Abstract

The Magic of AND

Abstract

You have come to a fork in the road relative to making a decision and need to choose Option A or Option B.  Or do you?  Experience has taught me that when faced with making a decision/choice, including being dissatisfied with a product, program or practice and wanting to make a change, we too frequently fall into some traps.  First, we don’t consider all the options, possibly because we are in too big a hurry or unwilling to identify and consider all the possibilities.  The second common error is believing that an all-or-nothing choice has to be made, or thirdly that we must totally abandon the existing product, program or practice and start over.  Why limit the choices?  Why not determine the best of all existing options and combine them?

Accomplished chefs and bakers do not limit themselves when it comes to ingredients, instead continually looking for new or bolder flavors by finding new combinations.  They think “and”.

What better way to illustrate the benefits and beauty of blending than an orchestral composition in which the different melodies, harmonies, rhythms, tempos and dynamics of the composition are combined with tone qualities of various instruments.  The composer does not choose one at the exclusion of another; instead s/he looks for the best fusion.

Educators have been told they should run schools more like businesses, that if business owners operated their stores, factories, or services like schools do, they would be out of business in no time.  In reality, the converse is also true…..that not all business operates efficiently and effectively.   It is all about good management, operations, and the performance of people.  There are models to emulate in both the educational and business worlds; each can learn from the other.  Why not blend the best of both?

Seek the best of both worlds.  Compromise.  You don’t have to be an original thinker, just a clever weaver.  What is a quilt other than various patches of cloth skillfully and carefully woven together into a wonderful creation?  Be blend-ful.  Think more “and”, less “or”.