‘It's so easy to string together a bunch of platitudes and
call them a mission statement. But what happens if you actually have a specific
mission, a culture in mind, a manifesto for your actions?’
Seth Godin
BP finds oil in two out of three of its drilling
explorations. That is three times higher than the industry standard. How do
they do this? They came up with the slogan, ‘no dry holes’. Because they
realised the waste of drilling in an adhoc way. This had been sustainable in
the days of ‘Spindletop oil’ in the early 1900s when huge oil fields were first
discovered in Texas, but this is not sustainable when wells were costing up to
40 million dollars to get working. The earlier theory had been, if we are
successful in one in ten then that is fine. But with rising costs, strategy
needed to be sharper.
So the mantra became ‘no dry holes’. What was the effect of
this? It meant that geologists had to make a compelling case before ordering up
a rig. Now the geologists at BP probably thought they were doing everything
they could already, so what it needed was a shift in thinking. A commitment to
doing fewer things in greater depth, literally. This is a tough discipline and
it can feel counterintuitive particularly before the results are seen. The
temptation is usually to do more of the same in the hope of different results.
How might ‘no dry holes’ translate elsewhere? What might a
school look like which adopted this simplified strategy? What would the
equivalent of ‘no dry holes’ look like in a school? Well, if we take the
example of BP again, the first insight is to ask ‘what is the big piece of work
which needs to be done here?’ What is the problem that needs to be addressed?
In the oil industry it had been accepted that many attempts at digging wells
were needed before reliable sources of oil were found. With rising costs, BP
realised that it needed a vision which said, things could be different. So,
what is the underlying ‘big, hairy goal’ in a school? In a primary school, it
might be, every child a reader. In a secondary, it might be all students at 16
reaching a positive value added score in their GCSEs. What we pay attention to
usually changes. Then, we
turn it into something which everyone can relate to. Everyone, from adults, to
children to school support staff, to the reception staff, canteen staff,
cleaners, site staff. Everyone.
In a school which had historically found that some parents
were reluctant to come in and meet teachers, the big goal might be translated
into ‘everyone welcome’. Now, if everyone really is welcome, what does that
mean? Are the receptionists welcoming towards everyone, even the awkward squad?
If they are, this doesn't happen by accident. They in turn have been made to
feel welcome by leaders of the school. They are appreciated for their work,
often difficult, unsung work. And leaders do this by noticing, talking about it
and thanking them for the great contribution they make to the school. Everyone
appreciates being told they are doing a good job. So it means, that if they
have been appreciated for what they have done in the past, they are likely to
be open to conversations about how to make things even better.
This moves the agenda away from, how can I get away with the
least possible, to how can I give my highest contribution? Because in this
thought experiment, the big mantra has been ‘everybody welcome’. It is a phrase
which everyone can use, can understand and where it is very clear whether it
has happened, or not. It also shifts the focus from helpless to hopeful.
When we have committed to a big mantra, over time, it
permeates our behaviour and our attitude to everything. However, it has to be
deeply and truly meant and embraced. It is no good paying lip service to it,
because lip service stays on the lips. It doesn't change anything. In the same
way that ‘no dry holes’ was a phrase to drive all thinking about finding oil,
so ‘everyone welcome’ would need to drive all thinking and behaviour within a
school. And this is not necessarily easy, because it is one thing to welcome
those we like, or those who are like us. But what about those who are not like
us and who we don't necessarily like?
That is where the depth comes from. If we are working to
these principles, then it has to go deep and embrace the tough stuff as well.
And that is when the transformation takes place. And then to the classroom.
What does it look like here, if we decide that ‘everyone is welcome’. It means
that the teacher and adults working with children, are genuinely pleased to see
the children. They talk about this and about how they are looking forward to
working with them today. The talk about how all their contributions are
welcome.
And they talk about what it means to be made to feel welcome.
What it means to make someone else feel welcome. What the difference is between
just saying the words and really meaning it. What happens when we are not made
to feel welcome? What sort of work are we prepared to do when we feel we are
not welcome? How does that compare with feeling welcome. What is the
difference? Is it worth it? And if it is, how might we do more of it?
These are big, demanding pieces of work. But what they also
have about them is simplicity. They are something which everyone can
understand. It is very easy to see whether they are being acted on or not, very
easy to check whether it is real. And above all, they have the power to make
all of us feel hopeful, not helpless.
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