CEO Thought for the Week

Hi All,

I really hope you've had a positive week and that you're looking forward to a busy weekend doing something enjoyable!

I've had a week where a couple of times I've had to give myself a talking to and ensure I'm keeping my moaning in check. I read a blog by the Sumo Guy called  Are you suffering from the effects of passive moaning? | thesumoguy (wordpress.com) This is a phrase I heard for the first time this week. Now as the blog says without doubt a good moan can get things off your chest but continual moaning can end up effecting not just the way you feel but how those around you feel too. Think "passive smoking"- if we allow ourselves to get stuck in a rut of moaning about the weather, our work, the election and everything else in between we are creating a "fog" and we all end up breathing it in! And the more of us that do it, the thicker the fog gets! So to counteract that tendency I've been trying to think about the following question at least once every day- "what's going well?". I am brilliant at being able to list off all the things I need to do, the things that could be better and the reasons why things aren't quite right but ask me what's going well and I have to take a big breath and pause. I don't think it's because I'm doom and gloom by nature but because in Education we are so programmed to focus on improvements and the "what next" that we very quickly gloss over "what's going well." 

So let's take some time to focus on the good stuff! Let's try to respond with a positive when someone asks us how things are going and avoid contributing to the "passive moaning fog" because when I stop and pause I happen to think we're all doing a pretty amazing job in our schools!

Have a great weekend!

Gavin