My first father-in-law, who lived abroad for most of his working life, used to say that it wasn’t the rain, or the sun, or the wind he missed when away from the UK, but the changing seasons. I was reminded of this today because for the first time in what seems like ages…
It rained.
And that made me think of one of my favourite songs, ‘Beautiful Rain’ by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
There is something about what happens after a long dry spell. My garden looks tired, my ‘lawn’ gave up months ago (I know it is under there, ready to spring back, and force me to heave the mower out of my dilapidated shed), established plants are now drooping, and the ground is rock solid!
I tried watering it for a while, unsuccessfully and without much impact, and finally accepted defeat. And then today… it rained. Proper rain. It started as a drizzle but turned into a full-on downpour. I shall, no doubt, be setting aside time this bank holiday weekend to mow!
It’s interesting that when something isn’t working our first instinct is often DO SOMETHING!
We throw action, initiatives, time and money at the problem. Sometimes, of course, those things are necessary. But sometimes we forget the first simple question…
Have we created the conditions in which it can work?
Leaving my garden out of this and thinking about some of the problems we encounter in our schools, do we need another intervention or do people just need clarity, time, or a conversation? Perhaps it just needs someone to connect something that everyone has been looking at separately.
Maybe something that once worked perfectly well has stopped because the conditions around it have changed. Perhaps nobody noticed the ground is dry. (I’m going to hammer this analogy!)
Because if the conditions aren’t right, planting something new isn’t going to help, you just end up with more things struggling to survive. There is also another thing about rain, not everyone wants it. I wanted it for my garden, but a school with a leaking roof may have been less enthusiastic.
Same rain, different impact.
What feels like a much needed solution in one area of a school can feel like a burden in another. What looks great in the boardroom can look very different in a playground or classroom. So, leadership can’t only be about deciding what needs to happen. It has to involve being curious. Where are people struggling? What has changed? Whose perspective haven’t we considered?
My second father-in-law spent many years farming the Wiltshire Downs, so knows much more about reading the weather, planning for drought and working with changing conditions. He later took that experience with him into teaching.
Perhaps there is something in that. We can’t make it rain, but we can notice when the ground is dry. Leading and learning isn’t always about planting something new. Sometimes it’s about noticing what needs watering.
Emma
