Morning Motivator – The Education “System” (Revisited)

"The school system cannot bear all the blame.  At some point, the parents must accept responsibility."
- Anonymous Morning Motivator respondent

In keeping with the "fixing the schools" theme, today we will EXAMINE the parents of our failing children.  Yes, that is right, no one is safe…

School systems are BROKE (and broken).  They lack the resources to provide our children with books, supplies and more.  This is why poor children often UNDERPERFORM in comparison to more affluent children, right?  We have multiple examples of how Paxton from the West side of town grows up to be a powerful attorney and DeMarcus from the East side grows up to be a drug dealer.  HORSE CR@P!!  (and yes, I did note the underlying race issue that we all are afraid to touch).

Many SUCCESSFUL, POWERFUL individuals have come from meager upbringings.  Many upper middle-class white children have grown up to be drug addicts… MANY.  Of, what can the UNDERLYING causation of these varying success be a result?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT.  Yes, how INVOLVED a parent is in the success of their child is DIRECTLY correlated to the ACHIEVEMENTS of the child.

When Paxton's parents send him to private school, give him a BMW and provide him all the fancy toys his heart desires as a DIVERSION for the shortfall of time and attention they provide him in his success development, how can one be SURPRISED he turns to drugs and alcohol at his PRIVATE school?

When DeMarcus' parents stay on his tail everyday to study, stay out of trouble and be THANKFUL for what luxuries they do have, is it a surprise he excels in a BAD school with lacking resources?

When PARENTS pass of their responsibility to a teacher for the 6-7 hours that they have the child, ABDICATING all responsibility for the other 17-18 hours of the day, you can be ASSURED the child WILL find the attention they desire – good or bad.

Save a kid… Hold a parent ACCOUNTABLE to their child's grades and behavior in the school… then again, outside of it!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – The Education “System”

"I think if there is one thing I have learned… it's that cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building are way overrated."
- Michelle Rhee, former superintendent of Washington DC Public Schools

Let us all admit it – we talk about "fixing schools" ad nauseum.  The blame game rains down with finger pointing from parents, teachers, government, and more.  Rarely do the kids ever speak up.

What is the PURPOSE of education?  Enrichment.  No.  Building creativity.  No.  Sending EVERY kid to college.  Jeez, No.  Creating a baseline education for work ready society and allowing others with increased ambition for additional learning the ability to move into a college setting.  Why HELL yes!

Our job is to PREPARE children for work capable productivity within our society.  Some will move onto careers immediately after high school, some will go onto college.  Regardless, they will become members of society, expected to pay taxes, hold jobs, producing towards the collective betterment within a community.  So, what should they learn?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The reality is that our school system is NOT designed for baseline preparation of modern work force.  Instead, we have the illustrious FANTASY that every child should go to college.  We think every kid, Timmy and Tonya, should become doctors or lawyers. 

If we want all of our kids to go to medical school, why do we teach them History?  Why not force kids to learn Latin as opposed to other foreign languages?  Skip Drama ENTIRELY and take Physics.  Remove Art and force Calculus on every student.  We know math and science equal success, right?

Why not do that?  Because we KNOW that every child will not go to college, nor they be guaranteed success even if they do (as many go then come out overeducated and under-motivated).  We know that STUDENT success is as much about the child's desire to learn as it is about a school systems finances.

You disagree with this perspective?  Of course you do.  There are also teachers to consider and parents, and more.  Yet, I will save my thoughts on teachers until Monday…

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Eating an Elephant

"I wish we could just do it all right now.  There are so many things that need to be done."
- Anonymous

A GREAT mentor of mine, Justin Morrison, frequently told me a little saying he liked, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bit at a time."  While I was mildly annoyed in hearing it repeatedly, I realize, now, that he was right (and continued telling me because I was not acting as though I heard).

Big projects usually end up with MULTIPLE errors, mostly because people fail to FOCUS on the small pieces that construct the whole.  An orthopedic surgeon does not skip to screwing in a plate before they cut through the skin.  Why would you assume what a client wants before you sit and speak with them?

