Sports Illustrated saw it coming. In June 2014, the weekly magazine ran a cover predicting that the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. That 2014 squad showed remarkable improvement, despite finishing 70-92, in that the team did not finish in last after having done so for each of the previous three seasons, and had gone 51-111 the previous season, the third consecutive season in which they had lost 100 games.
For those who are not baseball fans, I can translate: the Houston Astros were outrageously bad. But, those Astros had a plan. General Manager Jeff Luhnow recruited and drafted young talent and built a farm system that focused on a long range roadmap for success. He cycled through a handful of managers before landing on A.J. Hinch, and conveyed his vision with urgency and patience. The ultimate victory in 2017 testified to a process that had begun six years earlier.
While most comparisons of leading a sports team to leading a school are annoyingly flawed (“We’re going to invest four years and big money in this free agent English teacher” is as ludicrous as “Our high-priced PE teacher is going to get traded to a district across the state in exchange for some elementary school prospects”), but there is some inspiration to be derived from this plucky team that made its GM and a sports magazine look brilliant and prescient at once. To wit, I’d like to highlight some of the most useful points for school administrators:
The results were not immediately good, but were cultivated in a culture of growth.
Astros: Last place finishes for three consecutive years, followed by 92-loss season typically don’t inspire optimism, but young, talented players were learning on the job without getting discouraged. What followed were three consecutive seasons of winning baseball, capped by the championship.
Schools: Significant school improvement rarely happens in one year. Celebrate incremental gains and focus on how to build on your success. Examine data with teachers for their previous students and the cohort they have so that you can determine what worked in last year’s planning and assessment, as well as the needs for this current group. The numbers rarely lie, and need to be kept on an upward trajectory..
Case in point, as a high school English teacher I loved teaching prose and wasn’t so keen on poetry. An examination from my students’ testing data revealed that they had done very well on prose, but their results on poetry were consistent with my having spent about 12% of our classroom time on poetry. That data impacted my instructional decisions moving forward. According to the growth mindset, students are not inherently good at certain topics, but do benefit from focused instruction and a relentless emphasis on working towards ambitious goals.
They responded to personnel needs and made some mistakes, enjoyed some luck, and did not deviate from what they believed was best.
Astros: The team addressed a deficient bullpen by trading for established closer Ken Giles prior to 2016; he was very good until he wasn’t (he looked gassed in the World Series). The front office shored up the starting rotation with a workhorse ace, Justin Verlander, whom the Astros acquired seconds before the trading deadline in August 2017. Both pitchers were established talents who were recruited based on a defined need.
The Astros also had remarkable good luck in selecting star pitcher Dallas Keuchel in the 7th round of the 2009 draft, which means that every team (including the Astros themselves) had passed on an all-star talent. There were also some missteps, such as drafting Brady Aiken with the first overall pick of the 2014 draft and then not signing him, as well as giving up J.D Martinez, a 2015 all-star, for nothing in 2014.
Schools: You may have heard the mantra that you should “hire attitude and then train skill.” I’ve seen this quotation attributed to a German car manufacturer in Susan Scott’s Fierce Conversations as well as to a health care provider in a Harvard Business Review article from 2011, as well as several points in between. What is the culture you hope to develop and grow? What are the attitudes you need in the people who are responsible for your success? Know that you will never be perfect in your hiring, but do have the courage to cut bait on your mistakes. You might have a great teacher who does not fit your district. So what do you do? You might have an emerging talent who needs more support. What then? Do you have the courage to confront, or invest in someone?
Unconventional Thinking
Astros: The Astros potent lineup boasts a power hitter, George Springer, as the leadoff batter, which runs counter to conventional wisdom. He does not fit the mold of the spray hitting speedster, and could well inspire a new paradigm. On an entirely different note, in the playoffs the team struggled to find an effective fourth starter and then found great success employing a tandem of starters, Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers, the latter of whom baffled traditionalists and batters with his preponderance of curveballs.
Schools: We tend to fall into the sheeple effect, which involves following what everyone else is doing or has done. If you believe that going counter to established practice will benefit your school, and you can support that thinking, why not give it a try? And not the “This didn’t work in the first 15 minutes so it’s doomed to fail” try. How did Sue Szachowicz effect remarkable change at Brockton High? By following what her predecessor had done, or what people deemed her staff and students capable of achieving? Nope. She determined that the best way to implement meaningful change was through indefatigable attention to literacy (I agree!) and pushed that vision to reality.
Leadership from Within
Astros: The team has some veteran leaders, but seemed to derive most of its inspiration from Jose Altuve, 27 years-old and generously listed at 5’6”, the very young and talented Carlos Correa, who is 23 years-old, and Springer, also 27 and a young man who has overcome stuttering to become a vocal leader.
Schools: How you blend established teachers with those new to either your building or the profession will go a long way towards determining your students’ success. Are the new teachers encouraged to speak? Are they able to share ideas through shared planning or internal PD with their colleagues? The faces of your grade or department teams need to be the people who model relentless attention to improvement and growth. These leaders need to be champions for the cause of learning, but also need your audience to be able to air disagreement or share concerns so that voices are heard and action can be taken. Encourage your staff to demand excellence of you, your students, and one another, and the word will get out.
Connection to Their Community.
Astros: Houston was pummeled by hurricanes and the Astros demonstrated that they saw their city as their home. The love affair between city and team was evident in the packed house at Minute Maid Park for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series, which is only unusual because the games were played in California. The culture of togetherness in the greater Houston community is best embodied in the video clip of fans in a parking garage during the parade supporting another fan whose hat had fallen. Watch the clip of spontaneous awesomeness as people worked together to throw the hat back up to her, no small feat, but one undertaken with great enthusiasm and unity.
Schools: I had a superintendent state that adversity doesn’t reveal character, it exposes it. He was right. The Astros recognized their place in the community, and served both as a rallying point and as a source of comfort. Schools need to embrace a similar role. People tend to look to their institutions to function as the bedrock, the unwavering embodiment of strength. Tragedy need not be the catalyst; rather, you can make your school the centerpiece of your community with programs that support students and families. Beyond that, think about the best colleagues, those who share resources and accept your input as well. School can reach out to support community groups such as senior citizens or the economically disadvantaged, and can also invite the community in through corporate programs or multicultural voices. The more thoroughly enmeshed your schools are in the community, the deeper the connections.
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