Roses not Cows

As I continue to prepare and transition into a new role, I had the joy to listen to a conversation between Tyler Reagin and George Kamal on taking over a business that you didn't start. Reagin's viewpoint was aided by his work in faith-based ministries.

During the conversation, Reagin referenced the idea of sacred cows. As new leaders, we are often encouraged to ask questions about practices, policies, and procedures and to ensure their usefulness and effectiveness.

Some of these are classified as "sacred cows" - practices that no longer serve their function and can even be a burden but that an organization continues to do because "that's the way it's always been done." Often times, as Reagin points out, these can be washed away with new leadership or outside guidance and replaced with something more effective.

However, his second point was to not just focus on the sacred cows, but instead to "prune roses." Essentially, in order to help roses grow to their fullest potential, you do not just trim the dead or diseased flowers; but the "good" buds that are competing for nutrients and energy with the "best" buds. This pruning to rejuvenate growth ensures that the rose bush grows each year.

So walking into the school - it might make sense to determine three categories, not just two. (1) Those practices which represent our community at its best, (2) Those practices which are no longer useful, effective, or are even detrimental to our mission, and (3) Those practices which we spend a great deal of time on, have good results, but do not fall into category 1.

The next step would then be to build on 1 - especially with marketing. Prune 2. And either build up or discard those in 3 (especially in a more difficult situation).