Every project has PHASES.  You just have to break examine, analyze and break it down, accordingly, into the bite-size pieces that are easily manageable and measureable for success.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
"How DO you eat an elephant?"  Think about that while you are tackling your next BIG project or task.

By spending, the time up front to do a pre-game strategy, even if just a 5-minute strategy, will help you analyze the varying pieces of the puzzle.  Additionally, you may find that the pieces, when separated, are more suited for persons of varying skill sets.  You can then DELEGATE (yippee!) the tasks to people with a GREATER skill set for the task and decrease your time to completion.

In the event you do not see the varying stages of a task or project, confer with someone outside of the project.  Do not BOG them down with technical details, but allow them insight into the big picture goals and ask them for their inputs into what they see as a prioritization of "mini-tasks" within.

It is very difficult to effectively bake 100 cookies at a time, but it is easy to bake 10 cookies, 10 times very well.  Now go eat that elephant… and some cookies!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – The Sports Decline

"By the way, does anyone else see irony in Pryor selling a "sportsmanship" award?"
- Aaron Green of bleacherreport.com

Call me a "hater" if you must.  Call me a purist if you will.  Just do not call me wrong if you happen to be an Auburn Tiger fan.

There is an ALARMING trend in sports in recent years.  Most easily found and defined by a rash of BLATANT player violations throughout college sports.  Cheating, tampering, and violence are just a taste.

What is wrong with COLLEGE sports?  Frankly, it is what is wrong with college athletes (and professionals, i.e. steroids).  Their inherent lack of discipline, values and leadership is overwhelmingly underwhelming.  The obvious cheating of Cam Newton (Auburn), Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State) and the promotion of cheating by Pete Carroll (formerly of USC).

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The CHALLENGE facing sports is in the demise of the BEAUTY of the game itself.  Its RULES are becoming meaningless.

What makes sport so wonderful?  It is the defined structure and immediacy of rule regulation. There are rules and consequences for actions that are viewed, measured, tried and implemented IMMEDIATELY.  No trial, no discussion, just swift and accurate justice!

What happens when the RULES are obviously changed for certain players?  The rules become a farce.  If AMATEUR athletes cannot take money, items of value or use their persona for personal gain, which if done makes them professional, no longer eligible for college play, then HOW do these kids keep playing?  Even WORSE, how do we allow these kids to then play for MEANINGFUL championship games?

To everyone that does not see this coming, look at boxing - once the pride of major sporting.  Why does it suck so badly now?  It is fixed and has been for years.  It is rigged, every time and everyone knows it.  What do you think people FEEL now that Cam Newton just won a National Championship?

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – All In or All Out

"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans."
- Peter F. Drucker

What makes for a SOLID commitment?  Is a commitment a FORMAL agreement with negotiated terms?  Is it an EMOTIONAL agreement?  How does one create and maintain COMMITMENT?

Understand that commitment is the INTERNAL agreement to uphold an external arrangement made between two parties (including your "old self" and "new self").  Typically, this is the result of a VALUE analysis – the determination that THIS particular thing is better than other options for your long-term well-being.

If the above is TRUE, then why do people fail in their commitments? 

Commonly, commitments are made without TRUE understanding of what is expected.  On the surface, something sounds exceptional, until you are involved deeply and become distracted.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The reality of COMMITMENTS is that the two parties involved KNOW their level of commitment from the beginning.  You are either ALL IN or ALL OUT.

Failure to uphold a commitment is not unforeseen.  On the contrary, it should be expected if the party breaking said commitment has not fully engaged themselves into the sacrifices required to achieve their goal.  Maybe they never CLEARLY knew what the goal was to start…

Commitment is SACRIFICE and FOCUS.  It is a WHOLLY DEDICATED process of continually focusing on the value of said arrangement, while MAINTAINING focus on the activities required to achieve. 

Are you ALL IN or ALL OUT?   You know, you know before you even start!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.