Do Less. But Do It Better.
A Simply Great Insight
Do Less. But Do It Better.
The 80/20 rule says that a small number of actions drive most of the results. In schools, it’s everywhere:
A few clear routines — like strong starts, tight transitions, and calm hallway movement — shape most of your student culture.
A few leadership moves — like weekly data-driven planning and real-time coaching — drive most of your academic progress.
A few habits — like giving specific feedback and following up — make the biggest difference in your team’s development.
But here’s the trap: many school leaders try to do it all. When everything is a priority, nothing gets done with excellence.
Before launching another initiative, pause and ask: Are we already great at the few things that truly move the needle? Here’s a place to start:
Observe and give to your priority teachers weekly — get into each of their rooms, pick a high-leverage action step, and run a coaching meeting aligned to that action step.
Run a focused weekly leadership meeting — talk about one clear priority, look at the most important data, and build one action plan to move that data closer to goal.
Tighten common times — make sure the time in-between classes is airtight and doesn't cause issues that trickle over to the in-class time.
Execute excellent PD — determine what the most important gap for the school is, align your leaders around it, show your staff what it looks like to close that gap, and then have them practice based on your model.
These aren’t flashy, but they work. The best schools don’t win by doing more. They win by doing the vital few things really, really well.
What's Most Important Right Now?
Routines. Routines. Routines
Common Time Routines
Are arrival, transitions, lunch, recess, dismissal, etc. running smoothly?
Are expectations clear?
Are students and adults positive and efficient?
In Class Routines
Are students entering class, getting started on work, passing materials, getting into small groups, etc. efficiently so as to maximize learning time?
Leadership Routines
Are coaching meetings, walk throughs, observations, scheduled consistently?
How Can We Work Together?
Leader Curriculum: Our ready-to-use leadership curriculum saves leaders hundreds of planning hours while boosting retention and achievement through 50+ scripted PDs, practice clinics, and coaching tools.
Curriculum Implementation: We partner with schools nationwide to bring math and ELA materials to life, helping teams deliver instruction that drives measurable achievement gains.
1-on-1 Coaching: From superintendents to APs, we coach leaders at every level to run great schools, grow great teachers, and deliver great results for kids.
Keynote Speaking: We’ve inspired and equipped leaders at conferences and PD days with practical, immediately actionable insights that spark motivation and results.
Cohorts: Our customized leadership cohorts rapidly build skills through a blend of live PD, coaching, site visits, and robust resources that create lasting impact.