Our School Should Be A High Reliability Organization

I recently attended a workshop on "high reliability organizations" or HROs. The workshop focused on whether or not we can and should expect schools to be high reliability organizations. An HRO is an organization that does not tolerate failure. It is an organization that operates under high-risk conditions and makes the effort necessary to avoid failure in that environment.

I think the HRO is an excellent model for schools. When we fail in our system it is catastrophic! If we fail then we let our students, our parents, our community down. We cannot afford to be an organization that tolerates failure. In that respect we have to be a high reliability organization. We have to create a system that will prevent failures.

As I contemplate moving forward in our district I want us to become that high reliability organization. We have to have a preoccupation with failure. When failure occurs we have to analyze and examine the causes and not be content with simply interpretations. We have to cultivate a culture that is resilient so that setbacks will not become permanent. Finally we have to cultivate expertise in teaching and learning so that know what works and we can find solutions when problems present themselves.

This will require that we use data better, that we understand how to help students, and that we intervene early rather than late. My goal is to help our district become that high reliability organization so that we can reassure every parent that our schools will help their son or daughter succeed.