King Kong?

Have you ever felt like this? Isolated and under attack? Outnumbered, yet making a brave stand. What events lead to this type of predicament?

Lets take a look at the sequence of events that got King Kong in trouble.

A quick recap; King Kong was living serenely on Skull Island, doing what gargantuan gorillas are expected to do: every year he comes down to the village, receives his accustomed remuneration, all which allows everyone to peacefully coexist. But not this time…when he follows the routine and retrieves his token, he is harassed, pursued relentlessly, and then bombarded into submission. After being held hostage by events he can not understand, in addition to being publicly humiliated, he desperately resorts to what he knows has worked in the past (taking possession of what is rightfully his and retreating to the highest point available to him), but alas it is to no avail as he continues to be assaulted by his adversaries.

In the end he is a tragic figure, suffering defeat while proudly protecting his responsibility. Tears well up in my one good eye as the final scene concludes with the fall of the 8th Wonder of the World. But upon further reflection, Kong should have known that something was amiss very early on. I’m pretty sure the girl was the first blond-haired human sacrifice he was ever offered. And he could have better appreciated the protestations of the posse, acknowledged that they had a legitimate claim on her and set her free. But as Steve Martin used to say, “but noooo…” he relies on past practices that are inadequate to handle the present crisis.

The crux of the problem is the failure to understand the change in the make-up of the stakeholders. His lack of appreciation resulted in a power play that he lost. Sebring and Bryk’s study of leadership in Chicago schools concludes that one of the key issues for effective school leadership is promoting ties with stakeholders. Failure to acknowledge a shift in the composition of the stakeholders combined with reliance on past practices that are unfamiliar to the new stakeholders will lead to the leader's downfall.

Routines only work when all parties are cognizant of what they are and what their role is in them.

So, did the recent November elections result in any changes in the stakeholders in your school district? Any new school board members? Have the demographics of your local community been shifting? Do any of your routine responses need to be re-evaluated? Routines and the reluctance to recognize the impact of new stakeholders can lead to failure. If it it can happen to King Kong, it can happen to you.

Make a good day,
Tod

PS. Sebring, P. B. & Bryk, A. S. (2000, Feb.). School leadership and the bottom line in Chicago. Phi Delta Kappan, 440-443.

PSS. Kong Kong graphic: http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/2006/v3i1/images/king_kong.jpg

PSSS. The trailer for the original 1933 classic: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2418737162064831292#

PSSS. Steve Martin: couldn't find a clip of his comedy routine that included the "but nooo" line, instead I found this piece showcasing his sweet banjo skills http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31MSpojWTA