For School Executives, “How” is a Four Letter Word

If you’ve tried any number of hints, tips and techniques to manage your workload more efficiently, but none have helped you get and maintain control of your time, the problem isn’t that you’ve yet to find the right solution. The problem is you’re asking the wrong question.

By Dr. Andy Johnsen, Superintendent, San Marcos Unified School District, San Marcos, CA, and Jill Pancoast, President, The Breakthrough Coach

“How am I going to get it all done?”

Jeff sat behind his desk with his head in his hands, looking at the mountains of work in front of him. He was a second-year principal and his office looked like every other principal’s office I had ever seen – stacks of paper all over the desk; sticky notes around the computer monitor; CALL ME BACK slips taped to the telephone. His eyes darted across the endless piles of “to-do’s.” He was visibly stressed and confused.

“Where do I start?” he asked.

I felt for Jeff. I have spent my career working with school leaders just like him – competent, capable educators who spend countless days and nights fighting to keep up with the daily deluge of paperwork, rather than being in classrooms doing the critical work of improving teaching and learning.

If Jeff’s situation sounds familiar, you may also have tried any number of hints, tips and techniques to manage your workload more efficiently, but none have helped you get and maintain control of your time. The problem isn’t that you have yet to find the right solution. The problem is you’re asking the wrong question.

Two Different Questions

It’s a school leader’s job to keep two key questions in the foreground at all times:

  1. What results are we trying to achieve?
  2. How are we going to achieve them?

These two questions may relate to large strategic concerns like annual test score targets, or to specific tactical moves like scheduling a meeting with a parent.

The most successful, results-oriented, school leaders spend the bulk of their time answering what questions: “What outcomes do I want to achieve?” Those who struggle waste countless additional hours trying to also figure out how: “How am I going to achieve them?”

The job of a school executive is to clearly articulate the answers to big WHAT questions. Answers like:

  • “We will increase 3rd grade math proficiency scores by 20 points this year.”
  • “We will cut 7th grade discipline referrals in half by mid-winter break.”
  • “By the end of September, we will develop a rainy day schedule that allows students to eat and return to class without extending the lunch period.”

The job of staff is to then figure out HOW to deliver on the school executive’s WHAT. This is the primary distinction between executives and staff – executives say WHAT; staff figures out HOW. School leaders who continually attempt to resolve both questions themselves end up overwhelmed and burnt-out.

The What-How Dance

This relationship particularly applies to school secretaries and their principals. A keen observer can watch the what-how dynamic play out between the two in either healthy or unhealthy ways. For example – yearly teacher evaluations. For principal-secretary teams who have the what-how dance down pat, this process flows smoothly. For principals who insist on answering both WHAT and HOW questions themselves, this process is a source of endless headaches.

In a well-choreographed what-how dance, the principal makes the first move by clearly articulating to the secretary WHAT needs to be accomplished: “I need to have all of my evaluations done and submitted by April 30, 2025.”

Next, the school executive’s job is to flesh out the WHAT with details:

  • A 30-minute goal conversation with each teacher by December 1, 2024
  • Three 45-minute observations for each teacher by the end of each semester
  • A pre- and post-conference with each teacher on the day of their observation
  • Thirty minutes scheduled for me to write up each observation feedback
  • Forty-five minutes to write each final evaluation
  • A 30-minute final evaluation conference with each teacher

Once the principal declares WHAT needs to happen, the secretary then takes the lead in determining HOW it will happen. It’s the secretary’s job to open the school leader’s calendar and map out the teacher evaluation process through to completion. The secretary takes the long view, scheduling observations on Coaching Days and desk work on Office Days. The secretary notifies teachers of their appointments and prepares the paperwork for each meeting.

Most importantly, the secretary keeps the principal on track by reminding him or her of the stated goal – evaluations done by April 30, 2025 – and nudges their executive in the right direction. When the secretary says it’s time for the goals meeting with “Teacher Smith,” the principal takes a seat at their conference table and welcomes “Teacher Smith” into the meeting. When the secretary directs the principal to a classroom to conduct an observation, the principal heads down the hallway. When the principal sees “Observation Write-Up Time” on his or her calendar, the principal closes their office door and starts writing.

But What If I’m Not in the Mood?

It doesn’t matter. An effective school executive understands that once the destination has been identified, the secretary is then responsible for delineating and reinforcing the roadmap for getting there.

School leaders often find that letting go of the HOW feels counterintuitive and disconcerting. They’ve spent so many years asking themselves HOW questions that this default way of problem solving courses relentlessly through their veins. When they encounter a challenge, they instinctively ask themselves “How am I going to…?” Then they spend hours, days, and sometimes weeks fixated on generating answers, and the work piles up.

A Way Up the Rabbit Hole

Start to notice the number of times per day your sentences begin with HOW, (both out loud and in your head), and immediately stop talking. Stop the mind-chattering and instead:

  1. Jot down the overarching purpose of your work. What are you trying to accomplish this year?
  2. Identify who on your team is best suited to support your efforts; go talk to them.
  3. Lay out your WHAT and humbly ask them for the HOW. Allow yourself to be amazed and grateful when they fire off multiple how’s – how’s you would have never imagined no matter how much time you spent cogitating.
  4. Empower your people to run with their solutions and get out of the way.

The more you practice the what-how dance, the more adept and graceful you get at it. This translates into working less, producing more, and still getting the job done in a sensible school week for you and your school community.