“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.” Jim Collins, From Good to Great
Some of the conversations that I have had this year have centered around the idea of going from a good school or organization, to a great one. Yet I have this nagging feeling that in a year’s time, we will be having the same conversation. This is not because we haven’t progressed and come closer to our goals, but I am not sure that “great” organizations ever settle. It seems that if you want to stay “great”, you need to continuously push yourself and realize that if you are not working to improve, your organization will become stagnant.
Maybe I am off and this is just something that we as educators do? I wonder if Apple or Google ever think that they are at the top of their game? The idea of “great” seems to be finite, yet the best organizations continue to be innovative. The hunger and want to do better clearly shows that the “great” organizations are never satisfied with their own work.
Thoughts? I would love to hear your ideas on this.
