Getting Things Done

While I'm a very structured thinker, I'm not by nature a super organized person. I don't organize my closet by color, in fact, you're more likely to find my dress shirts on the floor in a pile than on hangers. When I was a young teacher, my desk would be overflowing with stacks of papers that were organized in no other system other than there was no system. This worked well enough as a teacher and I saw myself in opposition to people who I felt were too organized and fixated on their binders, planners, and filing systems. In short, I thought being organized had to do with what kind of person you were and had little to do with how effectively you did your job.

And then I read Getting Things Done by David Allen. The book and overall concept are nicely summarized in a piece in The New York Times this weekend, so go read that if you want to understand the main idea. While I've implemented lots of the key ideas that Allen writes about, the biggest impact his writing had on me was in changing how I think about organization. To Allen, being organized is not the goal. The goal is getting things done and accomplishing your goals. Organization and certain habits help you to be more effective. This seems obvious, but it had a profound impact on me because having a system for remembering important deadlines or learning how to deal with lots of email no longer was about if I saw myself as an "organized" person. It become about how to execute effectively so I would be good at my job.

While being a school leader takes instructional chops, strong people skills, and the ability to build relationships with families, you can't underestimate the necessity of being able to put your vision into reality. Not every school leader needs to love Getting Things Done, but every good school leader needs a system to make sure they are working as effectively and efficiently as possible.