Last week I was facilitating a study group for a team of school administrators. During our break, I started a chat with an assistant principal/athletic director who happens to be a very successful high school baseball coach. Successful enough to win 14 state championships! As a longtime devotee of baseball, I am always interested in a baseball related chat but this one had special significance for me.

Based on his long tenure as a baseball coach with a very impressive record of achievement, I had made an assumption about the culture that supported this fellow’s baseball program. I asked him this question; “Is there a strong feeder program that supports your high school club?" 
"No, not at all," he said, "in fact there is only one little league team in the whole town these days.” I was very surprised to hear his response and then he hit me with a comment that really got me thinking.  
“Baseball is a game of failure," he said. “This is the reset generation, when things get tough in the video world or you are going to lose the game, you simply hit the reset button and you get a clean slate.”  
I know from my own experience that baseball does not work that way. The coach went on to say; “Kids today do not want to fail publicly; they are not willing to strike out with the bases loaded and then take that slow walk back to the dugout.”

Have I lost you already?! If baseball is not your thing, let me make a few quick connections to illustrate the point I want you to consider. Baseball is indeed a game of failure. If you can manage to get a hit three times out of ten attempts, you will be a 300 hitter and you will end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Stay with me on this. Baseball, like life, is filled with paradox. It is a game that moves really fast and it also moves very slowly. When you strike out with the bases loaded, everyone in the park can mark the moment. Time literally stands still as you slowly amble away and the next fellow saunters up to the plate. It takes mental toughness and perseverance to get back in the batters box the next time, knowing full well that everyone is watching and wondering if you will have the same results this time around. You do not get to take anyone else into the batters box with you and there is no reset button, but each new "at bat" gives you a new opportunity to contribute to the team’s success. If you are going to be an asset to your team, you will need to shake off your last at bat and give it your best effort this time around.

Unlike the video world, baseball is a team sport; a strong baseball team works together with symmetry and grace. To quote my old high school baseball coach, everyone needs to work in unison, “nine men moving as one.” A successful baseball team is strong up the middle, the pitcher and the catcher have a reciprocal relationship, the short stop and the second basemen understand that they need to move in harmony, the center fielder anchors the outfield and pulls the team together on the outside edge of the tapestry. A truly great pitcher understands that he can not harvest his talent unless he has a great catcher to receive his pitch.

What does this have to do with school improvement you ask? Let's begin with the willingness to strike out publicly. Great schools are willing to take risks and to let go of the “familiar and safe", in order to discover “what works”. Principals and teachers need to understand that their success is interrelated. When one fails, the ripple effect is felt across the school yard. Like the baseball pitcher and the catcher, teachers and principals have a reciprocal relationship. Max Depree writes about this dynamic in his excellent little treatise on leadership. In his book; Leadership is an Art he has a wonderful chapter entitled “Theory Fastball” If you take time to read it, you will get a deeper understanding of this reciprocal relationship that I am referring to in this blog. This reciprocal relationship dynamic applies to teachers and students as well. 

What is the complimentary/reciprocal relationship needed between students and their teachers if academic achievement is to be valued, pursued and obtained? How does the teacher inspire the student to pursue valued learning targets? Who gets to decide what those targets should be? How does the teacher/coach inspire the student to put forth their best effort in order to achieve goals that are bigger than themselves? How does the teacher convince the student that failure is the inside layer to outward success? How does the teacher skillfully deliver feedback that is specific enough to improve performance but gentle enough for the student to hear it? They do it much like an expert hitting or pitching coach. Real achievement and satisfaction comes when the student accomplishes something they were previously unable to do and they prove to themselves that it was not a one time fluke. Teachers can coach students into the batters box but then they have to stand by and let the student perform independently in the public arena. That is the moment when both great teaching and coaching is truly manifested.

Very few people have become a great musician, artist, skier, golfer, swimmer, climber etc on their first attempt and none of them achieved their success without clear feedback. This feedback can come from a talented instructor or it can come from the natural environment. Sustained achievement over time requires awareness, willingness, discipline, perseverance and concerted and focused effort. This disposition and commitment to improvement and growth is valued in the world of work and it is essential in healthy personal and professional relationships. The best thing we can do for young people today is to coach/mentor and support them to achieve goals that require more than a quick flick of the reset button. Call me “old school” if you must but maybe baseball has something to offer us besides a really nice way to spend a summer afternoon.