Stop thinking about what you should be doing, and start worrying about what you shouldn’t be doing.

The stress of the school year ending is now starting to morph into the stress of creating a successful school start in the coming year. There is no shortage of advice out there to address this. Articles, blog posts, and forums are riddled with the “Top 10 Things You Should Do to Get Ready for the Next School Year.” These articles focus on positive efforts or activities that purport to be “the best practices” you should follow.

But, do these so-called “positive” activities actually address the things that make your organization function more efficiently and/or more effectively? Do they tackle the root of problems that may be negatively impacting your ability to create access to education for kids in a way that is fiscally sound and financially viable?

My guess is no.

In an industry lacking both enough time and enough people to tackle all of the inevitable issues ahead, our focus should be on removing as many negatives as possible rather than implementing more “positives”.

Research has shown that removal of a negative is actually more beneficial than the enhancement of a positive. This focus on the negatives may feel pessimistic at first, but the reality is that tackling issues head on and addressing what isn’t working rather than adding more things that may work will show more immediate results.

When working to remove negatives, we need to first identify where our problems actually lie. Identifying these issues also means being able to distinguish annoyances from larger problems and prioritizing them as such.

After identifying areas for improvement, we can begin to work on creating feasible solutions to address the issues at hand. In some cases, such as in the case of the bus driver shortage, this may mean mitigating issues rather than remediating the issue altogether.

Once issues have been identified, placed in a priority list, and potential solutions have been suggested, we must assess those solutions against 3 criteria: capacity, capability, and cash.

• Capacity: How much effort will be required to tackle this issue? Does my team have the focused time available to finish this in the time frame?
• Capability: Does my team have the knowledge and expertise to address this problem? If not, can that help be acquired?
• Cash: Do we have the budget to tackle this issue? If not, can we shift resources to address this and create sustainable practices?

After identifying, prioritizing, and assessing the issues against the 3C criteria, you need to develop a way to figure out if your solution is actually working. Sounds simple, but it isn’t. A place to start would be:

• Ask yourself and your team what it would look like for the negative in your organization to be mitigated. How would you know? What would the key-indicator be?
• Create check-ins with your staff that focus on your progress and identify whether or not your proposed solution is addressing the issue. If it isn’t, how will you rethink your solution and react?

Attacking negatives is the most positive thing you can do for your organization. When you stop doing the things that aren’t helping you it becomes much easier to create sustainable, relevant, and long-lasting changes that will benefit your team and organization for the upcoming year and beyond.

Things to make you smarter:

The Power of Avoiding Bad: Why Removing Negativity Should Be Your Priority

Eliminating the Negative is More Important Than Accentuating the Positive