"Culture Beats Strategy"

I subscribed to Seth Godin's short blog posts recently because my boss shared Godin's writing with me. He's worth listening to on the Tim Ferris Show, too.

Two days ago, he shared a post that ended with this:

Culture beats strategy. So much that culture is strategy.

When I think about our work with students, culture really is the most important work that we can do.

Is there a culture of trust and collaboration in our classrooms and with our colleagues? Or is the culture that we have created one of competition and negativity?

We can't begin to take risks with our students and co-workers if we don't trust each other. And it's in that space of trust where we can really be willing to try something new.

I'm also thinking a lot about the days where I seemed to focus more on the "strategy" of teaching rather than tapping into the culture in my classroom. Even when I think the culture is established to the point where we don't need to spend any more time developing it, I am reminded that it is through the culture that I can accomplish great work with kids. But my classroom will never have a strong culture if I don't take the necessary steps to develop a cohesive and supportive one.

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