CULTURE

“Culture” is a popular word nowadays. Many books have been written on this topic. Many speakers earn big chunks of money by talking about it. But what is it?

For this blog, I’m going to use the following dictionary definition to describe the “culture” I choose to write about.
- the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization (example - A corporate culture focused on the bottom line)

As a school leader, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about our school district’s culture. I also study other organizations, units, companies, and teams that I admire and respect and try to find common themes that they stress as it relates to their “culture.”

Below are some of my random thoughts on “culture.” Again, these are stolen bits and pieces I’ve picked up from dozens of books, articles, conversations, and presentations over the past 20-years.

• Culture is comprised of the values/beliefs of a team, organization, or group
• Culture is what allows an organization to have sustained success
• Culture can be described as “the way we do things around here”
• Culture is your team’s ‘personality’

“Climate” often gets confused with “culture.” However, there are major differences. Climate changes from day to day. Climate is based on perceptions. Climate is short-term. Culture is long-term.

We’ve tried to help instill the “find a way” mentality into our culture at York Public Schools. We want our culture to be results-driven and performance-focused. We try to stress collaboration and a team-like approach. We pride ourselves on innovation and taking risks.

We try to emphasize “servant leadership” where all of us, regardless of our job title or job description, simply work to do whatever needs to be done, however it needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, for whoever it needs to be done for. We try to shoot for common goals and objectives and create as much buy-in as possible all along the way.

We’re not always successful, but we always try to emphasize “trust” throughout our organization because I believe it is the most important ingredient in any relationship, personal or professional. We want our culture to be as simple as if we say we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it. We want you to be able to trust us to keep our word.

Part of our culture needs to be attention to detail and making sure that we stay in tune with even the smallest areas of our organization in need of improvement. “Relentless” is a word we like to think is part of our culture. We want to be courageous and relentless in how we pursue opportunities for our students.

Below are some quotes that emphasize bits and pieces of things I hope can be found in our YPS Culture.

• “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

I hope it is evident with our actions that our “main things” are our students and the opportunities we try to provide them.

• “All winning organizations have a comfortable level of discomfort.”

This is another trait I hope is evident throughout YPS. Things are not perfect here. We often have to have awkward and difficult conversations. We don’t ever want to get too comfortable or “settle” for pretty good when excellence is always the goal.

• “Talk doesn’t cook rice.”

We really work to be action-oriented. Talk is cheap. Results are the goal. We try to instill this all throughout our entire organization. We don’t need to be fancy. We need to be successful.

The last part of the YPS Culture that I hope is evident to others is that we’re never satisfied. I hope we are always working to get better. We have to be relentless in planning for the future.

We are not perfect. We need to improve in so many areas, it is overwhelming at times. You might follow the #yorkdukes on Twitter and think every day is a great day, that we have no problems, etc. and that is simply not true. We will always be a “work in progress” because that’s part of the culture here.

In closing, I am proud of the York Duke culture we have but we need to get better. We need to be able to become more supportive and better teammates. We need to continue to improve student behaviors in certain areas. We need to continue to work on communication. We can cut down on "adult drama." We need to enhance school-to-home connections. We need to improve teaching and learning. We need to become more efficient. The superintendent can become more involved and accessible. The list is a mile long. We need to get better.

We need to “find a way” to become more successful. However, I wouldn’t bet against us because "finding a way" is part of our culture.