry Graham of Wake--each of whom affirmed TLA's contribution to making learning and teaching better in his or her school.

As gratifying as the meeting was, it left me wanting more conversation. Why? I think it had to do with the need to improve our system of support. You, dear reader, now find yourself on one side of that continuing conversation. Here is what I am thinking:

Whether a new principal induction program, a school leader network, or a customized training for a school staff, TLA strives to work "with and through senior leaders" in districts to accomplish the leadership-development work of the district. The TLA system of support and its ultimate success is made stronger when it is "at the table" when district leadership problems are surfaced. Does that mean the executive director should regularly attend meetings of district leaders? Maybe. Maybe not.

What I do know is that improvement begins with a learning conversation, coming clean about performance gaps. creating a shared vision for ideal performance, causally analyzing why gaps exist, setting goals, identifying interventions to attain goals, managing individual and organizational change, and using data to measure intervention impact. No one-man show that.

When TLA is conflated with sole-source leadership development, resulting behavioral and organizational change can no more be attributed to TLA intervention than Duke's winning last Wednesday night's game can be attributed to the team's performance that one night.

Talent alone is necessary but insufficient. The question is: what more is behind the win? Research and Coach K says that behind every successful program, there is a system of support. How do we improve our system for the results we want?