The Cost of "It's Always Been This Way" Leadership.

Hey! 👋🏼

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this to you recently, but thank you for doing the work you do. I’m so happy to connect with you again this week.

You hear it all the time if you listen closely enough:

👎🏼 “That’s just how we do things here.”
👎🏼 “We’ve always handled it this way.”
👎🏼 “It worked fine for me when I was in school.”

And at first, it sounds harmless — maybe even comforting.
Tradition. Stability. Roots.

But here’s the truth nobody says out loud:
“It’s always been this way” is a leadership choice. And it’s a dangerous one.

Because while we cling to old ways that make us feel safe, students keep changing.
The world keeps changing.

Eventually, the gap — which may have started as a crack — between what we’re doing and what kids actually need turns into a canyon.

The Reality: Schools Weren’t Designed for the Kids We Have Today

The factory model of education wasn’t designed for multilingual learners.
It wasn’t designed for kids navigating trauma.
It wasn’t designed for a future where AI can write your term paper and college degrees don’t guarantee jobs.

The system so many of us inherited was built for a different world — and if we keep leading by default, we’re not preserving excellence.
We’re preserving irrelevance.

The cost?

• Students disengage, because they can smell irrelevance from a mile away.

• Staff burnout, stuck implementing outdated practices that don’t work.

• Communities lose trust, because schools start feeling like museums instead of launchpads.

You’re not protecting legacy when you refuse to change.
You’re protecting decay.

What I Looks Like in Action

If we’re serious about preparing students for the world they’re actually going to live in — not the one we grew up in — then we have to confront the “always been this way” traps hiding inside our buildings:

🍏 Curriculum that prioritizes coverage over thinking
If the goal is to “get through the textbook,” we’ve already lost.

🍏 Classroom management rooted in compliance, not connection
If we’re more focused on making kids quiet than making them curious, we’re sending the wrong message.

🍏 Grading systems that reward point-chasing, not learning
When extra credit for Kleenex boxes matters more than deep understanding, we’re failing kids.

🍏 Instructional models that put students to sleep
If students are passively receiving content 90% of the day, that’s not tradition. That’s malpractice.

🍏 Adult meetings that talk about kids instead of talking with kids
If students aren’t part of the conversation about school improvement, then we’re not really improving much.

Leadership Moves You Can Make This Week

🔥 Identify One “Tradition” to Question
Look around: What are you doing because it’s always been done that way — not because it actually works?

🔥 Invite Fresh Eyes
As a new teacher, a student, or a parent what doesn’t make sense about the way your school operates. (They’ll tell you. And they’ll be right.)

🔥 Start Small, But Start
Pick one low-stakes area to rethink — grading practices, hallway transitions, lunchroom routines — and test a change. Build momentum.

🔥 Talk About the “Why” Out Loud
Model it. When you challenge a tradition, explain it: “We’re not changing for the sake of change. We’re not changing because kids deserve better.”

🔥 Celebrate Courage Over Comfort
When staff take risks to improve learning — even if it’s messy — recognize it publicly. Build a culture where innovation is safer than stagnation.

Final Thought: Tradition Without Reflection is Just Inertia

Tradition can be a beautiful thing.
It can give us roots.
It can remind us who we are.

But unquestioned tradition is how systems decay while leaders tell themselves they’re preserving excellence.

Every leadership move you make is either reinforcing the past — or building a future your students actually deserve.

📩 What’s one “it’s always been this way” practice you’re ready to challenge? Hit reply — I’d love to hear the move you’re making.

On A Recent Episode of The Principal School Podcast…

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