Making the Case for Moments
We’ve all been there. Many of us are living it right now, as we speak.
The holiday break ends and leaders return to school with a crushing to-do list and nowhere near enough time to get it all done. Getting capital projects completed, ordering the materials and supplies, last minute hiring to ensure the school is fully staffed. Figuring out how to juggle professional learning with giving staff enough time to plan their first few days. And then there’s all of the required mandatory training. It can feel like a game of Tetris where the blocks outnumber the available slots to put them.
And in the midst of that, we get so focused on “getting everything done” that inadvertently, we smother the opportunity for spontaneity, for authentic connection, for magic. It’s understandable. We often plug in formal “icebreakers” or activities guised as a means to an end of helping bond our team and make connection. But nothing takes the place of a spontaneous, connecting moment.
I have a prime example from earlier this week.
Just like many schools around the world, our leadership team returned from the holiday break with a ginormous to-do list. There was a lot to get done and not enough time to do it. But, we set to work together, focused on ensuring that we were prepared for teachers and students next week. One of the things that was a “must do” was fire brigade training.
As with many required trainings, the information was dense and the discussion was serious. The trainers did a great job of giving hands-on practice, which helped, but we felt the pressure of the clock as we still had many other things to accomplish.
One of the things we all learned to do in this session was to unfurl a fire hose from the storage cabinet, connect it, and use it. The leadership team was called up in groups of 4-5, and each team took their turn. As the practice rounds came to a close, our Middle School principal called out, “WAIT!” because she had a genius idea.
How many times have principals and Heads of School talked about “putting out fires?”… Well, here we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the principals and I to literally practice putting out fires together, together, and get it captured for posterity.
The five of us stepped up to the firehose together, and the photo is the result. The laughter and the heckling from our team was hilarious, and there were huge smiles all around.
A year from now, I probably will not remember the ins and outs of operating various Brazilian fire extinguishers. But I will most certainly remember Ligia, Brian, Ana, Kathe and I manhandling the fire hose and laughing about literally “putting out fires”… And I will remember that our team found it funny enough that this photo is now a digital sticker that is used jokingly in WhatsApp messages.
That pause for joy and laughter not only let us laugh in that moment, it gave us an inside joke that we’ll all share moving forward. It connected us in a way nothing else could. Taking the extra few minutes to engage in a bit of fun opened the door to authentic bonding, connection, and laughter.
The value of these spontaneous moments, which create real connection, cannot be underscored.
I will pack this moment into my suitcase of memories, and I will smile every time I think about it. This photo will be printed and it will be a part of my “gallery of memories” that lives in my permanent office back home.
So I encourage leaders to consider this: Even though the back-to-school to-do list is overwhelming, and there are many serious matters to tackle as the school year begins (or resumes)… allow those spontaneous moments of joy to blossom into a cherished memory. Let the shared laughter linger a while, and enjoy it.
Because these are the moments, the memories, that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.
