
The Weakest Link is a gameshow pitting contestants against one another to sift out the dumbest among them. The emcee sets the tone with glib remarks and pithy quotes about not measuring up, and the contestants seem to love the limelight, even if the focus is on them because they can’t make the cut. Nobody seems to mind.
In the final analysis, the deciding factor isn’t really intelligence or ability or even a knack for trivia. Much like in the rest of our lives, there’s other variables like strategies, personalities and attitude that factor into success.
What makes me or you the weakest link on any given day?
- Doing the minimum to get by
- Avoiding responsibilities
- Rationalizing behavior
- Undermining others
- Passing the buck
- Thinking we're entitled
- Looking the other way
- Watching the clock
- Settling for less
- Giving up

We become the lowest common denominator. Even if everyone else around us is trying to compensate, our behaviors render the entire effort a case study in mediocrity. And the longer this goes on, the more everyone starts to resign themselves. Our track record becomes who we are.
This has been the rap on education for decades. Articles have actually been published in professional journals making the case that all expectations and efforts to improve have to be focused on our lowest performers...and they aren’t talking students. They're referring to staff.
How is this still the case? Especially if the problem isn’t innate ability, but the way individuals and the entire system are bogged down by the weakest link in each chain that is supposed to add to our strength? We can’t be the champions for transforming education if we are part of the problem.
The solution isn’t to vote people off the island or facetiously call them out and bid them a stern, “Goodbye!” We’re not a reality television show and this isn’t a game. Children’s futures are on the line. The future of our entire society is at stake. Business as usual isn’t going to cut it anymore. We’ve got to stand up and show that we know a better way forward where there is strength all along our lines. Regardless of our individual abilities, we all have to be in this to help each other do better...have impact...build legacy...succeed.
Watching The Weakest Link is a guilty pleasure we can enjoy on our own time. Participating in our own version of it in education is unacceptable. It will only change when we tell ourselves that we can and will do better; that we will no longer backslide into mediocrity. There's no emcee or sponsor or audience to ease this burden. It's ours to own and we can turn it around.
Status quo? Status pro! Make things better. Say goodbye to the weakest link.

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