keep it simple.

While I am not the best golfer in the world, I certainly enjoy playing.  I enjoy it enough to have recently joined a club and thus, I am trying to play a lot more as I must get my money's worth, right?

Recently, my poor playing called for a lesson from our golf pro, Andy.  I fretted about the lesson; 

What if Andy laughed at my swing?  

What if he questioned my membership?  

And what if he told me my entire swing needed to be reworked?  

...while golf is just a fun hobby for me, I am competitive and therefore, wanted to get better but not at the cost of being completely vulnerable to failure.  

I finally met with Andy last week and much to my surprise, he was complimentary of my swing and even said I had the potential to be really good.  

According to Andy, it was really simple;

• Keep the clubface directly behind the ball when addressing,
• Keep my shoulders straight, and 
• Swing like an athlete!

"That's it?"  I asked.  

"Yep, keep it simple,"  Andy replied.   

Here I was, worried about my lesson due to all of the things I'd have to fix with my swing.  How would I remember everything he was going to tell me to do?  Would I need a notebook to document my areas of growth?  My fun hobby was now going to become real work and possible embarrassment for me. 

 

Keep it simple.  

-To make something easy to understand or do

-To not do something in a complex or fancy way

All of this got me thinking about my work in education.  So much of what we do can be super complicated, but does it have to be?   I believe that in my work as Chief Academic Officer, I must help our administrators, teachers, and staff by communicating and sharing best practices in the most simplified way...reduce the complicated and keep it simple.   One's ability to simplify a task or expectation doesn't make him less intelligent; it makes him a genius!  

"If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself."  

- Albert Einstein

We don't need to over-complicate things in education. Our success isn't defined by talking over people's heads with the overuse of complex terms.  Be real and enjoy the process of sharing, teaching and learning from others.  Ultimately, we must be able to build capacity through a collaborative team environment where everyone clearly understands the vision of our work.  

Keep it simple.